The Zeitgeist Movement-orientation Guide

 The Zeitgeist Movement: Orientation Guide  The Truth and Transition o If we pay attention to the natural processes of life, we can align with nature and then our path can become more clear o Religion, Politics, & Money/Competition based labor system=outdated  Science, technology, human creativity, EDUCATION are priorities for social progress. o Things that can be reduced in this ideal system.  Social stratification, war, biases, elitism, and criminal activity. o Religion promotes propaganda  Perpetuates mindset of ‘us vs them’ or ‘good vs evil’ o We live in a society that produces Scarcity  Consequence is that people are forced to live in self-preserving ways • Scarcity is one of the most fundamental causes of aberrant behavior o Crime because of social conditions o Humans are not good or bad  They are influenced by the belief systems they have been conditioned into. • Example-kids in Roman times who wanted to see Christians fed to lions-they weren’t sick kids-this was just the value system they were exposed to.  Human behavior is not hardwired • Competition, greed, and corruption are not ingrained o Prison system is ineffective  It does not address the root causes that lead to crime. o The Monetary System  It has become a vehicle for division and totalitarian control  Encourages mentalities that: • We must fight each other in order to survive • Humans must have an incentive to do anything meaningful  Competition = corruption • Also, monopoly, labor abuse, pollution, planned obsolescence, and taking advantage of others for profit. o As children, we are creative and curious  But people are forced to conform to nearly predefined labor system in order to survive o Power of corporations, banks, business, finance, money  Leads to elitism, crime, war, and social stratification. o Those who don’t align with established views are considered abnormal  People’s identities have become associated with the doctrines of a country, religion, or business ethic/ideology so much that it is very difficult for that person to change

o Solution  Move towards a system that is designed to support humans, and not force them to fight in order to survive. o The more you give, the more you get.  Monetary Economics o Mechanisms & Consequences  ‘Theory of value’ • the level of a product or service’s ‘value’ is derived from two factors o the scarcity (availability) of the materials used o the amount of human labor used to produce a product/service  Effects of technological influence • Increasing ease of production & material abundance to the extent that it could eliminate the notion of ‘value’ entirely. o Mechanism One  The need for Cyclical Consumption • Cannot stop or else the entire economic structure would collapse. o Because money would not come to Employer, and Employer would not be able to afford to pay his Employee, and both Employer and Employee would not be able to perpetuate the cycle by being a Consumer • Consequences: o Planned obsolescence  Intentional or consequential withholding of effectiveness of a product. o Waste  Wastes available resources and pollutes the environment  Monetary system prevents people from making things that would last/minimize pollution. o Mechanism two  The Abundance of Scarcity • It is profitable for resources to be scarce. –something has more value is it is harder to get. o It is the job of central banks to create and maintain that currency scarcity.  The direct consequence is that we have to fight in order to survive. o Mechanism Three • The Priority of Profit

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o Damaging to others and our environment. o The legal system  Entire structure of imposed control that is created in order to deal with the neverending problems associated with the need for survival by way of profit o Advertising agencies  Tactics of social manipulation Types of corruption due to monetary system • General crime o Petty theft/illegal sales/violent robbery  People dismissed as ‘criminals’ instead of having looked at causing social conditions o Merva-Fowles study  Small increase in unemployment leads to significant increase in crime. o Economic depravity (scarcity) creates this aberrant behavior.  A person born into a deprived environment, with little resources, poor education, and few opportunities for work will do what they need to do in order to live. • Corporate Crime o Planned obsolescence, market manipulation, outsourcing, price fixing, monopolistic collusion, labor exploitation, and governmental collusion. o Repercussions tend to affect more people than general crime. o Motivations  Profit • Secure their positions of power, lifestyle, and wealth  Based on fear • The notion of ‘Greed’- which manifests from a perpetual insecurity derived from the fear of losing what one has • Government Crime o Vested interest in economy/upper middle class people  Because money = power  And for political contributions o Smedley Butler-war is a racket  Conducted for benefit of very few(for

profits) at the expense of very many  Corporations, bankers, industries benefit greatly. o Motivation for war  Resource Acquisition  Industrial profit  Geopolitical alignment • To increase ease of further industrial profit and resource theft. • Priority of Profit reinforces dualistic mindset o Us against them mentality  Because w/I monetary system there has to be a buyer-seller, a worker-employer, a client-owner, a have and have-not. • So we are constantly at war with the other side to try and meet our own needs. o Mechanism Four  The Distortion of Values • Advertising o Manipulation of consumer • Fashion-for status • Jealousy o Grade system o Material value o Mechanism Five  Fiscal Manipulation • The Federal Reserve has the power to influence the interest rates of all banks. o This translates into the power to control the amount of money being borrowed, and hence the amount in circulation. • Fed needs to control it because o All money is created out of debt(loans) o The increase in supply of money can lead to Inflation • Interest charged on loans does not exist in the economy outright o So there is always more outstanding debt than money in existence. o The hierarchical monetary system ensures that those at the top benefit more than the majority at the bottom.  Therefore, keeping people motivated to be

employed and fearful of losing their jobs and thus subservient, is beneficial for those at the top. • A person who ‘needs’ a job and is in debt is more likely to take a lower wage and be more submissive to the system. o Putting people into debt ensures their subordination. • The system of loans perpetuates class stratification o It keeps the lower classes poor, under the constant burden of debt, while keeping the upper classes rich, as the rich make money just by having a CD in a bank.  Technological unemployment • Machines are replacing human labor o If people can’t get jobs, then they wont have money to purchase and pump $ back into the economy  Not to mention the terrible side effects of unemployment ( crime, violence, drug use) o Switch to service sector from agriculture & manufacturing  However, even thus is being replaced, by computerized automation • Such as ATMs for money, and cashiers to be replaced by computers  Part 2- What is Relevant? o Most jobs are not ones that people are interested in, but rather serve to perpetuate cyclical consumption  Thus creating great waste in terms of human life and resources. • (insurance, stockbrokers, business.) o Natural Rules  1-Every human needs adequate nutrition, clean air, and clean water in order to survive. • But we are disregarding the importance of our symbiotic relationships and interconnectivity of the world o Air pollution, deforestation, water pollution  Causes: birth defects, immune system disorders, cancer, and other health problems o Nutrition-companies produce what is cheapest rather than what is healthy, and public buys what is cheapest.  Ex- many foods contain ‘high fructose corn syrup’, but this cheap replacement for cane

sugar has been proven to increase the risk of Diabetes and other health problems.  The only constant is change • Humans must keep as open a mind as possible, even if new information challenges ones sense of identity. o A great deal of ego is involved in belies and values.  Ex- religion tends to support traditional views that reflect an understanding of reality from thousands of years ago. o The Scientific Method  Because nature has its own rules, it is in our best interest to align ourselves with nature. • Also, it is a good mindset to always test your assumptions  Three steps • Recognizing a new idea or problem to solve • The use of logical reasoning to create a hypothesis, considering all the information available • Test the hypothesis through observation. o Dynamic equilibrium  When two or more opposing processes proceed at the same rate • The needs of the human population must be in balance with the resources of the earth.  The fundamental building blocks of human survival in society consist of • Energy o Energy is abundant (solar, wave/tidal, wind, electric, etc.)  However, companies want to keep resources scarce so that they can make more profits. • industrial/technological raw materials • food, air, water  in a sane society, • industries would organize to produce materials in relation to what is necessary • if certain resources are scarce, that companies would not deplete them but work to either find alternatives of increase the supply of a particular resource or raw material.  Chapter 4-The Means for Social Evolution o Goals of TZM and TVP  Clean air and water, nutritious food, material abundance, fast, clean, and efficient transportation, relevant education, public health care, the end of war, personal liberty, reduced stress, and reduced crime.  Redesign society for the benefit of all humanity, making sure there

is enough of everything for everyone, maximizing personal freedom and happiness, while constantly reducing offensive social behavior, or crime. o Science has made amazing advancements  Whatever the future holds from a technological standpoint, it will likely seem impossible and ‘ridiculous’ from the standpoint of today’s understandings and methods.  Chapter 5- Social Cybernation o Redesign of culture in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt and unnecessary human suffering are over. o The Venus Project  Advocates the application of the scientific method for social concern. • Free humanity from repetitive/mundane jobs which hold no true relevance for social development. • New incentive system o Focused on self-fulfillment, education, social awareness and creativity  As opposed to the shallow and self-centered goals of wealth, property, and power  Resources are abundant, and it is counterproductive to our survival to ration out resources under the monetary system. • Instead we should manage resources cooperatively on an international scale o Unfortunately, the world today is divided by profit oriented competition, religious groups, and primitive nationalistic ego identifications o We should address our common human needs rather than be divided by outdated ideologies  Logical way for industrial production • Step 1-survey the planetary resources o Any scarce resource is immediately addressed by seeking alternatives and substitutes.  Information obtained electronically by all resource sectors of the planet and fed into a central computer database that monitors any growing scarcity. • Step 2-decide on what production is required o Create quality products that are durable and don’t need maintenance or repairs. • Step 3- optimization of production methods / maximizing product lifespan. o Machines are more efficient o Make things that last

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Step 4-Distribution methods for human access o Things are created only in respect to the need for them o Consumer cultural would be outgrown, as well as other distortions imposed by advertising and marketing.  Because they make people feel greedy, inferior, or inept due to what they do and don’t own. • Step 5-Optimized Recycling of the products that become outdated or inoperable. o Obsolete products would be reused, reducing waste. Cybernation • View that robots will have a hostile attitude towards people o The higher the intelligence, the greater the degree of cooperativeness. • Industrial machines made to have extreme durability and long life spans o Machines will be made to repair themselves  They can become aware of a problem and a computer can assign supplemental machines to fix it.  Cars made with memory shape alloys so that they will return to their shape. • Roles of humans is supervisors and nothing more. • Government is a byproduct of environmental scarcity • Every problem in the world is actually technical by nature. o Therefore traditional opinions are obsolete  Decisions should be delegated to computers because they can draw on much more information than humans can process. • Structural system for production/distribution of goods along with resource and environmental management o Central database with information on technical problem solving o Earthwide autonomous nervous system that keeps track of resources and monitors environmental disturbances. o Interdisciplinary teams of technicians oversee the system and orient research projects to continue growth efficiency and social evolution.  Selected and organized by Central Database Program based on what they have already contributed to the system.

No basis for corruption, as the teams do not get paid. • The traditional concepts of politics and elections would not longer have relevance. o People want a democracy, but a true participatory democracy has never existed.  We vote for people practically preselected to win, and then we cannot vote for any of the decisions they make while in office. • Since our problems are technical in nature, we could assign computers to solve them and thus evolve out of the need for politics and governments.  Chapter 6- cities that think o Cities will be evolve in response to human or environmental needs. o Lifestyle  In our current system • Traditional family is broken o Both parents having to work in order to survive o Monetary economics undermines family cohesion and childcare o Stress is always high due to medical bills, insurance, education, employment insecurity and living costs.  In a resource based economy • Integrity of family will be restored. • Great human freedom to partake in many more activities. • Evolve from materialistic value system that involves wanting much more than one needs. o The manipulative business of advertising will be no more,  The endless sea of billboards, media commercials, magazines, and the like will no longer poison the landscape or our perceptions. • There is no reason for property o Property is an outgrowth of scarcity • In a system of abundance, without the need for money, the idea of ownership becomes irrelevant. o In this new system, no one owns anything. Instead, everyone has unrestricted access to everything. o No longer would you need to live in one place, but you could travel the world constantly o There is no reason for stealing • Shared system reduces waste and increases space and 

efficiency.  Part 4 overcoming mythology  Chapter 7 –nature vs nuture o Human Behavior  Criminal behavior • Relative to a cultures values and concepts of morality o Ex. Human sacrifice was considered acceptable years ago.  There is no fixed, predetermined human nature • It is the environment that really creates our values and behavior. • The concept of human nature stemmed from the belief that humans are inherently either good or evil.  Our goal as a society would be to eliminate the motivations or conditions that generate socially offensive behavior. • The monetary system perpetuates corruption, scarcity, and insufficiency. o Decency cannot exist in a world of competition, wealth imbalance, poverty, and deprivation.  Despotic behavior in the world is not a result of ingrained genetic forces • Instead, it is the result of years of scarcity and competition oriented conditioning. o Hierarchy, greed, competition, and dominance are social manifestations.  The environment generates behavior • So a more humane society should be created for humans to flourish. o The legal system  Laws are there to control people • They are patches when do not address the root causes of behavior.  Socially offensive behavior is directly related to socioeconomic circumstances. (see Merva & Fowles study) • Ex- poverty, malnutrition, homelessness, depravity, social distortion, failed education, financial stress, neglected child care, etc.  Chapter 8-functional spirituality o Knowledge is constantly evolving so that traditional beliefs continue to lose relevance  So people should not be emotionally or ideologically attached to certain beliefs. o Religion is rooted in a perceptual misunderstanding about life’s processes  Because it presents a worldview that often puts the human on a

different level than other elements of nature. • This ‘spiritual ego’ has led to dramatic conflicts for generations. Not only between humans but also against the environment. o We have to recognize that we depend on our symbiotic relationship to nature in order to survive.  Part 5-taking action  Chapter 9-the movement o Unity and equality are necessary for true collective human growth and potential.  We must transcend these obsolete social structures that perpetuate war, corruption, elitism, pollution, poverty, epidemic disease, human rights abuses, inequality and crime.  Carl Sagan- ‘The old appeals to racial, sexual and religious chauvinism, to rabid nationalist fervor, are beginning not to work. A new consciousness is developing which sees the earth as a single organism, and recognizes that an organism at war with itself, is doomed. We are one planet.’ o To dismiss things as impossible is simply a lack of imagination  Ex. no one believed in the Wright brothers.