Editing The Venus Project

== About ==
''"The Venus Project advocates an alternative vision for a sustainable new world civilization unlike any socio-economic system that has gone before. It calls for a straightforward redesign of a culture, in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt, and unnecessary human suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but totally unacceptable."''<ref name="tvp-website-main">[http://www.thevenusproject.com/ The Venus Project website frontpage]</ref>

The Venus Project (TVP) is an organisation co-founded by self-educated structural engineer, industrial designer, and futurist [[Jacque Fresco]]<ref>[http://www.thevenusproject.com/blog/recommended-reading/ Reading List] The Venus Project. Retrieved: 07 February 2011.</ref>. Fresco's project aims to restructure society through worldwide utilisation of a theoretical design that he calls a [[Resource-Based Economic Model|Resource-Based Economy]]. Those ideas use a version of sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural resource management and advanced automation with a global socio-economic system based on social cooperation and scientific methodology.<ref name="tvp-wikipedia">[[w:The Venus Project|The Venus Project Wikipedia entry]]</ref>

The Venus Project was started around 1975 by Jacque Fresco<ref name="Forbes-Duranni">Durrani, Noni (2007-10-15). [http://www.forbes.com/2007/10/13/jacque-fresco-prediction-tech-future07-cx_1015fresco.html The Future: Jacque Fresco on the Future] Forbes.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-02.</ref> and by former portrait artist Roxanne Meadows in Venus, Florida, United States.<ref name="tvp-wikipedia"/> while he was still involved in another futuristic project, Sociocyberneering.

== Definition of a Resource-Based Economy ==
{{Main | Resource-Based Economic Model | Resource-Based Economy notions by The Venus Project}}
The concept was developed by [[Jacque Fresco]] and explained most extensively in his book ''The Best that Money Can't Buy''<ref name="tvp-the-best-book">{{cite book |title=The Best that Money Can't Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty & War |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=JhzxAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=2009-03-26 |year=(2002) |publisher=Global Cyber-Visions |location=Venus, Fla. |isbn=0-9648806-7-9 |oclc=49931422}}</ref>, in which he describes various notions of a RBE. [http://www.thevenusproject.com/ The Venus Project's website] also has abundant material with notions about meaning and workings of RBE.

== Transition to RBE plans ==
The Venus Project's website's heading includes the following statement: "''The Venus Project offers a comprehensive plan for social reclamation in which human beings, technology and nature will be able to coexist in a long term, sustainable state of dynamic equilibrium''"<ref name="tvp-website-main"/>.

The Venus Project is working on its transition through a team of volunteer activists{{Cn}}, who are selected by team managers{{Who}} according to their individual abilities and degree of commitment{{Cn}}. In some of the teams handling sensitive information, applicants to volunteer are requested the signing of a NDA agreement{{Cn}}.

== Criticism ==
Many of the critics from activists of [[The Zeitgeist Movement]] who are not committed activists of The Venus Project {{Who}} criticise TVP's transition model as authoritarian, since it is strongly directed in a top-down approach, with Fresco at the top making ultimate decisions{{POV-statement}}. TZM activists{{Who}} consider this is in stark contrast to the principles and values of a Resource-Based Economy, and that all decisions should either be arrived at or consensuated democratically{{Vague}}.

[[User:Ziggy|Ziggy]], a voluntarist and founder of [[The RBE10K Project]], criticises The Venus Project in his own [[User:Ziggy#Critique on TVP|user page]].

Other common critics include{{Vague}}{{Who}}{{POV-statement}}:
* Design and presentation is overly and unnecessarily futuristic, with very little emphasis in the psychology and social values of such arrangement. Such designs are often nonpractical, nonfunctional and laughable by those experts in areas like architecture and engineering
* Fresco has been involved in several frauds. For example, he has claimed in an interview with Larry King to have a PhD in Ergonomics and he tried to run a psychology clinic in Florida in the 70s. He never had such credentials.
* Lack of professional expertise. Jacque Fresco has been proved to not be trained in architecture, physics nor engineering. His designs show lots of technical deficiencies. 
* Preposterous affirmations: Fresco has said he destroyed the Florida Ku-Klux-Klan "with his psycological method" (the same he uses in TVP) in the 50s and had "a duel of wits" with Albert Einstein... when he was five years old.
* The aesthetics of designs are too influenced by anachronic aesthetic notions of the 60s and 70s.
* Despite TVP's plans for the transition, there is no evidence that such plans exist, and TVP keeps very secretive and protective of its ideas, which are in contrast with the open nature of a RBE
* TVP is overly dependent on the person of Jacque Fresco, whose advanced age places the whole project at risk, having not trained anyone else to take his post, other than Roxanne Meadows  
* Jacque Fresco is personally protective of his intellectual property, including the term Resource-Based Economy, which is inconsistent with the principles and values of a RBE
* Many activists{{Who}} from TVP often suggest to read the materials and watch the videos until becoming knowledgeable, and seem to be content with the fragmented and poor academic quality information, without working on nor demanding greater emphasis in the quality of the information

=== Criticism in blogs, videos, and other online sources ===
* Chemazdamundi (in Spanish). He's an economist, social activist and blogger, and refers to himself as sceptic. In fact, he's a memmber of the Sceptic Movement and the Spanish Atheist Association. He's highly disrespectful, opinionated, cunning, and arrogant, however he is right in his denunciation and he frequently backs-up his claims with references, and has shown to be a thorough researcher, although his research is directed almost exclusively towards badmouthing, delighting in exposing shameful characteristics about people's lives (like troubles with the law and the academic world of Jacque Fresco), and permanently passing judgement absolutely in love with himself and his point of view (which is the right point of view because he never accusses somebody of anything he can´t prove). It is the best read for the informative bits that he documents. He has analysed thoroughly the life of Jacque Fresco, the RBEM and Fresco's designs and inventions with the help of experts in architecture, engineering and physics:
** http://chemazdamundi.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/el-proyecto-venus-contrastado-i-introduccion-a-una-critica-y-analisis-del-proyecto-venus-los-porques-de-analizar-y-criticar-el-proyecto-venus-de-jacque-fresco/
** http://chemazdamundi.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/el-proyecto-venus-contrastado-i-que-es-el-proyecto-venus-pv-el-project-venus-research-center-y-sus-conexiones-con-los-visionarios-organizacion-regimen-fiscal-y-beneficios/
** http://chemazdamundi.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/el-proyecto-venus-contrastado-3a-parte-analisis-profesional-y-tecnico-de-las-caracteristicas-arquitectonicas-de-el-proyecto-venus-pv-y-de-la-economia-basada-en-recursos-ebr-son-ciertas/

== References ==
{{reflist}}


[[Category: Vocabulary Terms]]