When Karl Marx was writing his works and others took his work and came up with their designs for Socialism and Communism, it caught onto the masses. There is a new movement called Zeitgeist that is related to the Venus Project that seems to be getting more and more popular in online circles. When you read the ‘about’ information, you do not get a good feeling on what this organization is all about. They claim that there is a problem with the current situation and at one point claim it is Capitalism’s fault. They believe that they can rebuild society with technology and make humanity more efficient. Now this is where they draw you in and make you believe that you can agree with them, but the devil is in the details.
If you then move to “the Venus Project” you begin watching a video of a utopian space age. It shows the perfect cities with the perfect buildings, with the perfect everything else. Of course, they claim it’s not utopian. The designs of the cities is not my problem. The problem is if it wanted to be done privately then that is fine, but I can assure you they are far beyond that. They believe that there needs to be one world government. Now when you get to the F.A.Q. it begins to show its true colors.
For example:
“Social problems result from scarcity. When a few nations control most of the world’s resources, there are going to be international disputes no matter how many laws or treaties are signed. If we wish to end war, crime, hunger, poverty, territorial disputes, and nationalism, we must work toward a future in which all resources are accepted as the common heritage of all people.”
It is utopian to believe that you can get rid of scarcity. This is a nice way of saying that communal ownership is better that private ownership. Let’s look at the definition of Communism: “a political theory favoring collectivism in a classless society.” Sounds like them to me. (They do also talk about a classless society.
Another example:
“Simply stated, a resource-based economy focuses on resources rather than money, and provides an equitable distribution thereof in a humane and efficient manner. It is a system in which goods and services are available without the use of money, credit, barter, debt, or servitude.”
This is Socialism and Communism at its best. Instead of people producing and exchanging, everything is distributed. They either believe in only one of the two things. Either they believe that robots can do all the work and they can live off of it or Communism. This is where everyone works and then all the production goes into one big pot and then is equally given out. Not to mention that as Hayek put it money is in fact one of the great inventions of freedom. The poor man has more good he can acquire with money. That if there was an abolishment of money and rewards, and favors were the currency, then power would be concentrated with those with that position.
Then you know it is good when in the FAQ’s a question is “How is this different from Communism?”
Here they say the difference is that machine production will eliminate labor and that Communism didn’t do this. They also argue that Communism used police. And here comes my favor line of theirs:
“The Venus Project’s aim is to surpass the need for the use of money. Police, prisons and the military would no longer be necessary when goods, services, healthcare, and education are available to all people.”
Instead of politicians there will be computerized stuff telling people what to do. This somewhat sounds like the matrix. And here is the kicker:
“Communism has no blueprint or methodology to carry out their ideals and along with capitalism, fascism, and socialism, will ultimately go down in history as failed social experiments.”
Are you kidding me? Okay one last thing. They ask, “is there a need for government?” Here is the answer:
“As to the need for government, only during the transition from a monetary based society to a cybernated high-technological resource based economy of common heritage would it be necessary to utilize the services of systems analysts, engineers, computer programmers, etc. They will not dictate the policies or have any more advantage than other people. Their job will be to carry out the restoration of the environment to near natural conditions as possible on land and in the sea. They will also economically layout the most efficient way to manage transportation, agriculture, city planning, and production. This too is always in the process of modification and updating to fit the needs of an ever-changing civilization. There are no final frontiers.”
If you go back and look, this was what the transition from Socialism to Communism was suppose to be like.
Okay, so I could go on about how bad this is and how it will never work and any attempt to do so will cause destruction of freedoms and personal liberties. Except, F.A. Hayek already did that with The Road to Serfdom. He wrote this in 1944. This group can pretend to be unlike Socialist but any time you design society you are a Socialist. The one thing F.A. Hayek put best in his book The Fatal Conceit is that no one designed today’s society. It has evolved through a quest for inefficiency.
This group will use human rights and freedom to attract people but in the end, if someone plans out your whole life and your cities and everything else, you are not free. They are going to argue that a few men in the world control us today. The people that interfere are governments, not individuals. It is easy to get wrapped up into this feeling of “only if.” Only if we could create this world everything would be perfect. Only if we could equalize everyone’s goods, everyone would be equal. No two people are born the same, and to try and prevent that would destroy society.
The website is here if you don’t believe me.
~PCCapitalist
The Public Choice Capitalist 