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With rising temperatures, degrading ecosystems, and the risk of species extinction, AI and robotics are stepping in to reshape the global landscape; for the first time in history, we possess the technology to steer our own evolution. Roxanne Meadows and Nathanael Dinwiddie from The Venus Project highlight that the current system is failing us. Climate change, social inequality, and technological advances are disrupting our market-driven society.

Yet, when it comes to ecological overshoot and related issues like climate change, it's hard to ignore the multitude of proposed "solutions." The irony is that predicaments, by nature, don't have solutions, making it easy to quickly unpack and debunk each of these ideas.

Is The Venus Project one of those ideas, or does it have the potential to transform our society? Find out by clicking through the gallery.

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The Venus Project was founded in 1994 by Jacque Fresco and Roxanne Meadows, and became a nonprofit in 2018. Under Fresco's leadership until his passing in 2017 at age 101, the project continued to thrive. Over the decades, it has evolved, maintaining a commitment to finding innovative solutions that might improve the way we live.

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The Venus Project's organizational continuity stretches back to 1971, with its conceptual roots in the 1960s. However, its philosophy is grounded in ideas of sustainability and ecological economics that trace back even further.

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Before The Venus Project, Fresco founded Sociocyberneering Inc. in 1971 in Miami, Florida. During this period, Fresco developed many of the innovative sociocybernetics ideas he would later integrate into The Venus Project. His visionary concepts were designed to address the energy, materials, technology, and global population dynamics of the era.

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Today, The Venus Project aims to bridge the gap between science and the humanities by merging a forward-looking social philosophy with global-scale technical expertise to address human condition challenges. Their approach to social organization advocates for changes in governance, economics, urban planning, education, language, and values.

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The creative minds behind The Venus Project believe the current system is failing, and the solution to global challenges like climate change and social inequality lies in adopting a resource based economy.

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The term “Resource Based Economy” was coined by Jacque Fresco, the visionary behind The Venus Project. Fresco envisioned this economy as a way to seamlessly integrate automated technologies like AI and robotics, alongside engineering systems, to achieve the highest living standards. According to Fresco, this kind of economy represents the next evolutionary step for humanity.

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One of The Venus Project's theories claims that nature thrives as a closed-loop system, but unfortunately, we don't follow suit. We deplete resources without replenishing them, accumulate waste without recycling, and pollute our air, water, and food to maintain competitive profit margins.

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To build a sustainable future, they argue, we need a comprehensive survey of Earth's resources. This global survey should help us set the stage for humanizing social and technological development, aligning with Earth's carrying capacity and the needs of its people. A constantly updated, computerized model of our planetary resources would be key to achieving this vision.

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Tackling this issue is a monumental technical and engineering challenge that demands massive coordination among multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists to manage Earth's resources within its carrying capacity. Such a scientific effort could eliminate fierce competition over scarce resources and, consequently, foster very different behaviors among people.

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The Project Venus also suggests: "Building new cities from the ground up as self-contained systems is far more efficient than restoring and retrofitting old ones. New cities can leverage the latest technologies, creating clean, safe, and desirable living spaces. Often, these cities will adopt a circular layout, enhancing their functionality and appeal."

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Yet, cities, by their nature, are unsustainable—circular design or not—because all necessities must be transported in, and waste must be carried out. As fossil fuels dwindle, current infrastructures could struggle, spare parts will become scarce, and the energy to transport and fix systems will run out.

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Contrary to the belief of The Venus Project masterminds, the platforms we depend on daily are still fundamentally supported by fossil fuels, and these provide surplus energy that no other source can match. Once this energy source can no longer be sustained, the infrastructural platforms relying on it will fall into disrepair and lose functionality.

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Some experts claim that more effort is needed to help society understand that technological fixes will only exacerbate ecological overshoot and worsen climate change. Reducing climate change cannot be achieved without addressing ecological overshoot at the same time.

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The Venus Project also aims to eliminate the use of money and distribute resources based on scientific principles. This approach seeks to make decisions about resource distribution more rational and less arbitrary.

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Some of the anticipated benefits of this society include a significant reduction or even elimination of dependency on unsustainable energy sources like oil, in favor of alternative and sustainable energy. Additionally, removing the money system could reduce the primary incentive for criminal behavior, leading to lower crime rates.

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Finally, the project envisions eliminating elitism from human society and reducing the influence of ideology on human behavior. Although altruistic and very pleasing to the ear, it's not wrong to conclude that this kind of theory requires a whole set of bulletproof arguments which The Venus Project doesn't provide.

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If you ask the founders, The Venus Project differs from Socialism and Communism in its approach to social change. Instead of advocating for worker revolts and the forcible overthrow of the system (Communism) or the redistribution of capital (Socialism), The Venus Project views social change as a guided evolution.

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Meanwhile, some see The Venus Project from an entirely different angle. According to RationalWiki, "It's a communist cult that promotes architect Jacque Fresco's vision of the future, which involves an economic structure known as a 'resource-based economy.' Basically it's stock-standard central planning, except with computers!"

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The Venus Project sees the challenges we face as engineering and design problems, and their proposed social system has to be distinct from any previous communist revolution, or utopian commune, focusing instead on a methodical and experimental analysis of a new societal framework.

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In the futuristic vision of Fresco's resource-based economy, decision-making isn't driven by politicians, corporations, or national interests. Instead, it's guided by the introduction of new technologies and Earth's carrying capacity.

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Computers, equipped with electronic sensors throughout the industrial and physical landscape, gather data to make informed decisions. This technology-driven approach ensures that choices are both sustainable and efficient, keeping human bias out of the equation.

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But even if we did manage to organize such a fully automated and efficient system, human preferences and demands for resources would still be essential in a resource-based economy. People would continue to make decisions about their desired foods, recreational supplies, and other essentials.

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In a resource-based economy, human decisions would play a role not only in demand but also on the supply side, even if it's largely automated by computers. After all, someone has to program them. Without developing advanced artificial intelligence, the programmers behind these systems will still need to make key decisions.

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With limited resources, a central planning computer needs a way to prioritize between millions of competing demands. How important are cars compared to fridges? How large should these fridges be? How often do they need replacement? Should we manufacture more fridges, or invest in more fridge factories for greater future production?

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The Venus Project's approach is highly ambitious, yet it hasn't answered these critical questions or provided designs for robots to handle every mundane task, which are essential to their vision.

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Even conceptually, The Venus Project's program isn't groundbreaking. Back in the early 1970s, Chile under Salvador Allende tried to implement a cybernetic system to manage its new socialist economy. This initiative, known as Project Cybersyn (short for "cybernetics synergy"), aimed to use technology to streamline economic management.

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Project Cybersyn aimed to use a network of computers and telex machines to make cybernetically-sound decisions for the economy, resource management, and allocation of goods and services. Similar initiatives were conceived by the Soviet Union and East Germany, but never came to fruition.

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While Project Cybersyn boasted a sleek, high-tech control room straight out of Star Trek, it couldn't escape the bureaucratic issues it was designed to solve. Despite its futuristic appearance, the system faced numerous administrative hurdles and was eventually shut down.

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In the distant future, society might come close to realizing this vision: free housing, generous money handouts, and a plethora of robots. These robots could potentially "eliminate scarcity," making life truly remarkable. However, The Venus Project lacks a realistic plan to bring us anywhere near that ideal.

Sources: (The Venus Project) (Medium) (RationalWiki) (Jacque Fresco Foundation)