Hey Venus Project: Where's the Transition Plan?

~Updated on 1/10/11

Remain helpless and wait for robots to grow your food for you.

Oh no, wait, nevermind...that's a bad idea.

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As you all know, there was some debate here about The Venus Project and whether or not Evolver should join forces with them and/or Zeitgeist. I had a conversation on Facebook (yes, Facebook) with somebody involved in The Venus Project. I asked him a question that many people here have been concerned about. I thought he had some interesting answers and that we had a good conversation.

At the time I felt like this conversation went fairly well, but I've become increasingly concerned about their lack of any kind of transition plan, and what even seems to be like an outright opposition to having any type of transition plan...or at best, a glossing over of the issue.

So what, we don't need a transition plan? We're just going to move smoothly and seemlessly from a monetary system into a Resource-Based Economy? What...with some help from our good New World Order buddies at the United Nations???

Read the conversation below to see what I mean. And keep in mind that the following person was relatively polite toward the idea of having a transition plan.

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For your reading pleasure:

Boadie McLeod:
Is it true that people in TVP are not into the idea of building local, sustainable farms and permaculture and stuff like that?

Stuart Dobson:
@Boadie TVP are not into localized communities because this is not the way forward, I'll have to address this in detail another time but basically we need the world to work as a whole. From my understanding though, many of the resources will certainly be managed locally, but as you may have seen from a recent post on the resourcebasedliving facebook page, sometimes it's more efficient to ship stuff from the other side of the world due to the location working in favor of production. Nobody is against permaculture, all technologies will be experimented with and the best solutions chosen. And sustainability is absolutely paramount.

Boadie McLeod
I can really sympathize with TVP's vision of the future. But I'm wondering what you think should be done right now at this moment. Do you think it's important for us to begin growing our own food? Would you agree that growing our own food is the first logical step toward breaking free from the monetary system?

Furthermore, would you agree that we need to break free from the monetary system before we can even begin to entertain the thought of developing any of this advanced civilization technology?

Stuart Dobson:
:) Broadie can I get you to check out the About page on ResourceBasedLiving.com which I've been writing for over a year, where you will find my answer to that question :)

TVP however has more forward thinking ideas, and doesn't really concern itself too much with the transition. Which is kind of why I started RBL in the first place...

Boadie McLeod:
Cool. I'll check it out.

Yeah, I've been talking and debating with a lot of people about this lately, both here and on Evolver.net. A lot of people are VERY concerned that TVP doesn't have a transition plan, and some people have become vehemently against it for that reason, basically.

Stuart Dobson:
Yeah, I'm aware of that, in fact I turned against it myself about 10 minutes after watching Addendum.. but this Venus Proj Design team are really doing stuff, far more than anything else I've seen. Basically, although they're not dealing with the transition per se, when the ash does hit the jet, they'll be ready with an army of professionals ready ... See Moreto rebuild the world with the VP vision. So you've gotta appreciate that.

However, I agree with you, I wanna see more action now. Thing is, why is a transition plan so important? We have the end vision. How we get there is up to us, it's not down to any authority, including the VP.

Boadie McLeod:
I DO appreciate the fact that they will be standing by, ready to rebuild the world!

A transition plan is important for our SURVIVAL, and for breaking down the current structure. When the ash hits the jet, as you say, WE need to be ready to take care of ourselves.

We all have a different role to play, and I think we should have respect for what one-another is doing. We need to work separately, but together, at the same time. I think.

Stuart Dobson:
Use our individual skills and passions towards a common goal, you mean? Totally! ;)
This is why I am so happy to help out TVPD team with their website. I think this organization is destined for big things!

Boadie McLeod:
"Use our individual skills and passions towards a common goal, you mean? Totally! ;)"

I know, right? When you say it like that, it sounds so simple! Ha ha ha! I'm literally laughing out right now. Thank you for that! :D

Stuart, you are very smart guy, with a very good head on your shoulders, and a very well-rounded view of things. Thanks you for being my friend.

Would you mind terribly if I posted our part of this conversation on Evolver.net? There's been a debate going on over there, and I think everyone would benefit from this.

Stuart Dobson:
I might have to get involved... :) Please, post away!

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I'm not laughing anymore.