Tedxojai - Jacque fresco - Resource based economy

Today, we live in the most troubled times. All the nations of the world seem to be undergoing some degree of change. And in order to avoid the problems that we've had for years -- unemployment, military conflict, territorial disputes -- the only way to resolve those problems appears to be based on a return to a set of values that will enable us to survive. And, in order to do that, I believe we have to declare all the Earth's resources as the common heritage of all the world's people. And to outgrow the monetary system, to make things available to people. All of the necessities of life must be made available. If we fail to do that there will be territorial disputes continuously. If few nations control most of the world's resources you are going to have territorial disputes. The problem is, "Can we build a sustainable world without the necessity of armies, navies, prisons, police. I believe actually if people have access to the necessities of life, meaning: a relevant education, decent homelife, healthy food available and clean air and clean water and clean technology. Those are the necessary ingredients to make it possible for global sustainability. If we fail to do that, I think we'll have a continuation of the same problems we've had for centuries: war, depression, recession, boom -- We have to agree upon a set of values that will take care of everyone. Without any dominant group. Even the wealthiest people today would live better in a resource-based economy. We do not have enough money to house, build hospitals, take care of most human problems. But we do have more than enough resources and that is why we emphasize a resource-based global economy. That if people had access, free access to the necessities of life, crime would almost diminish to zero. In other words, instead of designing things to wear out, break down, to promote more people purchasing things, keeping the old system alive, we have to evolve to a newer system, that is free of the conditions that produce aberrant behaviour. We also have to evolve our language, that's not subject to interpretation, because when you speak to people today, they hear what you say but it goes into their heads and it comes out with relation to their background. So we need more precise system, perhaps the system used by engineers in conversation. When engineers talk to each other it's not subject to interpretation, when chemists talk to each other it's not subject to interpretation. And we will become problem-solvers, all people, will become creative. 'Cos we now know what it is that enables the person to become imaginative and creative. This is not inherited, it's learned and we now have the methods for helping people to become broader in their view point and brought up to expect change. There're no fixed systems in the future. All systems undergo continuous modifications, this includes: language, social customs, the design of cities and our social systems must be updated to fit the circumstances of the environment and resources. If we design our cities to meet human needs we don't have most of the problems that are prevalent today. In the Central Dome you have child care, schools, dental care, medical care. We work out 1/8 of the city system and then we reproduce it instead of have architects design each building which is a tremendous waste of energy and talent. And we can build a beautiful environment rather than parks, immerse the city in lovely gardens. So everything surrounding the housing and the cities would be very desirable. Anything people may need is available in these outside access domes: culturing materials, musical instruments, something like a public library -- anything that they need is available without a price-tag, that would mean we must achieve a level of production that's so high that scarcity no longer exist. And once you overcome scarcity, most of the problems, hypertension, will be gone. And most families have quarrels over scarcity. Surrounding the Central Dome you have the research centers that do work that is relevant to the sustainability of the entire community. As we move away from that we come to the residential district there are streams, waterfalls, lakes throughout the area. As we move to the next sector we come to appartments. Everything is built-in to the central towers. I feel that in the future people will move away from individual houses and live in larger complexes. Instead of building cities we do a survey of the climate to people the arable land and based on designs upon the carrying capacity of the environment or the Earth's resources. Anything less then that will not work. Of course without technology none of this can be accomplished so we have to automate all repetitive and boring jobs. So we don't use people in that area. People working with computers can resolve most of the problems. War is the supreme failure of nations to bridge the difference in values. I would imagine that in the near future we will have a better methodology of bridging the differences between the nations and inviting cooperation rather than competition. During the Great Depression, the '29 crash, there are automobiles in car lots, radios… and there were all kind of things in store windows but the public did not have the purchasing power. And it appears if we go on the way we are going on and automating more and more industries the public will not have the purchasing power they will be replaced by production machines which make it impossible for a monetary system to survive. So I am trying to anticipate the future and design things to work out well for all the world's people. Consider these things 'cos this is the transitional times. When I say about global survival, I mean the oceans, the land, everything has to become a common heritage of all the world's nations. And I feel that eventually we will surrender our notion of individual nations and merge together in one gigantic cooperative venture. Namely, the preservation of the enviroment and human life. And this is what we hope to accomplish in a resource based economy.