Skeptic Project

The more I hear about Fresco's past, the more information comes up about how hard they found it to try and create a community, basically from what I can gather, they had trouble finding anyone willing to actually help much.

I can understand better now why they are against offical TVP/TZM community building efforts as I can imagine they think it can't really work in practice.

(I've no idea why PJ is against them myself, perhap its just because he is in a comfortable life and doesn't seem to understand many of the rest of us live in poverty..)

Now, I've asked around people who have tried to build communities, those who have worked in them, and those that have succeeded, and I do wish that Fresco would talk more about his past efforts so that we can try and learn what went wrong there.

As, being as there are successful communities, its thus possible to do it right!

http://www.findhorn.org

Its not quite what I would have in mind, but it works..

Now, before I was banned from their forum, I did manage to get one of my questions finally passed on by VTV (Whose not all bad..) to Fresco/Roxanne about the idea of helping them setup some kind of sustainable energy project to provide them with cheaper electric. Now they did appear keen on that idea, which is encouraging, as my hope was that by putting together something to help them, all the infarstructure would then exist to help anyone else, and how could they say its ok to help them and not the rest of us..

At least that was, and is still perhaps my hope..

I had a dream that Z folk all over the place would come together and help build solar panels, help freight the parts by cycling, pool together and very cheaply build sustainable power solutions for everyone..

Then, the surplus we build, we could sell and thus would enable us to invest the money in more infarstructure to build cheaper panels/etc.

Or we might build some windmills, or geothermal, or...

But you get the picture..

The idea being, get us working on building something now, to help some people, rather than just going to meetings and wasting our money on transport and hotel rooms.

Anyhow, do you think their negative experiences of trying to build communities is at the heart of why they think its a bad idea to do it offically ? (And even worse maybe, not allowing the forums to be used to develop communities elsewhere! or even allow commerical use of the forums so people can develop products to provide an income for themselves..)

I'm reminded of the movie (and book) "Mosquito Coast."

oh man I watched this movie not long ago, I thnk Muertos was the one who posted it.

I laughed my head off because it was just like Frescos worldview.

A TV series would be interesting. Fresco has the charisma to pull it off.

I think making a Hollywood movie about Resource Based Economies™ in order to promote tvp is a bad idea. How would a movie about a perfect future be entertaining? More then likely the movie would be really cheesy and stupid. Try reading Jack Fresco's book Looking Forward to see what the movie would be like. The whole story is about two people who walk around the future in spandex uniforms, talking about how great everything is and how much life used to suck. It's terrible

> more then likely the movie would be really cheesy and stupid.

Indeed, that is my mayor concern..

It should play second fiddle to a great story, something like how Blade Runner had a good story, and the future was just something you saw along for the ride..

Of couse if the future is wonderful, then where is the drama..

Actually, if it was like how you climb a mountain, or those documentary drama Tv shows like oilriggers and tunnelers on the Discovery/History channels, those are quite good, and entertaining..

They could probably make a really crappy cheap movie though and most of the fans would watch it. Just film people in silver jumpsuits running around an underground parking garage. It's THE FUTURE!

What's really going to make this film a gem to rank right down there with "Inchon" and "Mac & Me" is that Merola probably won't be able to resist the impulse to direct it himself. So we'll have a conspiracist Ed Wood trying to direct a big budget movie of people in silver jumpsuits trying to convince us that Jesus never existed.

*begins making popcorn*

If they made a movie about the events leading up to societal collapse and the implementation of an RBE, that would be fun to watch, although probably also ridiculously conspiracy-esque.

I'm not saying they are, I'm just saying it would be fun to watch. Realistic, no. Dramatic, yes.

Yes a diaster movie with a happy ending would be nice...

Actually I wouldn't like that..

I'd much prefer a movie that showed a gradual change over time, perhaps in the lifetime of one man, to show a more gentle way to fix the future without the need for a collapse.

I'm sure there could be plenty of drama along the way.

I have pondered such a film myself, but I think the resources spent on producing such a film, could actually be spent on making the story true..

But still..

I think there is an oppertunity if done right, to create a blockbuster.

But I do worry so it will be a damp squid, if the previous ones are anything to go like..

It would of course help if they debated the storyline in public on the forums, so we could all help craft it..

After all, why have 400,000+ members and not make use of their collective talents..

(Yes I know, they don't seem to know that is what forums are for, collective working..)

Its rather a shame they don't know what forums are for..

They sit there mostly idle, far under used, and as for the IRC..

Its considered more a thing of annoyance than using it for its true potentional!

Fresco, PJ should be on there more (In Frescos case, just be there once!), as like earlier, I was chatting and someone told me about useful bio-plastics for a vehicle I'm designing, now thats useful!

That is what forums, IRC are for, swapping knowledge, helping each other, for goodness sake, make use of them, encourage others to do so!

We could do so much with what we have right now, if only someone at the top said jump..

From criticisms I have heard and read out there about Jacque and Roxanne, it appears that they were never interested in building communities or to help others out building commnities, but more interested in selling sci- fi, theosophistic, and "what if" ideas in books, drawings and videos and having their own little commune where people can pay to have a tour of it and listen to Jacque's lectures. In addition, it looks like Jacque's biggest goal was to have his own type of Disney Worlds around the world making him money. But not enough folks bought into his stuff to make it a reality. And I noticed lots of Jacques drawings and ideas stem from what people like Buckminster Fuller, Walt Disney, Manly P. Hall, and Francis Bacon had before him. I even heard from this Peter Whitlock character that Jacque at one time called his project "The New Atlantis" (Francis Bacon's coinage) before naming it Venus Project.

Thus, I don't think either Jacque or Roxanne will be interested in others who have practical goals of building up a community estate or some energy facility anytime soon. It's all about promote, promote, promote, and sell, sell, sell, with lectures, books and videos. If I were you, I would look elsewhere @Nanos