Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find a selection of some of the most commonly asked questions. If this does not suffice, please refer to the Additional Resources to help you find the answers you are looking for.

If you have a question that is relates specifically to the SD Chapter, or if you're still having trouble finding the information you need, please refer to the contact page and we will help.

Top 15 Common Questions:

1. How does The Venus Project compare with Communism?
The Venus Project proposal differs greatly from any form of communism practiced by any nation. Communism used money and labor, had social stratification, military, and elected officials to maintain the communists' traditions. Most importantly, Communism did not eliminate SCARCITY nor did they have a blueprint or the methods for the production of abundance. All varieties of communism we have seen are only derivatives of monetary/capitalist systems, which the Venus Project is not.

Our proposal does not use money, governments, military, politics, or any form of coercion, and would therefore not be susceptible to the aberrancies of poverty, dictatorships, ruling classes, or violence that occurred with communism.

2. Would there be a government?
A government as we know it today is a minority of people who use laws and force to attempt to control society. In a Venus Project society, there would be no such need, and the use of force or control over people would be considered criminal. Also, while computers would be used for arriving at decisions and monitoring resources, no computer or machine would ever be used for controlling people.

During the transition would it be necessary to utilize the voluntary services of systems analysts, engineers, computer programmers, etc. Their role would not be political and would differ tremendously from that of traditional governments. They will not dictate policies, have any more advantage than other people, or any control over other people. There will be no incentive for profit or corruption as is the case with governments. The job will be to carry out the restoration of the environment to near natural conditions as possible on land and in the sea. They will also economically layout the most efficient way to manage transportation, agriculture, city planning, and production. In this form, the transitional 'government' would have very little relationship to the nature of government as we know it today.

For more about laws and abberant behavior, see questions 6 and 7.

3. Who makes the decisions in a resource based economy?
No one does. The decisions are arrived at by the introduction of newer technologies and the carrying capacity of the earth. Computers could provide this information with electronic sensors throughout the entire industrial, physical complex. No decisions will be made concerning human behavior. Individuals make their own decisions concerning all aspects of their personal lives, and would have unlimited free access to all levels of education, information and tools they require.

4. In this new culture, do you propose to utilize a technical elite that would decide the direction for society?
No. The Venus Project calls for a cybernated society in which computers could replace the outmoded system of electing politicians that, in most cases, represent the entrenched vested interests. Technology will never dictate or monitor individuals' lives, as this would be considered socially offensive and counterproductive. Motion pictures such as 1984, Brave New World, Blade- Runner, and Terminator have spawned fear in some people regarding the takeover of technology in our society. The Venus Project's only purpose is to elevate the spiritual and intellectual potential of all people while also providing the goods and services that will meet their individual material needs.

5. What are the safeguards against abuse of power in the society you envision?
In a resource-based economy, we surpass the need for money which is the basis for most corruption. The society we envision makes all goods and services available for everyone without a price tag. This is what the function of 'government' could be, by surpassing the need for politics in the management of human affairs. At present, governmental decisions have always been subject to the influence of the power elite. The cybernated complex would only manage and improve the distribution of resources, to provide clean air, clean water, and all of the amenities that enhance human life. Again, it does not control people or manage the lives of individuals -- on the contrary, it could encourage the development of individual initiative and creativity far beyond that of our present-day money- oriented culture.

There are many who fear the installations of cybernated systems. This fear is unfounded. It is not technology that is to be feared. Our concern should be with the abuse of this technology, rather than with the inanimate technology itself.

6. How can the use of laws be eliminated?
Today we try to control human behavior by enacting laws or signing treaties without changing the physical conditions responsible for aberrant behavior. When Earth's resources are seen as the common heritage of all people, irrelevant laws and social contracts will vanish.

In a resource-based economy, social responsibility would not be a function of artificial laws or force. Safeguards against abuse could be designed into the environment. An example of this is the proposed design of cities where people have free access to resources without debt. This would eliminate theft. Such measures are not a matter of passing and enforcing laws to prevent and punish abuse. Rather, they are a means of designing the flaws out of any social venture, thus eliminating the need for many laws.

We are proposing doing away with the systems that cause corruption and human suffering in the first place. In a city with safe, clean, mass transportation, we do not need police to monitor drivers' speed, behavior at stop signs, or proper papers.

7. What is The Venus Project going to do with people of aberrant behavior?
Aberrant behavior is produced by aberrant social conditions, malnutrition, minimum wage, lack of motivation, poor role models, and lack of relevant education. People always reflect the influences of environment. Even the wealthiest people today suffer from intellectual poverty. They too commit crimes such as exploitation of the environment and other human beings. We do not consider gambling casinos offensive today as a criminal institution, but in the future they will certainly be looked upon as part of our aberrant society along with thousands of other aberrant patterns we consider right and normal today. 

8. How do you see the collapse of the present system occurring?
Government and industry will continue to assign more and more responsibility for decision making to intelligent machines. Today's machines handle trillions of bits of information per second, far more than is manageable by any number of industrial or political decision-makers. They can also assemble and assign constantly updated information.

The other side of this trend is that so many people will be replaced; we will no longer have the purchasing power needed to sustain a monetary-based system that burdens the entire population and government with insurmountable debt.

As the old monetary system begins to displace more and more people by its reliance on automation, these people will cease to respect the authority of industry. The time-honored pattern of living in all industrial countries, the balancing of work and family interest, would become impossible to maintain for the majority of people displaced by automation.

As artificial intelligence develops, machines will be assigned the tasks of complex decision-making in industrial, military and governmental affairs. This would not imply a take-over by machines. Instead, it would be a gradual transfer of decision-making processes to machine intelligence as the next phase of social evolution.

Many people believe that government leaders bring about change with a deep concern for the well-being of their citizenry. Nothing could be further from the truth, nor did past shifts in society come about as the results of changes in the schools or the home. All established government systems tend to preserve and uphold their own interests and power-base.

The real forces responsible for change have more to do with unforeseen, external events or biosocial pressures that physically alter our environment and established social arrangements: for example, the infusion of machines and processes that replace people and remove their means of making a living, adverse natural conditions of drought, flood, storm, and earthquake, manmade disasters of economic oscillations, or some outside threat of hostile nations.

9. What about religion?
The concepts presented by The Venus Project are in no way inconsistent with most of the religious teachings of the world. Perhaps the major difference is that we would like actually to transform these lofty ideals into a working reality for the nations of our planet.

In a resource there is material gain for everyone if their country participates in a project called common heritage which will advance all nations. Those that refuse to participate will miss the advantages gained.

Everyone is free to practice whatever belief system they have but can not force it upon others. Everyone can go anywhere they want to without restrictions of any kind. If they fail to behave constructively they are helped rather than put in prison or punished. There will be a constant effort to help present the advantages to even those nations who feel that they want to go it alone.

This will not interfere with their religious beliefs, social customs of traditions. These can not be forced out, you can only educate out beliefs that are irrelevant. We prefer to use that approach rather than a military one. Although it may take longer, we feel they will eventually see the advantages of this point of view of joining together and sharing resources, just as all of the United States joined together and the fighting between borders stopped.

All of these countries have resource shortages and we feel they will see the advantages. Nothing is forced upon them.

10. Without money, what would create incentive?
The free-enterprise system does create incentive to achieve, however it also breeds the incentive for corruption, theft, and greed. But the fundamental incentive in a monetary system is to acquire the needs for survival. In a resource-based economy, the abundance of available resources would mean that no one is forced to work in order to simply live.

Our aim is to encourage a new incentive system, one no longer directed toward the shallow and self-centered goals of wealth, property, and power. Today, financial barriers place enormous limitations on innovation, individual creativity, and personal incentive. In The Venus Project, money would not be required to help one achieve or create, as facilities would be made available to serve everyone's needs.

When people are freed from the drudgery of working to make ends meet, and from the corruptive influences of money, they are finally able to pursue their true interests. Like many of the people we have admired in the past, such as Michael Angelo, da Vinci, Bell, the Wright Brothers, Darwin, and many others, people's achievements would be based on their interests in arts, sciences and problem solving, once financial gain is not the dominant value or necessity.

11. What will people do?
People will be free to choose their own direction in life; no one will be forced into doing anything against their will. People may engage in all manner of research and development, the creative arts and crafts, travel and exploration, and participation in all of the other limitless horizons the future has to offer. The ultimate realization of the potential of cybernated and computerized technology solely to improve people's lives could produce the most revolutionary system ever to evolve. It will eventually eliminate all superficial boundaries set up by nations; as we are beginning to witness with the introduction of satellite communication and personal computers, it is almost impossible for nations today to censor ideas and information.

12. How are Resources Distributed Equitably?
Distribution of goods and services without the use of money or tokens would be accomplished by establishing distribution centers. These centers would be similar to expositions, where the advantages of new products are explained and demonstrated. Exhibition centers will display what is new and available and will constantly be updated. If you visited Yellowstone National Park, you could check out a camera or camcorder, use it, and then return it to another distribution center or drop-off, eliminating storage and maintenance.

Besides computerized centers throughout the communities where products would eventually be displayed, there will be 3-D, flat-screen imaging in each home. If you desire an item, an order can be placed and the item automatically delivered directly to your place of residence without a price tag, servitude, or debt of any kind. This includes whatever people need such as housing, clothing, education, health care, entertainment, etc.

Raw materials for products can be transported directly to manufacturing facilities by automated transportation "sequences" using boats, monorails, mag-lev trains, pipelines, and pneumatic tubes. An automated, computerized inventory system would integrate the distribution centers and manufacturing facilities, coordinating production to meet demand. In this way, a balanced-load economy can be maintained. Shortages, over-runs, and waste could be eliminated. Eventually goods and services will be mass-produced in such abundance as to be too cheap to monitor.

Today there is more than 75% waste in the production of material goods. In a resource-based economy, all waste would be recycled. A priority would be designing things of the highest quality so that products would last longer and require little or no service. Many electronic parts will use plug-in components for convenient repair. There would be no planned obsolescence just to sell the latest designs or fashions. This would eliminate considerable waste.

13. Could individuals live outside the cities?
Yes people can live where ever they wish especially when there is more research done on self-sustaining houses in terms of energy, but there are would be so many advantages of living in this type of city. People who wanted to live an alternative lifestyle to that of the cybernated cities would never be prevented from doing so. In fact, they would still be considered an equal part of the society and would have the same access to technology and resources as all other people.

14. What is the single most important aspect of the project?
The single most important aspect of the project is the social direction of all nations working together on the restoration of the environment in a resources-based economy. The aim is the common heritage of all Earth's resources by all of the world's people. This we see as the only process to end the present cycle of events of war, poverty, hunger, political corruption, and environmental degradation. The technology that we present can make it possible for the global population to obtain a very high standard of living one higher than ever imagined possible.

15. Is The Venus Project a Utopian society?
The Venus Project is not a Utopian concept. We do not believe in the erroneous notion of a utopian society. There is no such thing. Societies are always in a state of transition. We propose an alternative direction, which addresses the causes of many of our problems. There are no final frontiers for human and technological achievement - it will always undergo change. Even if we can design a society having all of the modifications to improve the lives of people and protect the environment we will still be at the beginning of the next phase.