Jacque Fresco

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Jacque Fresco

Jacque Fresco (right) with Roxanne Meadows
Born March 13, 1916 (1916-03-13) (age 93)
Residence Florida
Nationality American
Occupation Futurist
Website
http://www.thevenusproject.com/

Jacque Fresco is an industrial designer and social engineer, author, lecturer, futurist, inventor, a pioneer in the field of human factors engineering, based in Venus, Florida, USA, and the creator of the Venus Project.[1][2][3] Fresco has worked as both designer and inventor in a wide range of fields spanning from biomedical innovations to totally integrated social systems. He believes his ideas would maximally benefit the greatest number of people and he states some of his ideas stem from his formative years during the Great Depression.[4]

In the mid-1970s, he started The Venus Project and the non-profit organization Future by Design together with Roxanne Meadows, that reflects the culmination of Fresco’s life work. To this day he writes and lectures extensively on subjects ranging from the holistic design of sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural resource management and advanced automation, focusing on the benefits it will bring to society.[2][5]

Contents

[edit] Life, inventions, and business career

[edit] Earlier work

Automated construction

Born on March 13, 1916, Jacque Fresco started his professional career as design consultant for Rotor Craft Helicopter Company. He served in the Army Design and Development Unit at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. and worked for the Raymond De-Icer Corporation based in Los Angeles, California, U.S., as a research engineer.[5][4]

He worked for many companies and in many fields such as technical consultant and technical advisor to the Motion Picture Industry, industrial design instructor at the Art Center School in Hollywood, California. In Los Angeles, he was colleague and work associate of psychologist Donald Powell Wilson.[5][4]

In 1942, Fresco started the Revell Plastics Company (now Revell-Monogram) with Lou Glaser, although he later left to pursue his other ideas, working variously in aerospace research and development, architecture, efficient automobile design, bare-eye 3D cinematic projection methods and medical equipment design where he developed a three dimensional X-ray unit amongst other things.[5][4]

[edit] The Venus Project

The Venus Project was started around 1975[2] by self-described futurist and "social designer", Jacque Fresco[1][6] and by former portrait artist, Roxanne Meadows[2] in Venus, Florida, USA. It is a 21-acre (85,000 m2) property populated with various domed buildings of his design along with his assistant, Roxanne Meadows, where they work on books and film to demonstrate their concepts and ideas.[4] The Venus Project was incorporated in 1995,[7][8]

The project was founded on the idea that poverty is caused by the stifling of progress in technology, which itself is caused by the present world's profit-driven economic system.[9] The progression of technology, if it were carried on independent of its profitability, Fresco theorizes, would make more resources available to more people. This new-found abundance of resources would reduce the human tendency toward independence, corruption and greed, and instead make people more likely to help each other.[10][6][11] Fundamental to the project is the elimination of the current money-based economy in favor of what Fresco calls a resource-based economy.[12]

According to a 2008 interview with Fresco and Meadows, Fresco's lack of credentials has made it difficult for him to gain influence in academic circles.[2] He adds that when universities do invite him to speak, they often don't give him enough time to explain his views.[2]

The Venus Project is featured prominently in the 2008 documentary film Zeitgeist: Addendum, as a possible solution to the global problems alleged in the film.[6] The film premiered at the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival in Los Angeles, California on October 2, 2008, winning their highest award, and it was released online for free on Google video[13] on October 4, 2008.[14]

[edit] Resource-based economy

See also: Natural resource economics
Circular city

A major theme of Fresco's is the concept of a resource-based economy that replaces the need for the scarcity-oriented monetary economy we have now. Fresco argues that the world is rich in natural resources and energy and that —with modern technology and judicious efficiency— the needs of the global population can be met with abundance, while at the same time removing the current limitations of what is deemed possible due to notions of economic viability.

He gives this example to help explain the idea:

"At the beginning of World War II the U.S. 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. It was the available resources that enabled the US to achieve the high production and efficiency required to win the war. Unfortunately this is only considered in times of war." [15]

Fresco states that for this to work, all of the Earth's resources must be held as the common heritage of all people and not just a select few; and the practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter-productive to our survival.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Keyes, Ken; Fresco, Jacque (1969). Looking Forward. South Brunswick Township, New Jersey: Alfred Smith Barnes. ISBN 0498067521. OCLC 21606. 
  • Fresco, Jacque (1977). Introduction to Sociocyberneering. Miami, Fla.: Sociocyberneering. OCLC 6036204. 
  • Fresco, Jacque (1978). Sociocyberneering Presents: Cities in Transition. Miami, Fla.: Sociocyberneering.
  • Fresco, Jacque (1978). Sociocyberneering Presents: The Determinants of Behavior. Miami, Fla.: Sociocyberneering.
  • Fresco, Jacque (1979). Structural Systems and Systems of Structure. Miami, Fla.: Sociocyberneering.
  • Fresco, Jacque (1995). The Venus Project: The Redesign of a Culture. Venus, Fla.: Global Cyber-Visions. OCLC 33896367. "(World Future Society best seller)" 
  • Fresco, Jacque (1997). And The World Will Be One.
  • Fresco, Jacque (2002). The Best that Money Can’t Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty & War. Venus, Fla.: Global Cyber-Visions. ISBN 0964880679. OCLC 49931422. 
  • Maynard, Elliott; Fresco, Jacque (2003). Transforming the Global Biosphere: Twelve Futuristic Strategies. Sedona, Ariz.: Arcos Cielos Research Center. ISBN 0972171312. OCLC 78763038. 
  • Fresco, Jacque; Venus Project (2007) (eBook). Designing the Future. Venus, FL: The Venus Project. OCLC 287285303. 

[edit] Films

  • The Venus Project: The Redesign of a Culture (1994)
  • Welcome to the Future (2001)
  • Cities in the Sea (2002)
  • Self-erecting Structures (2002)
  • Future by Design (2006)
  • Zeitgeist: Addendum (2008)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Durrani, Noni (2007-10-15). The Future: Jacque Fresco On The Future Forbes.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Living On Purpose: Interview with Fresco and Meadows (MP3). The Venus Project. Retrieved on 2008-12-02.
  3. ^ Corrias, Angela (March 19, 2009). "The Zeitgeist Movement: practical advices to build a better future". Herald de Paris. http://www.heralddeparis.com/the-zeitgeist-movement-practical-advices-to-build-a-better-future/27800. Retrieved on 2009-04-08. 
  4. ^ a b c d e Future by Design at the Internet Movie Database
  5. ^ a b c d new venus (PHP). parole.aporee.org. Retrieved on 2008-12-02.
  6. ^ a b c "IMDb Profile". Imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1332128/. Retrieved on 2009-03-26. 
  7. ^ "The Venus Project, Inc." (ASPX). CorporationWiki. http://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/Venus/the-venus-project-inc-6481878.aspx. Retrieved on 2009-03-26. 
  8. ^ "Detail by Entity Name: Florida Profit Corporation: THE VENUS PROJECT, INC". Division of Corporations. State of Florida, Department of State. http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?action=P&inq_came_from=NAMFWD&inq_doc_number=L04000033467&cor_web_names_seq_number=0000&names_name_ind=N&fei_fei_number=&fei_cor_number=&princ_cor_number=&princ_type=&princ_seq=&princ_comp_name=&names_comp_name=VENUSNAILS&names_cor_number=P03000106376&names_name_ind=N&names_name_seq=0000&names_filing_type=. Retrieved on 2009-03-26. 
  9. ^ Breaking News, Artivist Film Festival website.
  10. ^ "F.A.Q.". The Zeitgeist Movement. http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/faq-home.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-26. 
  11. ^ "Zeitgeist Addendum". WorldCat. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/263093157&referer=brief_results. Retrieved on 2009-03-26. 
  12. ^ "What is The Venus Project". The Venus Project. http://www.thevenusproject.com/intro_main/whatis_tvp.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-26. 
  13. ^ "Zeitgeist: Addendum". Video. Google. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7065205277695921912. Retrieved on 2009-03-26. 
  14. ^ The Wall Street Journal Digital Network's Market Watch, Press release.
  15. ^ "Resource based economy". Venus Project. http://www.thevenusproject.com/resource_eco.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-26. 

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Fresco, Jacque
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Author, Scientist, & Futurist
DATE OF BIRTH March 13, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacque_Fresco"
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