A Resource Based Economy is a proposed system where goods and services are available to all who need them, not just the select few. There is no need for money, credit, barter, or any other system that relies on debt and servitude. Our current capitalist system allows (and encourages) certain individuals to amass great amounts of wealth, leaving much of the rest of the world in abject poverty. A recent study has shown that the 62 richest people hold the same wealth as the poorest 50% in the world (http://www.abc.net.au/news/factcheck/...). How can anybody morally justify this?

Clearly, our current system is not working. Sure, many of us in the West now have smart phones, cheap fast food, clothing, and 24-hour shopping, but is this really what we want from society? At what expense does this all come? By now we have all heard of the underpaid and under-appreciated workers in Asia who are responsible for producing our clothes, shoes and electronics. They work in hot and crowded factories, barely getting enough money to pay for their families food, let alone being able to save anything. We might be living it up in the West, but they certainly arent. Our current system is inherently exploitative. It benefits the few at the expense of the many.

Jacque Fresco is an American futurist who has been around for quite a while hes almost 100 years old! He has always pushed for a society that doesnt try to take, take, take all the time, but instead shares its resources with all its inhabitants. He believes that the Earths resources should be declared as the common heritage of all people. Why should a baby come into this world with no access to clean water, because a group of rich guys dont want to give anything away for free?

Jacque believes that greed is simply a result of our current system. Think of a group of cows in a field that have plentiful grass. They dont go around fighting each other over whose blade of grass is whose. Of course not theres enough food for all! However, as soon as the farmer holds out a single carrot, cows will push and buck one another in order to get to it. Why? Because the carrot is now scarce. Our current capitalist system relies on scarcity. That is, if something is scarce (for example, an iPhone 6S Plus), then people will do whatever it takes to get one. Of course, many of our resources and products are not scarce, its just that the companies what us to think that they are scarce so that we hand over our hard-earned money. If we knew that we could just use a 3D printer to print ourselves an iPhone, then why would we line up for ten hours to pay $1200 for one? Companies use many psychological tricks to make us think their products are scarce so that we freely give them our money (https://www.businessinsider.com.au/ma...). Its a big scam that can be done away with in our future society.

Jacque has recently released a film called The Choice is Ours (https://youtu.be/Yb5ivvcTvRQ). I watched it last night and enjoyed it immensely. The first half talks about the problems with our current system and the dire need for change. It tells us about the history of the financial system and how it has been designed to benefit the ruling class. Laws, prison sentences and other punishments exist so that our rulers can maintain control. The second half of the film proposes a workable alternative to this madness. It aims to achieve and maintain a more humane society for all using technology and automation. A financial, money-based system will no longer be needed. A resource-based economy which efficiently shares and distributes the worlds resources will take its place.

The Choice is Ours has guest appearances by Jacque Fresco (Futurist, Industrial Designer, Social Engineer, Founder of The Venus Project https://www.thevenusproject.com/), Jeffery A. Hoffman Ph.D (Prof. Aeronautics & Astronautics MIT, Former NASA Astronaut), Henry Schlinger, Ph.D., BCBA-D (Prof. Psychology CAL State University), Abby Martin (Journalist & Host The Empire Files), Karen Hudes (Economist, Lawyer, World Bank Whistleblower), Erin Ade (Reporter & Host Boom Bust), Paul Wright (Founder & Director of Human Rights Defense Center, Editor of Prison Legal News, Author), Dylan Ratigan (Author & TV Host The Dylan Ratigan Show), Mark Jacobson, Ph.d (Prof. Civil & Env. Engineering, Stanford University. The Solutions Project), Erik Brynjolfsson, Ph.D (Prof. of Management-MIT Sloan School of Management, Dir. MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, Author), Lawrence M. Krauss, Ph.D (Foundation Prof. School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of Origins Project, Arizona State University. Author A Universe from Nothing), Paul Hewitt (Author Conceptual Physics), and Roxanne Meadows (Co-Founder The Venus Project).

Please enjoy the film.

Originally posted on Daily Rant Australia on February 8, 2016 by Andrew.

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Resource Based Economy - YouTube