Sometimes we feel anger, jealousy, envy, prejudice. Aren’t these natural feelings that would come up in any sort of society?
There is no strict thing as human nature in the conventional sense of being a set of predetermined, preprogrammed behaviors and values to which all human beings are predisposed. What we are concerned with is human behavior and values, which can certainly be changed. If they could not, we would still be living in caves.
The question we should be concerned with is, “What are the factors that shape human behavior?” We feel that human behavior is just as lawful as any natural phenomenon. Our customs, behaviors, and values are by-products of our culture. If that environment is unaltered, similar problems and behaviors will occur. The Venus Project proposes to provide an environment that will bring out the best in human behavior and to extend maximum courtesy to all nations.
Take, for example, the situation witnessed after W. W. II: even the most respectable families could be seen fighting over scraps of food. When peoples basic needs are not met, they resort to whatever behavior is necessary to ensure the necessities of life for themselves and their families. By making the necessities of life available to all of us in this participatory democracy and through a meaningful and productive education, we can dramatically reduce counterproductive behavior.
Bigotry, racism, nationalism, jealousy, superstition, greed, and self centered behavior are all learning patterns of behavior, which are strengthened or reinforced by our upbringing. These patterns of behavior are not inherited human traits or “human nature” as most people have been taught to believe. If the environment remains unaltered, similar behavior will occur. When we come into the world we arrive with a clean slate as far as our relationships with others are concerned.
In the final analysis, any judgment regarding undesirable human behavior serves no purpose without attempt to alter the environment that creates it. In a society that provides the most human needs, constructive behavior it would be reinforced, and people who have difficulty interacting in that community would be helped rather than imprisoned.
Aspiring to a particular ethical behavior has to do with human aspirations and ideals. Functional morality is the ability to provide a process level to achieve a sustainable environment for old people. By this, we mean providing clean air and water, goods and services, and a healthy and innovative environment that is emotionally and intellectually fulfilling. It is difficult to conceive of any solutions that would serve the interest of the majority in a monetary-base system. None of this can be accomplished without a comprehensive redesign of our social system and the eventual replacement of the monetary-base system by a resource-based economy.
Why are politics obsolete, don’t we still need to make decisions as a whole or as a community event in resource-based economy?
The process of arriving at decisions in this economy would not be based upon the opinions of politicians, corporate, or national interests but rather all decisions would be arrived at based upon the introduction of newer technologies and Earth’s carrying capacity. Computers could provide this information with electronic sensors proud entire industrial, physical complex to arrive at more appropriate decisions.
Politicians are there to keep things are they are not to change them. They represented the establishment’s interests not the majority of people. By this I mean to corporations, military, bankers and often religiously leaders.
When did you realize that you want to change the world we live in?
Living through the 1929 Great Depression helped shape my social conscience. During this time, I realized the earth was still the same place, manufacturing plants were still intact, and resources were still there, but people didn’t have money to buy the products. I felt the rules of the game we played by were outmoded and damaging. This began a life-long quest resulting in the conclusions and designs presented in The Venus Project.
Conditions of misery, suffering, war, and war profiteering were the incentive and inspiration for my work. I was also motivated by this seeming incompetence of governments, the academic world, and a lack of solutions from scientists. Many fail as generalists because of their over-specialization on limited aspect of social problems. Scientists, politicians, and academicians see problems from inside the system they’re in, which is what’s responsible for the problems in the first place. I am disappointed with those who worry about terra-forming other planets while our own is still full of war, poverty, hunger, and environmental neglect.
Working with drug addicts, alcoholics, and so-called juvenile delinquents in New York City convinced me that instead of working with individuals, more effective methods would deal with the societal conditions that create dysfunctional behaviors in the first place.
If people have the same beliefs as you do, how can they contribute to the Venus Project?
Please check our website under Get Involved.
