Rebuking RBE Myths

A frequently repeated statement by Jacques Fresco and the Venus Project, even being quoted in the first article on TVP’s webpage on what a Resource Based Economy is, is regarding the miraculous increase of wartime airplane production, born by the US Government’s supposed decision to produce as many aircraft as their metal reserves permitted them, without caring about it’s monetary costs: “At the beginning of World War II the US had a mere 600 or so first-class fighting aircraft. We rapidly overcame this short supply by turning out more than 90,000 planes a year. The question at the start of World War II was: Do we have enough funds to produce the required implements of war? The answer was no, we did not have enough money, nor did we have enough gold; but we did have more than enough resources.” 1 Except... It would have been a nice story, if nothing else in the structure of the US economy would have changed except for pumping out more aircraft. The truth is, the US didn

One of the most visually emblematic aspects of the Venus Project is their circular cities. It has been a constant since the movement's inception, and one of the first things anyone familiar with the project might recall. So, why was it chosen? Except.... As always, let's take a look in the past. The concept of circular cities is ancient. Plato described Atlantis as being circular, and the Round City of Baghdad, seat of the Abbasid Caliphate(with precedents in Gur/Firouzabad and similar cities) So, why did these fade? Well, the greeks and romans were big fans of rectangular city planning, and Enlightenment would seek to systematize urban planning, both out of a desire to make everything more logical, and to wipe away the old pre-Enlightenment society, both culturally and worldview-wise But there is another reason: parcellation. Among the earliest planned cities in the New World was Boston, and combined the new, logical structure with a new nation, wit

Well, to be blunt, i'm here to provide a critique on the Venus Project's and other similar RBE-subscribing organizations, and their aim and proposals. Basically, everything from the frequently repeated WW2 production increase, to circular cities, to claims of utopianism, historical precedents, and who knows what else. I suggest you educate yourself on how an RBE works, first! Actually, i did. Read everything from his his 1969 book "Looking Forward" to "The Best that Money can't buy", watched both documentaries, read the FAQ, etc. If you don't like it, why invest so much energy into researching it. Because: a) It's an interesting case study on the rise and fall of an organization; b) Rarely, from time to time, some interesting ideas come up, like phase arrays and whatnot. Can't you see that was he's saying is coming true? Automation, inflation, wealth inequality, environmental degradation, and the Venus Project is the only sol