0:00:00.480,0:00:03.170 In January 2011, the movie "ZEITGEIST: MOVING FORWARD" 0:00:03.320,0:00:06.730 was screened in cities all over the world; it is a non-profit documentary 0:00:06.870,0:00:09.840 directed by Peter Joseph, also available online for free download. 0:00:10.000,0:00:13.100 In Italy, twenty cities participated in this global screening project. 0:00:13.250,0:00:16.010 The Zeitgeist Movement chapter in Rome screened the movie 0:00:16.160,0:00:19.080 at the Azzurro Scipioni Cinema, owned by director Silvano Agosti. 0:00:19.220,0:00:22.390 To our great surprise, Paolo Bonolis, presenter of "The Meaning of Life" 0:00:22.540,0:00:26.180 a prime time TV program on Channel 5, also attended the screening. 0:00:26.320,0:00:30.220 Paolo and his co-author, Michele Afferrante, have shown great interest 0:00:30.370,0:00:33.960 for the Movement's ideas and immediately welcomed a cultural exchange 0:00:34.150,0:00:37.650 thereby starting a cooperation with the Zeitgeist Movement. 0:00:37.850,0:00:41.900 They have been broadcasting a series of intellectually stimulating snippets 0:00:42.050,0:00:44.780 throughout the season without soliciting any funding 0:00:44.940,0:00:47.560 which is proof that even on a commercial TV channel 0:00:47.700,0:00:51.010 there are people who don't regard monetary reward as their only target. 0:00:51.170,0:00:54.190 We have collected those bits and put them together, showing the path 0:00:54.330,0:00:57.100 that millions of Italians have followed for over two months. 0:00:57.260,0:01:00.720 We thank Paolo, Michele and their staff for granting us this great opportunity 0:01:00.870,0:01:04.370 and hope this effort will arouse curiosity and meditation in some of the viewers. 0:01:07.630,0:01:09.820 Clip #1 0:01:10.290,0:01:14.720 I would like to show you and have you listen to these words, please. 0:01:19.730,0:01:23.150 Not to accept things as they are 0:01:25.210,0:01:28.470 but to understand it, to go into it, to examine it. 0:01:28.630,0:01:32.860 Give your heart and your mind with everything that you have to find out 0:01:33.010,0:01:35.440 a way of living differently. 0:01:40.180,0:01:43.950 But that depends on you and not somebody else. 0:01:45.290,0:01:48.410 Because in this there is no teacher, no pupil. 0:01:49.210,0:01:51.500 There's no leader. 0:01:51.660,0:01:53.300 There's no guru. 0:01:53.450,0:01:55.590 There's no master, no savior. 0:01:55.740,0:01:58.110 You yourself are the teacher and the pupil. 0:01:58.260,0:02:00.930 You're the master, you're the guru, you are the leader. 0:02:01.070,0:02:03.190 You are everything! 0:02:03.970,0:02:06.190 And 0:02:06.650,0:02:08.410 to understand 0:02:08.560,0:02:10.760 is to transform what is. 0:02:16.080,0:02:19.930 The character that you have just seen and heard is Krishnamurti. 0:02:20.080,0:02:22.640 He is considered as one of the greatest thinkers of all time. 0:02:22.790,0:02:25.660 He didn't theorize any philosophy or religion. 0:02:25.810,0:02:29.620 Instead he spoke of things concerning all of us in our daily lives 0:02:29.760,0:02:34.760 in particular about the need for a radical change in human consciousness. 0:02:34.910,0:02:38.690 The video clip is taken from the documentary movie "Zeitgeist" 0:02:38.830,0:02:41.420 which means "the spirit of the time" by Peter Joseph. 0:02:41.560,0:02:44.870 It is a three chapter non-profit work 0:02:45.010,0:02:49.070 which brings some of our certainties into question. 0:02:49.220,0:02:53.190 It is a movie which tries to make us think in a different way 0:02:53.340,0:02:55.930 out of the box and away from conventions. 0:02:56.070,0:02:58.480 We liked the Zeitgeist project so much 0:02:58.620,0:03:02.810 that we decided to share some parts of it with you 0:03:02.970,0:03:06.140 throughout this 4th edition of "The Meaning of Life". 0:03:06.280,0:03:10.760 They are short and, according to us, enlightening fragments like this one. 0:03:15.430,0:03:18.010 Now, my grandmother was a wonderful person. 0:03:18.610,0:03:21.410 She taught me how to play the game Monopoly. 0:03:21.760,0:03:25.290 She understood that the name of the game is to acquire. 0:03:25.450,0:03:27.600 She would accumulate everything she could and eventually 0:03:27.750,0:03:30.930 she became the master of the board. 0:03:31.070,0:03:33.250 And then she would always say the same thing to me. 0:03:33.400,0:03:34.960 She looked at me and said 0:03:35.110,0:03:38.390 “One day, you'll learn to play the game.” 0:03:38.980,0:03:42.550 One summer, I played Monopoly almost every day, all day long. 0:03:42.690,0:03:45.470 And that summer, I learned to play the game. 0:03:45.610,0:03:47.760 I came to understand the only way to win 0:03:47.910,0:03:50.660 is to make a total commitment to acquisition. 0:03:50.810,0:03:52.900 I came to understand that money and possessions 0:03:53.040,0:03:55.390 that's the way that you keep score. 0:03:56.130,0:03:59.770 And by the end of that summer, I was more ruthless than my grandmother. 0:03:59.910,0:04:03.550 I was ready to bend the rules if I had to, to win that game. 0:04:03.960,0:04:06.510 And I sat down with her to play that fall. 0:04:07.080,0:04:08.650 I took everything she had. 0:04:08.790,0:04:13.340 I watched her give her last dollar and quit in utter defeat. 0:04:14.260,0:04:18.600 And then she had one more thing to teach me. 0:04:18.820,0:04:22.170 Then she said 0:04:22.320,0:04:25.750 “Now it all goes back in the box." 0:04:26.020,0:04:27.510 Clip #2 0:04:28.800,0:04:33.020 As we did in the last episode of this 4th season of "The Meaning of Life" 0:04:33.030,0:04:37.600 we will showcase some clips from "Zeitgeist". 0:04:37.760,0:04:40.720 Zeitgeist, which means spirit of time 0:04:40.870,0:04:44.380 is a movie directed by Peter Joseph. 0:04:44.540,0:04:50.150 It is a countercurrent and countercultural view of our reality. 0:04:50.300,0:04:54.340 Here's today's segment. 0:05:03.830,0:05:08.970 In a world where 1% of the population owns 40% of the planet's wealth... 0:05:09.120,0:05:11.990 In a world where 34.000 children die every single day 0:05:12.130,0:05:15.800 from poverty and preventable diseases 0:05:15.950,0:05:18.310 and where 50% of the world's population 0:05:18.460,0:05:20.860 lives on less than 2 dollars a day... 0:05:21.040,0:05:22.990 One thing is clear. 0:05:23.810,0:05:26.080 Something is very wrong. 0:05:26.630,0:05:28.690 And whether we are aware of it or not 0:05:28.830,0:05:31.370 the lifeblood of all of our established institutions 0:05:31.520,0:05:34.760 and thus society itself, is money. 0:05:35.410,0:05:38.800 Therefore, understanding this institution of monetary policy 0:05:38.950,0:05:43.550 is critical to understanding why our lives are the way they are. 0:05:43.880,0:05:48.790 Unfortunately, economics is often viewed with confusion and boredom. 0:05:48.920,0:05:51.130 Endless streams of financial jargon 0:05:51.270,0:05:53.270 coupled with intimidating mathematics 0:05:53.400,0:05:55.900 quickly deters people from attempts at understanding it. 0:05:56.070,0:06:00.620 However, the complexity associated with the financial system is a mere mask 0:06:00.770,0:06:05.390 designed to conceal one of the most socially paralyzing structures 0:06:05.540,0:06:07.900 humanity has ever endured. 0:06:08.320,0:06:10.020 Clip #3 0:06:15.180,0:06:19.220 The dominant values of a culture tend to support and perpetuate 0:06:19.360,0:06:21.610 what is rewarded by that culture. 0:06:21.760,0:06:24.350 And in a society where success and status 0:06:24.500,0:06:29.230 is measured by material wealth, not social contribution 0:06:29.390,0:06:32.710 it is easy to see why the state of the world is what it is today. 0:06:32.870,0:06:37.190 We are dealing with a value system disorder, completely denatured 0:06:37.370,0:06:40.230 where the priority of personal and social health 0:06:40.370,0:06:43.570 have become secondary to the detrimental notions 0:06:43.720,0:06:46.510 of artificial wealth and limitless growth. 0:06:46.720,0:06:49.650 And, like a virus, this disorder now permeates 0:06:49.790,0:06:52.920 every facet of government, news media 0:06:53.070,0:06:56.020 entertainment and even academia. 0:06:56.180,0:06:59.100 And built into its structure are mechanisms of protection 0:06:59.240,0:07:01.680 from anything that might interfere. 0:07:01.830,0:07:04.170 Disciples of the monetary-market religion 0:07:04.310,0:07:07.150 the self-appointed guardians of the status quo 0:07:07.290,0:07:10.720 constantly seek out ways to avoid any form of thought 0:07:10.860,0:07:12.980 which might interfere with their beliefs 0:07:13.120,0:07:16.320 the most common of which are projected dualities. 0:07:17.930,0:07:20.690 If you're not a Republican, you must be a Democrat. 0:07:20.830,0:07:23.790 If you are not Christian, you might be a Satanist. 0:07:23.940,0:07:26.220 And if you feel society can be greatly improved 0:07:26.360,0:07:28.950 to consider, perhaps, I don't know, taking care of everyone? 0:07:29.100,0:07:31.930 You're just a “Utopianist”. 0:07:32.790,0:07:35.100 And the most insidious of them all: 0:07:35.280,0:07:37.670 If you are not for the "free-market" 0:07:37.820,0:07:39.610 you must be against freedom itself. 0:07:39.760,0:07:41.570 Clip #4 0:07:42.450,0:07:45.640 If there is any testament to the plasticity of the human mind... 0:07:45.790,0:07:48.540 If there is any proof to how malleable human thought is 0:07:48.700,0:07:52.330 and how easily conditioned and guided people can become 0:07:52.470,0:07:55.040 based on the nature of their environmental stimulus 0:07:55.180,0:07:57.360 and what it reinforces 0:07:57.510,0:08:00.630 the world of commercial advertising is the proof. 0:08:01.490,0:08:04.590 You have to stand in awe at the level of brainwashing 0:08:04.730,0:08:08.630 where these programmed robots known as "consumers" 0:08:08.810,0:08:12.930 wander the landscape only to walk into a store and spend, say 0:08:13.080,0:08:18.340 $4000 on a handbag that likely cost $10 to make 0:08:18.490,0:08:21.810 in a sweatshop overseas 0:08:22.850,0:08:26.400 only for the brand status it supposedly represents 0:08:26.530,0:08:28.540 in the culture. 0:08:28.910,0:08:31.860 Or perhaps the ancient communal traditions which increase trust 0:08:32.010,0:08:34.350 and cohesiveness in society 0:08:34.500,0:08:36.550 which have now been hijacked by acquisitive 0:08:36.680,0:08:39.160 materialistic values where now annually 0:08:39.300,0:08:42.810 we exchange useless crap a few times a year. 0:08:44.040,0:08:46.070 And we might wonder why so many today 0:08:46.200,0:08:49.530 have a compulsion to shopping and acquisition 0:08:49.680,0:08:52.960 when it is clear that they have been conditioned from childhood 0:08:53.130,0:08:56.690 to expect material goods as a sign of their status 0:08:56.840,0:08:59.250 with friends and family. 0:09:00.290,0:09:02.260 Clip #5 0:09:02.610,0:09:06.150 Famines throughout at least the last century of our history 0:09:06.650,0:09:09.700 have not been caused by a lack of food. 0:09:09.850,0:09:13.670 They have been caused by relative poverty. 0:09:13.820,0:09:17.500 The economic resources were so inequitably distributed 0:09:17.650,0:09:21.310 that the poor simply didn't have enough money 0:09:21.440,0:09:24.000 with which to buy the food that would've been available 0:09:24.150,0:09:26.910 if they could have afforded to pay for it. 0:09:27.110,0:09:30.080 That would be an example of "Structural Violence". 0:09:30.560,0:09:33.920 Gandhi saw this. He said 0:09:34.070,0:09:39.030 “The deadliest form of violence is poverty.” 0:09:39.180,0:09:40.800 And that's absolutely right. 0:09:40.940,0:09:45.520 Poverty kills far more people than all the wars in history 0:09:46.210,0:09:48.420 more people than all the murderers 0:09:48.570,0:09:51.390 and all the suicides in history. 0:09:51.570,0:09:54.610 Not only does Structural Violence kill more people 0:09:54.760,0:09:58.230 than all the Behavioral Violence put together 0:09:58.440,0:10:03.470 Structural Violence is also the main cause of Behavioral Violence. 0:10:03.630,0:10:05.070 Clip #6 0:10:05.630,0:10:07.500 So, a Resource-Based Economy 0:10:07.640,0:10:11.210 is nothing more than a set of proven, life supporting understandings 0:10:11.360,0:10:13.730 where all decisions are based upon 0:10:13.870,0:10:17.150 optimized human and environmental sustainability. 0:10:17.320,0:10:20.690 It takes into account the “Life Ground” which every human being shares 0:10:20.830,0:10:25.860 as a need, regardless of their political or religious philosophy. 0:10:26.620,0:10:30.420 There is no cultural relativism to this approach. 0:10:30.570,0:10:32.700 It isn't a matter of opinion. 0:10:32.850,0:10:35.520 Human needs are human needs 0:10:35.680,0:10:38.870 and having access to the necessities of life, such as clean air 0:10:39.010,0:10:41.110 nutritious food and clean water 0:10:41.250,0:10:43.830 along with a positively reinforcing, stable 0:10:43.950,0:10:47.260 nurturing, non-violent environment 0:10:47.410,0:10:51.180 as demanded for our mental and physical health 0:10:51.320,0:10:56.020 our evolutionary fitness, and hence, the species' survival itself. 0:10:56.190,0:10:57.830 Clip #7 0:10:59.070,0:11:03.350 Making homes using hammers and nails and wood 0:11:03.500,0:11:07.560 with the state of our technology today 0:11:07.710,0:11:10.850 is really absurd and will go the way of our labor class 0:11:10.990,0:11:14.990 in regards to manufacturing in the United States. 0:11:15.170,0:11:20.160 Recently, there was a study by economist David Autor of MIT 0:11:20.680,0:11:22.690 that states that our middle class is obsolete 0:11:22.830,0:11:27.080 and being replaced by automation. 0:11:27.860,0:11:30.900 Quite simply, mechanization is more productive 0:11:31.050,0:11:33.750 efficient and sustainable than human labor 0:11:33.890,0:11:37.110 in virtually every sector of the economy today. 0:11:37.330,0:11:41.660 Machines do not need vacations, breaks, insurance, pensions 0:11:41.830,0:11:45.040 and they can work 24 hours a day, everyday. 0:11:45.200,0:11:47.000 The output potential and accuracy 0:11:47.140,0:11:50.090 compared to human labor, is unmatched. 0:11:50.230,0:11:53.970 The bottom line: Repetitive human labor is becoming obsolete 0:11:54.110,0:11:56.280 and impractical across the world 0:11:56.420,0:11:58.380 and today's unemployment is fundamentally 0:11:58.530,0:12:01.600 the result of this evolution of efficiency in technology. 0:12:01.760,0:12:05.020 The bottom line is that the “labor for income” game 0:12:05.170,0:12:07.170 is slowly coming to an end. 0:12:07.310,0:12:09.450 In fact, if you take a moment to reflect on the jobs 0:12:09.600,0:12:12.440 which are in existence today which automation could take over 0:12:12.590,0:12:16.910 right now, if applied, 75% of the global workforce 0:12:17.060,0:12:20.860 could be replaced by mechanization tomorrow. 0:12:21.000,0:12:23.000 Clip #8 0:12:24.160,0:12:27.480 Now, we'd like to end this fourth season of "The Meaning of Life" 0:12:27.620,0:12:32.510 by leaving the conclusion to 95-year-old Jacque Fresco 0:12:32.830,0:12:34.820 who would have attended in person if he could. 0:12:34.970,0:12:38.350 Unfortunately, his age prevented him from doing so. 0:12:38.490,0:12:43.340 He is the founder of The Venus Project which we came to know 0:12:43.490,0:12:47.310 through the documentary movie "Zeitgeist: Moving Forward" 0:12:47.460,0:12:50.510 which we have shown in some of its segments. 0:12:50.640,0:12:53.100 I suggest you to follow his speech carefully 0:12:53.240,0:12:55.820 in which he will express his vision of things 0:12:55.960,0:12:58.610 with a deep sense of freedom. 0:12:58.750,0:13:03.050 See you all at the next edition of "The Meaning of Life" hopefully. 0:13:09.680,0:13:11.377 When I was a young man 0:13:11.527,0:13:13.698 growing up in New York City 0:13:13.842,0:13:17.111 I refused to pledge allegiance to the flag. 0:13:18.456,0:13:22.507 Of course I was sent to the principal's office, and he asked me 0:13:22.651,0:13:26.447 "Why don't you want to pledge allegiance? Everybody does!" 0:13:26.630,0:13:30.089 I said "Everybody once believed the Earth was flat 0:13:30.227,0:13:32.079 but that doesn't make it so." 0:13:32.229,0:13:35.604 I explained that America owed everything it has 0:13:35.754,0:13:38.063 to other cultures and other nations 0:13:38.207,0:13:40.243 and that I would rather pledge allegiance 0:13:40.387,0:13:43.911 to the Earth and everyone on it. 0:13:44.180,0:13:49.433 Needless to say it wasn't long before I left school entirely 0:13:49.583,0:13:52.176 and I set up a lab in my bedroom. 0:13:52.314,0:13:55.955 There I began to learn about science and nature. 0:13:56.099,0:14:00.557 I realized then that the universe is governed by laws 0:14:00.726,0:14:03.638 and that the human being, along with society itself 0:14:03.788,0:14:06.651 was not exempt from these laws. 0:14:07.258,0:14:10.120 Then came the crash of 1929 0:14:10.258,0:14:14.208 which began what we now call "The Great Depression". 0:14:14.458,0:14:19.266 I found it difficult to understand why millions were out of work 0:14:19.448,0:14:21.896 homeless, starving 0:14:22.050,0:14:25.875 while all the factories were sitting there. 0:14:26.026,0:14:28.043 The resources were unchanged. 0:14:28.200,0:14:31.040 It was then that I realized 0:14:31.184,0:14:34.681 that the rules of the economic game were inherently invalid. 0:14:34.825,0:14:37.759 Shortly after, came World War II 0:14:37.903,0:14:39.999 where various nations took turns 0:14:40.137,0:14:42.705 systematically destroying each other. 0:14:43.112,0:14:46.512 I later calculated that all the destruction 0:14:46.656,0:14:48.574 and wasted resources spent on that war 0:14:48.718,0:14:53.805 could have easily provided for every human need on the planet. 0:14:56.811,0:14:59.207 Since that time I have watched humanity 0:14:59.345,0:15:03.105 set the stage for its own extinction. 0:15:03.636,0:15:06.752 I have watched as the precious finite resources 0:15:06.902,0:15:09.577 are perpetually wasted and destroyed 0:15:09.718,0:15:13.028 in the name of profit and free markets. 0:15:13.172,0:15:16.284 I have watched the social values of society 0:15:16.435,0:15:19.604 be reduced into a base artificiality of materialism 0:15:19.747,0:15:23.104 and mindless consumption. 0:15:23.398,0:15:26.167 And I have watched as the monetary powers 0:15:26.311,0:15:31.399 control the political structure of supposedly free societies. 0:15:33.029,0:15:35.813 I'm 94 years old now 0:15:35.963,0:15:38.146 and I'm afraid my disposition 0:15:38.290,0:15:41.636 is the same as it was 75 years ago. 0:15:44.860,0:15:47.568 This shit's got to go. 0:15:47.786,0:15:49.751 Clip #9 0:15:54.540,0:15:57.130 A “RESOURCE-BASED ECONOMY” 0:15:57.790,0:16:00.360 The idea was defined in the 1970's 0:16:00.500,0:16:02.380 by structural engineer Jacque Fresco. 0:16:02.520,0:16:05.050 He understood back then that society was on a collision course 0:16:05.190,0:16:09.480 with nature and itself, unsustainable on every level 0:16:09.690,0:16:11.540 and if things didn't change 0:16:11.690,0:16:15.310 we would destroy ourselves, one way or another. 0:16:15.490,0:16:18.010 (Larry King) Are all of these things you are saying, Jacque 0:16:18.160,0:16:20.950 could they be built with what we know today? 0:16:21.100,0:16:24.509 Or are you guessing based on what we know today? 0:16:24.670,0:16:28.610 - No, all of these things can be built with what we know today. 0:16:28.760,0:16:31.680 It would take 10 years to change the surface of the earth 0:16:31.820,0:16:35.750 to rebuild the world into a second Garden of Eden. 0:16:35.890,0:16:39.230 The choice lies with you. The stupidity of a nuclear arms race 0:16:39.370,0:16:43.240 the development of weapons, trying to solve your problems politically 0:16:43.380,0:16:45.360 by electing any given political party... 0:16:45.500,0:16:48.530 All politics is immersed in corruption. Let me say it again: 0:16:48.680,0:16:53.130 Communism, socialism, fascism, the Democrats, the liberals 0:16:53.610,0:16:55.900 we want to absorb human beings ... 0:16:56.050,0:16:59.310 all organizations that believe in a better life for man! 0:16:59.450,0:17:02.140 There are no Negro problems or Polish problems 0:17:02.290,0:17:05.380 or Jewish problems or Greek problems or women's problems. 0:17:05.520,0:17:08.820 There are human problems! I'm not afraid of anybody 0:17:08.960,0:17:13.170 I don't work for anyone. No one can discharge me. I have no boss. 0:17:13.380,0:17:16.410 I am afraid to live in the society we live in today. 0:17:16.550,0:17:19.720 Our society cannot be maintained by this type of incompetency. 0:17:19.860,0:17:22.320 It was great, the free enterprise system, about 35 years ago. 0:17:22.460,0:17:24.620 That was the last of its usefulness. 0:17:24.780,0:17:29.180 Now we have got to change our way of thinking or perish. 0:17:29.860,0:17:32.620 The horror movies of the future will be our society 0:17:32.760,0:17:36.280 the way it didn't work. 0:17:36.670,0:17:39.660 And politics would be part of the horror movie.