Imagine there's no heaven... It's easy if you try...No hell below us...Above us only sky...Imagine all the people living for today... Imagine there's no countries...It isn't hard to do...Nothing to kill or die for...And no religion too...Imagine all the people living life in peace, you... You may say I'm a dreamer...But I'm not the only one...I hope some day you'll join us...And the world will be as one... Imagine no possessions...I wonder if you can...No need for greed or hunger...A brotherhood of man...Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you You may say I'm a dreamer...But I'm not the only one...I hope some day you'll join us...And the world will be as one Songwriter: John Lennon This is one of my favorite songs. It always has been. I am proudly one of those dreamers, even though sometimes the cynicism sets in, like now. But sometimes, I am given even more hope. A video shared by a site called "Now This" peaked my interest a bit ago. It is about a man, Jacque Fresco, that has been researching, according to The Venus Project's website, "an alternative vision of what the future can be if we apply what we already know in order to achieve a sustainable new world civilization. It calls for a straightforward redesign of our culture in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt and unnecessary human suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but as totally unacceptable." He proposes a resource based economy and purports the idea of everyone in this society being able to have what they need, "a system in which automation and technology would be intelligently integrated into an overall holistic socio-economic design where the primary function would be to maximize the quality of life rather than profits." I watched the video, poured over the website, and thought, if only... I posted the video on my Learning Space group, Colorado Teaching Artists in the hopes to spark discussion. I proposed the question "What role would the Arts have in such a society?" No discussion as of yet, but I'm going to ask the question again, and again. I think it is important. I think the project is important. What parent wouldn't want their children to live in such a world? Well, what non-materialistic parent would want that? Our society is at a precipice. With the chaos caused by DeVos as head of Education, and others threatening our health and well-being, it is ever more important we start to take a serious look at these ideas as a means of saving ourselves before our greed and materialistic lifestyles take away our humanity. There was a time when we lived in tribes, family groups dedicated to the survival and well-being of a community of people. Herein lies the rub - we are now a global society, our groups too large to function as a true tribe. Or are we? Affinity spaces, such as those that develop in Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and other media sites, or learning spaces, such as the one I created, form a kind of tribe. This tribe is more dedicated towards sharing of ideas and common interests rather than literal group survival. But, within The Venus Project, this concept is better realized. It would be a very large tribe, dedicated to the survival and well being of all living there. It would have to be, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, there are many obstacles for returning to a simpler time and socio-cultural grouping, however. Some arguments against this I saw: "He wants to get rid of "money" but a similar system would have to be put in place even if its a credit system. Expecting everyone to "just do whats right" is a child's dream not a reality." "Yes everybody would have to be educated in the right way in order for this to work, unfortunately our current education system does not contour these ideas because it doesn't benefit the hierarchies." An argument for: "It certainly would be difficult with our current mentalities, but that is just because that is how we have been raised. If we are put into a cooperative system which lacks scarcity then community triumphs will equal as much (if not more) than individual triumphs." The true hurdle against a society such as Fresco proposes presupposes one thing: That we somehow overcome our desire for having more than someone else, our cultural need to compete, to be better than, and also to have things. Our materialistic culture would need to disappear. Gordon Gekko would be horrified. But, there is hope. Contrary to what many people believe, we are not predisposed towards greed, we are, according to the project, The Human Spark, children are predisposed towards altruism. We learn selfishness, greed, and hardheartedness; it is not human nature. If we could start within a world such as The Venus Project proposes, I think we would be able to live there without the issues put forth by the naysayers. (on a side note, I highly recommend all the videos for The Human Spark. It's wonderful and hosted by Alan Alda. Bonus) And the world will be as one...
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Kait E CottengimA wandering leaf, teacher, lifelong book addict, ofttimes artist/writer, & eclectic spiritual explorer. ArchivesCategories |