The Venus Project by Jacque Fresco Perhaps the modern interpretation of the word “utopia” is to blame when the Renaissance man and futurist Jacque Fresco says … he doesn’t want to call his life work, The Venus Project, a utopia. However, this visionary idea of a future society has many characteristics in common with the utopia. … the word utopia carries a double meaning, since in Greek it can mean both the good place (eutopia) and the nonexisting place (outopia). A good place is precisely what Fresco has devoted his life to describing and fighting for. – Morten Grønborg about Jacque Fresco Who is Jacque Fresco? Jacque Fresco Jacque Fresco (born March 13, 1916), is an American futurist and self-described social engineer. Fresco is self-taught and has worked in a variety of positions related to industrial design. Fresco writes and lectures his views on sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural-resource management, cybernetic technology,automation, and the role of science in society. Fresco directs The Venus Project. Fresco advocates global implementation of a socio-economic system which he refers to as a “resource-based economy.” Today we have access to highly advanced technologies. But our social and economic system has not kept up with our technological capabilities that could easily create a world of abundance, free of servitude and debt. – Jacque Fresco What is ‘The Venus Project”about? The Venus Project The Venus Project is an organization that proposes a feasible plan of action for social change, one that works towards a peaceful and sustainable global civilization. It outlines an alternative to strive toward where human rights are no longer paper proclamations but a way of life. They operate out of a 21.5-acre Research Center located in Venus, Florida. Is the project architecture? Design? Politics? Sustainability? Economy? The answer is: all of the above! Experience tells us that human behavior can be modified, either toward constructive or destructive activity. This is what The Venus Project is all about – directing our technology and resources toward the positive, for the maximum benefit of people and planet, and seeking out new ways of thinking and living that emphasize and celebrate the vast potential of the human spirit. We have the tools at hand to design and build a future that is worthy of the human potential. The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. What follows is not an attempt to predict what will be done, only what could be done. The responsibility for our future is in our hands, and depends on the decisions that we make today. The greatest resource that is available today is our own ingenuity. The guy has ideas about several subjects: City systems Cities in the Sea Energy Transportation Current State of Technology Space Housing Construction Venus Project – Cities in the sea A focus on Cybernation the venus project cybernation The Venus Project calls for a cybernated society in which computers could replace the outmoded system of electing politicians that in most cases represent the entrenched vested interests. This new technology will not dictate or monitor individual’s lives, as in The Venus Project this would be considered socially offensive and counterproductive. Books such as 1984 and Brave New World, and motion pictures such as Blade-Runner and Terminator 2 have spawned fear in some people regarding the takeover of technology in our society. The Venus Project’s only purpose is to elevate the spiritual and intellectual potential of all people, while at the same time providing the goods and services that will meet their individual and material needs. Cybernation is the linking of computers with automated systems. Eventually the central cybernated systems will coordinate all of the machinery and equipment that serve the entire city, the nation and ultimately the world. One can think of this as an electronic autonomic nervous system extending into all areas of the social complex.
