- THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT -
OBSERVATIONS AND RESPONSES
Activist Orientation Guide
This is an excerpt from a longer free document you can find at: http://www.thevenusproject.com/images/stories/thezeitgeistmovement.pdf.
- Our world is dominated by the practice of Monetary Economics (aka, the "Monetary System"). Based on this system, the 'value' of a good or service is generally defined by the availability (degree of scarcity) of the resources required, along with the amount/type of human labor involved in the production/service. Based on this value theory, if goods and services could be produced with no human labor, coupled with resources that were in complete abundance, the value (price tag) would be zero, hence not having a monetary value at all. If such a situation were to occur, perhaps with the use of automation for labor and chemical processes to find substitutions for scarce resources, the entire financial/profit system would have no true basis and could not exist.
- A driving undercurrent of the marketplace is scarcity. Industry at large wants scarcity, for it increases demand. This reality creates an immediate disregard for the environment/human concern and reinforces abusive methods that work to limit production capacity and resource availability, rather than expand it for the greater good. Therefore, abundance is impossible. Also, the currency in the system is deliberately made scarce by the central banks, forcing humans to battle each other on a daily basis, with there never being enough to go around, perpetuating poverty and class stratification.
- The Monetary System requires 'cyclical consumption', or constant turnover in the marketplace. This translates into a natural propensity/need to create inferior products that break down quickly, for if very long lasting, durable and sustainable products were created, the market would suffer, for less people would have a need to repair or re-purchase a product. This leads to high levels of multiplicity, waste and pollution. If products in society were actually designed to last long periods of time, through the use of the best known materials and methods, the monetary system could not exist, for it can only work when constant financial "input" is generated by purchases.
- The most important issue for a human being is survival, and in a Monetary System this inherent self-interest translates into the constant pursuit of 'Profit'. This mentality has proven to cause far more problems than benefits for society, for social concern is always second to monetary gain. If industry truly 'cared' about society, putting the welfare and best interests of people as the first priority, the monetary system would not work , for the entire orientation of the structure requires "differential advantage". In other words, 'equality' and 'fairness' have no place in a system where the entire basis of survival has to do with competition. Of course, advocates of the system will tell you that the system creates "incentive", but this incentive is really the incentive for monetary gain and nothing more. Meaningful contributions to society in this system are a chance byproduct, not the initial intent. Financial corruption is also always constant, with many forms simply accepted as "the way it is" and legal. Concurrently, War is the ultimate form of economic stimulus and this makes death and destruction a positive thing for those who are in commercial/political positions to benefit from it. War is in fact wanted by industry, regardless of its inhumanity. Given this reality, war will likely never go away as long as the profit system is in place, while human behavior itself will always have an abusive propensity, due to the need to gain advantage over each other for survival.
- The Human Value System is largely a product of the environment. The influence of the Monetary System, in both the ruthless mentalities it necessitates for gain, along with the distorted values created by advertising agencies to condition people into buying something, has created a culture of vain, selfish, aggressive and insecure people. Vanity, Ego, Jealousy and Greed are all byproducts of the system and when it comes to the 'promotion' of sales, the end result is more important than the means. Likewise, the competitive, self-interest oriented motivation inherent in the pursuit of profit creates a general disregard for the well being of others, perpetuating inclinations for abuse and advantage.
- Money used in the world today is Fiat and is usually regulated by the Central Banks. In the United States, the Federal Reserve (its central bank) manipulates interest rates in order to control the expansion and contraction of the money supply. Debts generated by loans (remember that money comes into existence from loans; hence money is created out of debt) are exaggerated by the use of interest, for the money to pay back the interest charged on the loan is never respectfully created in the money supply. Therefore, when the money supply is expanded, typically creating "economic growth" (new money being put to use), a proportionate amount of debt is created as well, forcing people to submit to employment to afford the debt obligation. Since the interest + principle of the outstanding loans will always exceed the available money supply, this aspect constitutes nothing less than a form of economic slavery, for it is virtually impossible for the collective public to ever get out of debt. Also, the term 'Economic Growth' is actually nonsense, for all expansive growth is temporary and must be counter balanced by contraction. The only reason more jobs are created is because more money is in circulation.
