Category Archives: Zeitgeist Movement

Itd be easy to pitch Syfys The Magicians by calling it Harry Potter for adults, but thats just the kind of simplification the series avoids. Not only does a Brakebills magical education involve a kind of intellectual rigor that was never present at Hogwarts (Harry never went to class), but actually casting magic in The Magicians requires complicated finger work without the easy crutch of a wand. Children wave sticks and speak some Latin; Brakebills students must learn movements that are not only complex, but they have meaning and purpose that tie into the greater narrative of the stories.

Wands and staves have long been the default tools of unimaginative witches and wizards, but these days, its all about complex hand gestures, or finger tutting. According to Paul Becker, the series choreographer on Syfys The Magicians, the zeitgeist around magic is transforming: I think finger tutting could replace the magic wand. Its way cooler and takes more skill, he told Inverse. I think people are tired of seeing Abracadabra.

Indeed, outside of Harry Potter, magic has taken a turn for the tut. Becker credits Step Up 3D for first introducing tutting to the mainstream, and now its really come into focus with not only The Magicians, but also Marvels hit film Doctor Strange, which was filled with weird conjuring motions. Becker gave Inverse the inside word on all things tutting as the show finds its groove in its second season.

In the books theres relatively little specificity about spellcasting beyond the vague description of intricate finger gestures. How has the development of magic with finger tutting on The Magicians unfolded?

Weve actually developed our own vocabulary a language, if you will and if you compare Seasons 1 and 2, its actually evolved so you can recognize some of the tuts, because some of them have the same meaning. For example, opening a lock or door have some of the same meanings, as does turning heat up and down.

Some of the spells are new; some are a bit of old combined with the new in a sequence, depending on the meaning. Weve really created a vocabulary of spells, and it keeps growing as the causes and effects change. Its been a lot of fun creating it. Choreography isnt just dance steps. Its telling a story, and I think thats why I was brought on: to help tell that story.

Whats the creative process behind developing that vocabulary? How do you decide what motions take on certain meanings?

The whole show is a collaborative process. The producers, the director, and the writers are all giving notes on the tuts, so theres a lot of revisions and even going back to the drawing board at times. Its not as straightforward as a simple finger movement. Its quite intricate.

First, the writers send over the scripts, and a lot of the times it has a brief description probably the type of tut and it generally says what the cause and effect of the tut is. For example, it might cause all of the candles to ignite. So I thought, What might cause candles to ignite? Well, increasingly temperature would do that. So we created a tut that is a general turn the temperature up or down. Things like that, we think deeper than what it says on paper, so thats sort of the process. We try to think, What would cause this? What kind of a gesture would make sense?

I put the tuts on tape, and the actors practice on their own. Then, on the shoot day, I go to set, and then from set we just refine it. Well do set visits and practice with them. Theyre practicing their tuts for a good week or so before they have to shoot it.

And were in different worlds this season, too. Were in Fillory, which is a very earthy, natural, organic world where the spells are very spiritual, if you will. And in Brakebills, its very classical, where the tuts are very geometric and rigid in style. And when we are in New York, its very rough. So weve got three kinds of styles, and three different worlds, and three vocabularies.

Do all characters perform the same spells the same way, or are there subtle variations from character to character?

They should be performing it in the same way because its the same language, but each actor has his or her own limitations. Some have different flexibilities and cant do the same thing. So on the fly, sometimes we have to revise spells because an actor cant move their hand one way or the other. Tutting is quite difficult, so those kinds of limitations have really shaped the language.

What about for special characters like the Beast, who has 12 fingers?

Well, the cool thing about the Beast is that hes so advanced in his tutting and his magic that he doesnt have to do much. He can make the smallest gesture, and itll cause destruction. For the Beast, its small gestures, but that takes years and years of training as a magician.

How did the show as a whole settle on really focusing on tutting as the medium for developing spellcasting?

Obviously, with The OA and Doctor Strange, people are seeing what tutters have done, and theres this developing desire to take tutting to different places and explore it in new ways. For The Magicians, using tutting was something that was developed in the pilot that was shot in Atlanta, that I wasnt involved in. By the time the second episode was ready to shoot, they called me in.

They brought me on board because of my experience with tutting, but almost more so because of my experience with storytelling through choreography; because were not just tutting here its storytelling. And in Season 1, I also got to do the dance number in Quentins mind. We had a lot of fun with that.

But choreography is the art of movement, and a choreographer shouldnt just be able to do dance steps. They should be able to tell a story in a pedestrian way. So I dont think if you just brought on a regular tutter to do this job, you would have the kind of vocabulary weve developed along the way.

Are there any spells that were your favorites?

Yeah, a lot of the ones in Season 2, because were tutting like crazy but I cant talk about many of them yet. But I will say that in the second season theres triple the tuts in every episode. There are way more spells being cast, and with some of the Fillorian spells, theyre very organic and spiritual.

Youve also done some choreography for shows like Once Upon a Time and Legends of Tomorrow. Whats that been like?

With shows like that, a lot of times with choreography, its not a musical number, right? Its movement thats meant to draw the story forward, to advance the plot. So all the scenes I do in shows like that, there are scenes within the scene that move things along. I always say that choreography in general, in a music number, or in any narrative if its not progressing the story, it doesnt belong in the script.

A musical number has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end just like any story, and it has to move the story forward. Thats also what I love about choreography.

Season 2 of The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. Eastern on Syfy.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Corey Plante is a multimedia journalist and copy editor living in Brooklyn, NY with his fiancee and two cats. He loves bears, beets, and Battlestar Galactica.

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Here Is Everything You Ever Need to Know About Magical Tutting - Inverse

Top Five Zeitgeist The Movie Myths!

1) The Zeitgeist Movement is all about support of Zeitgeist: The Movie!

Actually, as per my experience over the past 6 years, most within The Zeitgeist Movement (TZM) do not subscribe or agree with this film in general, although mixed reactions are most common. Zeitgeist: The Movie was created years before TZM was formed. TZM was created originally to support Jacque Frescos Venus Project (TVP). After TVP and TZM split three years later, TZM became a self-propelling institution with its own body of work. The text The Zeitgeist Movement Defined is the core source of Movement interests and expresses what TZM is about clearly.

As of 2015, any ongoing association with TZM and Zeitgeist: The Movie is often perpetuated by those merely with malicious intent. As the rest of this list will express, Zeitgeist: The Movie has been a point of extreme attack and bigoted reactions since its inception. Having been seen by literally hundreds of millions of people, it is no surprise so many in vehement disagreement rise to the top. I wish I counted the number of death threats and the amount of cyber stalking I have personally endured. I have spent upwards of $20,000 in legal fees fighting constant defamation by those offended by that film.

As an aside, many have suggested that a simple name change (remove Zeitgeist) would have solved the problem. Yet, if a name change alone is that persuasive, isnt that actually indicative of a deep lack of critical thought? Where a mere superficial title changes peoples sense of association? I find this troubling if so. But regardless, the genie cannot go back in the bottle. Love it or hate it, Zeitgeist: The Movie isnt going anywhere and its content/implications 8 years later seem to only get stronger and more validated. According to my online distributor, it is one of the most popular docs on Netflix, now in many languages/regions there.

2) Its all been debunked!

The term debunked has become a mantra of sorts by the anti-ztm crowd. You also see this kind of overly zealous absolutism in other communities as well, such as the atheist community. As an atheist myself, I have learned that compassion is much more powerful than ridicule and if the goal of any communication is to change minds, taking a condescending and absolute approach does nothing but inflate the initiators ego not help educate others.

In that, many interpreted the first section of Zeitgeist: The Movie as an attack on religion. I would say it is providing a contrary view of its history and it does so in a non-derisive way. It is very academic in its presentation and to call it an attack is without merit.

That noted, Zeitgeist: The Movie was an art piece first and foremost and a great deal of liberty was taken in its expression. In the very first edition, I had a section with John F. Kennedy talking about the grand conspiracy of Communism and overlaid it onto his assassination footage. I knew what I was doing and did so because it was an amazing artistic effect. It wasnt until the film was grossly misinterpreted in its mixed genre style and artistic license that I later went back and made such editorial changes to conform it to a more documentary form.

I was sad to have to do this, in fact but It seems it was too advanced a piece for common culture and people were not ready to be critical of such liberties; understand the context. Zeitgeist: The Movie was the ultimate expression of demanding critical thought. It wasnt made to declare, it was made to challenge.Same goes for the long held up cry of manipulative filmmaking, such as when footage of the Madrid subway bombing was used to introduce a section on the 7/7 London Bombings. How dare I show a different explosion!

In 2010, I cleaned it up to conform to a more traditional documentary form and produced a free 220 booklet to support the literally 100s of claims made in the work. To date, no one has addressed this text. I would also add that while points made in the film from the origins of religion, to the events of Sept 11th, to the history of war for profit and social manipulation by financial interests are subject to interpretation and could perhaps be wrong, no single opposing claim or group of contradictions debunks the whole film. As the filmmaker, I will state that even I am not sure about some of the claims as far as what the absolute truth is. But again, that isnt the purpose of this work.

3) There are no sources!

I have seen this claim posted in reviews constantly. Zeitgeist: The Movie is likely the most sourced film in documentary history. I know of no other work that has painstakingly shown where the content came from. Again, one can argue about the truth of any given idea, but to say it is made up is beyond absurd. Companion Source Guide : http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/Zeitgeist,%20The%20Movie-%20Companion%20Guide%20PDF.pdf

4) Its anti-semitic!

This one really took me by surprise when I starting hear about it, especially since I end the film with one of the most heart warming/human unity quotes of all time by Carl Sagan. It appears to have started with a woman named Michelle Goldberg. She essentially stated that my use of a 1941 anti-war speech by Charles A. Lindbergh implied this, as Lindbergh was supposedly anti-semitic.

In the opening section of part 3 of the film, she claims Charles A. Lindbergh was talking about the jews when describing warring interests trying to bring American into WWII. This is just about as wrong and irresponsible as it comes. Sadly, this theme has carried forward through history as the echo of pro-war/pro establishment media propaganda redefines reality. Long story short, Charles A Lindbergh was a famous American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist. He was the son of Congressman Charles Lindbergh Sr. who was extremely outspoken against the banking system a generation prior, writing texts on the Money Trust, referring to the financial system and its power. (He too was often called anti-semitic with no validation as a means of personal attack.) Charles A. Lindbergh deeply opposed US involve in WWII. He was an isolationist. In this crusade, he was attacked as anti-semitic in order to pollute his message. (sound familiar?) Its that simple. To his discredit, his speaking skills were poor and he often spoke primitively about groups. He held some bad science views that were very common of the time and its easy to look back on such un-informed issues and find false relationships. Yet, his non-racist stance is very clear to those paying attention.

For example, he once stated: I am not attacking either the Jewish or the British people. Both races, I admire. But I am saying that the leaders of both the British and the Jewish races, for reasons which are as understandable from their viewpoint as they are inadvisable from ours, for reasons which are not American, wish to involve us in the war. We cannot blame them for looking out for what they believe to be their own interests, but we also must look out for ours. We cannot allow the natural passions and prejudices of other peoples to lead our country to destruction This was a political statement, not a racist one but the press at the time ran that it was anti-semitic, which, again, is a good ploy if you want people to distrust someone. We see this technique being used today, constantly. Here are the last lines of the speech used in Zeitgeist: The Movie (that was called anti-semitic), along with the next sentence, not included in the film (in bold):

Our theaters soon became filled with plays portraying the glory of war. Newsreels lost all semblance of objectivity. Newspapers and magazines began to lose advertising if they carried anti-war articles. A smear campaign was instituted against individuals who opposed intervention. The terms fifth columnist, traitor, Nazi, anti-Semitic were thrown ceaselessly at any one who dared to suggest that it was not to the best interests of the United States to enter the war. Men lost their jobs if they were frankly anti-war. Many others dared no longer speak.

Later in the speech he then states: No person with a sense of the dignity of mankind can condone the persecution of the Jewish race in Germany.

Does this sound like a racist to you? In a book written by his wife, she states: His prewar isolationist speeches were given in all sincerity for what he thought was the good of the country and the worldHe was accused of being anti-semetic, but in the 45 years I lived with him I never heard him make a remark against the jews, not a crack or joke, and neither did any of our children. So what we have is a victim of the media culture, glamorized through history with the vile horror of hindsight given the horrors/persecutions around WWII. Lindbergh might not have been the smartest and most strategic in his manner of activism and communication but there is no evidence he was a racist.

5) Its an anti-New World Order Conspiracy Film!

Proponents who talk about the New World Order, (long before Zeitgeist The Movie) have always agitated me. I have never supported this bizarre and esoteric body of assumptions and, to this day, can honestly say I have no idea how the current ideas even came about given the origin of the original term. New World Order is a term put forward by H. G. Wells in his book of the same title. In this, he speaks about the world unifying as one for the better. Since that time, however, the term has been skyrocketed into bizarro land.The only times I have ever sympathized with anyone who does have this pop culture belief was when I tried and get behind it and talk about root causes of human behavior and power abuse. And yet, even the current Wikipedia entry on Zeitgeist: The Movie says it is about New World Order forces But then again its Wikipedia the encyclopedia that lets random opinion and select news sources serve as historical fact.

Anyway, while the very original version of the film did talk about global government run by corporate power as an Orwellian 1984 type assumption for the future, this was artistically presented and deduced as a result of global financial power and the tendency to constantly concentrate this power. I later removed this section entirely (in 2010) as I was disgusted by the constant misinterpretations.

Likewise, the notion of a Conspiracy film is equally as misguided. This is simply derision by categorical association. No different than how the term communist was used to force people to shy away from any information or ideas that were against the status quo during the Mcarthy Era in the 1950s.

Zeitgeist: The Movie takes three subjects and bridges them within the context of social myth. This context is then evidenced to show how people become biased and can be manipulated based upon those dominant shared (bogus) beliefs (hence the term zeitgeist itself).

In the context of the real world, power abuse is obvious since the nature of our economy supports massive class division and the movement of power and money to a small group. This isnt conspiracy it is a system reality. We live in a war system and massive gaming for personal/group self-interest is happening at every moment.

Thats enough for now.

~Peter Joseph, Feb 22nd 2015

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Top Five Zeitgeist: The Movie Myths! | Peter Joseph

Zeitgeist: The Movie Directed by Peter Joseph Produced by Peter Joseph Written by Peter Joseph Music by Peter Joseph Edited by Peter Joseph Distributed by GMP LLC

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Zeitgeist: The Movie is a 2007 film by Peter Joseph presenting a number of conspiracy theories.[3] The film assembles archival footage, animations and narration.[4] Released online on June 18, 2007, it soon received tens of millions of views on Google Video, YouTube, and Vimeo.[5] According to Peter Joseph, the original Zeitgeist was not presented in a film format, but was a "performance piece consisting of a vaudevillian, multimedia style event using recorded music, live instruments, and video".[5]

The film's introduction features animations, footage of war, explosions, and the September 11 attacks and audio quotes from Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche and George Carlin. The rest of the film is in three parts narrated by Peter Joseph.[6]

Part I asserts that the Christian religion is mainly derived from other religions, astronomical assertions, astrological myths, and other traditions. In furtherance of the Jesus myth hypothesis, this part disputes the historicity of Jesus, who, it claims, is a literary and astrological hybrid, nurtured by political forces and opportunists.[6]

Part II alleges that the 9/11 attacks were either orchestrated or allowed to happen by elements within the United States government in order to generate mass fear, justify the War on Terror, provide a pretext for the curtailment of civil liberties, and produce economic gain. It asserts that the U.S. government had advance knowledge of the attacks, that the military deliberately allowed the planes to reach their targets, and that World Trade Center buildings 1, 2, and 7 underwent a controlled demolition.[6]

Part III states that the Federal Reserve System is controlled by a small cabal of international bankers who conspire to create global calamities to enrich themselves.[4] Three wars involving the United States during the twentieth century are highlighted as part of this alleged agenda, started by specifically engineered events, including the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. The film asserts that such wars serve to sustain conflict in general and force the U.S. government to borrow money, thereby increasing the profits of the international bankers. The film also claims that the Federal Income Tax is illegal.[6]

Part III also alleges a secret agreement to merge the United States, Canada and Mexico into a North American Union as a step toward the creation of a single world government. The film speculates that under such a government, every human could be implanted with an RFID chip to monitor individual activity and suppress dissent.

The first film received almost universal condemnation from the media, though it also "attracted massive interest" from the public.[5][7]

The newspaper The Arizona Republic described Zeitgeist: The Movie as "a bramble of conspiracy theories involving Sept. 11, the international monetary system, and Christianity" saying also that the movie trailer states that "there are people guiding your life and you don't even know it".[8]

A review in The Irish Times wrote that "these are surreal perversions of genuine issues and debates, and they tarnish all criticism of faith, the Bush administration, and globalizationthere are more than enough factual injustices in this world to be going around without having to invent fictional ones".[7]

Ivor Tossell in the Globe and Mail cited it as an example of how modern conspiracy theories are promulgated, though he praised its effectiveness:

"The film is an interesting object lesson on how conspiracy theories get to be so popular.... It's a driven, if uneven, piece of propaganda, a marvel of tight editing and fuzzy thinking. Its on-camera sources are mostly conspiracy theorists, co-mingled with selective eyewitness accounts, drawn from archival footage and often taken out of context. It derides the media as a pawn of the International Bankers, but produces media reports for credibility when convenient. The film ignores expert opinion, except the handful of experts who agree with it. And yet, it's compelling. It shamelessly ploughs forward, connecting dots with an earnest certainty that makes you want to give it an A for effort."[4]

Filipe Feio, reflecting upon the film's Internet popularity in Dirio de Notcias, stated that "[f]iction or not, Zeitgeist: The Movie threatens to become the champion of conspiracy theories of today".[9]

Michael Shermer, founder of the Skeptics Society, mentioned Zeitgeist in an article in Scientific American on skepticism in the age of mass media and the postmodern belief in the relativism of truth. He argues that this belief, coupled with a "clicker culture of mass media," results in a multitude of various truth claims packaged in "infotainment units", in the form of films such as Zeitgeist and Loose Change.[10]

Jane Chapman, a film producer and reader in media studies at the University of Lincoln, called Zeitgeist "a fast-paced assemblage of agitprop," an example of "unethical film-making".[11] She accused Peter Joseph of "implicit deception" through the use of standard film-making propaganda techniques. While parts of the film are, she says, "comically" self-defeating, the nature of "twisted evidence" and use of Madrid bomb footage to imply it is of the London bombings amount to "ethical abuse in sourcing". She finishes her analysis with the comment: "Thus, legitimate questions about what happened on 9/11, and about corruption in religious and financial organizations, are all undermined by the film's determined effort to maximize an emotional response at the expense of reasoned argument."

Alex Jones, American radio host, conspiracy theorist and executive producer of Loose Change, stated that film segments of Zeitgeist are taken directly from his documentary Terrorstorm, and that he supports "90 percent" of the film.[12]

Skeptic magazine's Tim Callahan, criticizing the parts of the film on the origins of Christianity, wrote that "some of what it asserts is true. Unfortunately, this material is liberallyand sloppilymixed with material that is only partially true and much that is plainly and simply bogus."[13]

Chris Forbes, Senior lecturer in Ancient History of Macquarie University and member of the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney, severely criticized Part I of the film, stating that it has no basis in serious scholarship or ancient sources, and that it relies on amateur sources that recycle frivolous ideas from one another, commenting that "[i]t is extraordinary how many claims it makes which are simply not true".[14] Similar conclusions were reached by Dr. Mark Foreman of Liberty University.[15]

Paul Constant writing in Seattle newspaper The Stranger characterized the film as "fiction couched in a few facts".[6] Of the religious critique in the film he said: "First the film destroys the idea of God, and then, through the lens of 9/11, it introduces a sort of new Bizarro God. Instead of an omnipotent, omniscient being who loves you and has inspired a variety of organized religions, there is an omnipotent, omniscient organization of ruthless beings who hate you and want to take your rights away, if not throw you in a work camp forever."[6] Adding "it's probably drawing more people into the Truth movement than anything else".[6]

In Tablet Magazine, journalist Michelle Goldberg criticized Zeitgeist: The Movie as being "steeped in far-right, isolationist, and covertly anti-Semitic conspiracy theories," claiming that the film borrowed from the work of Eustace Mullins, Lyndon LaRouche, and radio host Alex Jones, and that it portrays a cabal of international bankers purportedly ruling the world.[5] In an interview with TheMarker, Joseph said that while the film does mention bankers it does not seek to blame any individual or group of individuals. He argued they are merely a product of a socioeconomic system in need of change.[16]

Chip Berlet wrote that the 9/11 conspiracy theories "are bait used to attract viewers from the 9/11 truth movement and others who embrace conspiracist thinking to the idiosyncratic antireligion views of the videographer and the world of right-wing antisemitic theories of a global banking conspiracy".[17]

Jay Kinney questioned the accuracy of its claims and the quality of its arguments, describing it as agitprop and propaganda.[18] At times, according to Kinney, "Zeitgeist engages in willful confusion by showing TV screen shots of network or cable news with voice-overs from unidentified people not associated with the news programs. If one weren't paying close attention, the effect would be to confer the status and authority of TV news upon the words being spoken. Even when quotes or sound bites are attributed to a source, there's no way to tell if they are quoted correctly or in context."[18]

In June 2013, Peter Joseph directed the music video for "God Is Dead?" by Black Sabbath, using extensive imagery from Zeitgeist: The Movie and its sequels.[19]

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Zeitgeist: Addendum is a 2008 film produced and directed by Peter Joseph, and is a sequel to the 2007 film, Zeitgeist: The Movie. It premiered at the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival in Los Angeles, California on October 2, 2008.[citation needed]

The film begins and ends with excerpts from a speech by Jiddu Krishnamurti. The remainder of the film is narrated by Peter Joseph and divided into four parts, which are prefaced by on-screen quotations from Krishnamurti, John Adams, Bernard Lietaer, and Thomas Paine, respectively.

Part I covers the process of fractional-reserve banking as illustrated in Modern Money Mechanics, by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The film suggests that society is manipulated into economic slavery through debt-based monetary policies by requiring individuals to submit for employment in order to pay off their debt.

Part II has an interview with John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman, who says he was involved in the subjugation of Latin American economies by multinational corporations and the United States government, including involvement in the overthrow of Latin American heads-of-state. Perkins sees the US as a corporatocracy, in which maximization of profits is the first priority.

Part III introduces futurist Jacque Fresco and The Venus Project and asserts a need to move away from current socioeconomic paradigms. Fresco states that capitalism perpetuates the conditions it claims to address, as problems are only solved if there is money to be made. The film looks at Fresco's proposal of a resource-based economy, which puts environmental friendliness, sustainability and abundance as fundamental societal goals. He goes on to discuss technology which he sees as the primary driver of human advancement, and he describes politics as being unable to solve any problems.

Part IV suggests that the primary reason for what the film sees as society's social values ("warfare, corruption, oppressive laws, social stratification, irrelevant superstitions, environmental destruction, and a despotic, socially indifferent, profit oriented ruling class") is a collective ignorance of "the emergent and symbiotic aspects of natural law". The film advocates the following actions for achieving social change: boycotting of the most powerful banks in the Federal Reserve System, the major news networks, the military, energy corporations, all political systems; and joining, and supporting The Zeitgeist Movement.

Zeitgeist: Addendum won the 2008 Artivist Film Festival's award for best feature ("Artivist Spirit" category).[20]

Originally, the film was uploaded-released on Google video. The current video posting on YouTube surpassed 5,000,000 views by late 2013.[21]

Alan Feuer of The New York Times noted that while the first film was famous for alleging that the attacks of September 11 were an inside job, the second, "was all but empty of such conspiratorial notions, directing its rhetoric and high production values toward posing a replacement for the evils of the banking system and a perilous economy of scarcity and debt".[22]

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward is the third installment in Peter Joseph's Zeitgeist film series. The film premiered at the JACC Theater in Los Angeles on January 15, 2011 at the Artivist Film Festival,[23] was released in theaters and online. As of November 2014, the film has over 23 million views on YouTube.[24] The film is arranged into four parts. Each part contains interviews, narration and animated sequences.[25]

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The film begins with an animated sequence narrated by Jacque Fresco. He describes his adolescent life and his discontinuation of public education at the age of 14 and describes his early life influences.

Part I: Human Nature

Human behavior and the nature vs. nurture debate is discussed, which Robert Sapolsky refers to as a "false dichotomy." Disease, criminal activity, and addictions are also discussed. The overall conclusion of Part I is that social environment and cultural conditioning play a large part in shaping human behavior.

Part II: Social Pathology

John Locke and Adam Smith are discussed in regard to modern economics. The film critically questions the economic need for private property, money, and the inherent inequality between agents in the system. Also seen critically is the need for cyclical consumption in order to maintain market share, resulting in wasted resources and planned obsolescence. According to the movie, the current monetary system will result in default or hyperinflation at some future time.

Part III: Project Earth

As with Zeitgeist: Addendum, the film presents a "resource-based economy" as advocated by Jacque Fresco discussing how human civilization could start from a new beginning in relation to resource types, locations, quantities, to satisfy human demands; track the consumption and depletion of resources to regulate human demands and maintain the condition of the environment.

Part IV: Rise

The current worldwide situation is described as disastrous. A case is presented that pollution, deforestation, climate change, overpopulation, and warfare are all created and perpetuated by the socioeconomic system. Various poverty statistics are shown that suggest a progressive worsening of world culture.

The final scene of the film shows a partial view of earth from space, followed by a sequence of superimposed statements; "This is your world", "This is our world", and "The revolution is now".

List of Interviewees

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward received "Best Political Documentary" in 2011 from the Action on Film International Film Festival.[26]

A The Socialist Standard review said the film's use of animation and humour gave it a "well rounded feel", though it criticized the "shaky economic analysis" in the second part of the film, saying "Karl Marx had already undertaken a more scientific analysis", adding, "the analysis is at least on the right track". Regarding transition to the new system proposed in the film, the reviewer noted "there is no mention of how to get from here to there".[27]

In an article, in Tablet Magazine, Michelle Goldberg described the film as "silly enough that at times [she] suspected it was [a] sly satire about new-age techno-utopianism instead of an example of it".[5] She describes the 3 Zeitgeist movies as "a series of 3 apocalyptic cult documentaries.[5]

Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007) started the chain of events leading to the formation of the Zeitgeist movement.[5] The group advocates transition from the global money-based economic system to a post-scarcity economy or resource-based economy. VC Reporter's Shane Cohn summarized the movement's charter as: "Our greatest social problems are the direct results of our economic system".[28] Joseph created a political movement that, according to The Daily Telegraph, dismisses historic religious concepts as misleading and embraces a version of sustainable ecological concepts and scientific administration of society.[29] The group describes the current socioeconomic system as structurally corrupt and inefficient in the use of resources.[22][30]Michelle Goldberg described the Zeitgeist movement as "the first Internet-based apocalyptic cult".[5]

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Zeitgeist (film series) - Wikipedia

If you are new to this site, or to the movement and are not fully aware as to exactly who and what the Zeitgeist Movement is, then please allow us to take a moment to introduce ourselves to you. Zeitgeist means "the spirit of the age and its society". It describes the intellectual, cultural, ethical, political and spiritual climate, ambience and morals of an era or also a trend.

The International Canadian Zeitgeist Movement is a chapter arm of a global social network in the thousands all across the planet. We have a common goal and advocate a possible alternative solution to our current failing social experiment 'the monetary system'. People from all walks of life are awakening and joining together forming the biggest 'conscious army' of light and love the world has ever seen. We are remembering who we really are and what our purpose is here, you are welcome to join because you are family, the door is open...

The Zeitgeist Movement, is NOT a Political Movement, we do not recognize Nations, Races, Religions, Governments, Legal, Religious or Corporate Institutions, Social or Financial Class or Power of Position or the Monetary System. Our understandings conclude that these are false, outdated distinctions which are far from positive factors for true collective human growth and potential. Their basis is in power division and stratification, not unity and equality, which is our goal. We recognize and stand for Humanity, Compassion, Fairness, Peace, Abundance and Intelligent Advancement through Co-operation, Education, Nature, Science, Technology which leads us on our path of Spiritual Oneness.

The Zeitgeist Movement aims to make everyone understand that the integrity of human beings and the integrity of the Earth are directly related. Human creativity creates technology that makes our lives progress. The system based on money, religion and politics is outdated and must come to an end. The Zeitgeist Movement offers awareness in ways that will allow us to achieve a social system which functions without politics or money. The old system will phase itself out and education will flourish allowing for the transformation of a RESOURCE BASED ECONOMY.

No human being can understand everything completely. The Zeitgeist Movement is not here to tell you what to believe. It may appear challenging to replace a system of distorted values which is currently running our lives but it must be started somehow. Any single person can do their part in shaping this vision. Education is the most important step and connecting with others at a local level is the next. This Canadian site lists all local chapters active in towns and cities across Canada. If there is not one near you, then please see our Starting a chapter section, and see how easy it is to start a chapter in your area. The Zeitgeist Movement will provide you with materials to help you along.

FOR ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT THE VENUS PROJECT

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What is the Zeitgeist Movement

Founded in 2008, The Zeitgeist Movement is a sustainability advocacy organization, which conducts community based activism and awareness actions through a network of global/regional chapters, project teams, annual events, media and charity work.The movements principle focus includes the recognition that the majority of the social problems that plague the human species at this time are not the sole result of some institutional corruption, absolute scarcity, a political policy, a flaw of human nature or other commonly held assumptions of causality. Rather, the movement recognizes that issues such as poverty, corruption, pollution, homelessness, war, starvation and the like appear to be symptoms born out of an outdated social structure.

While intermediate reform steps and temporal community support are of interest to the movement, the defining goal is the installation of a new socioeconomic model based upon technically responsible resource management, allocation and design through what would be considered the scientific method of reasoning problems and finding optimized solutions.

This Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy (NLRBE) is about taking a direct technical approach to social management as opposed to a monetary or even political one. It is about updating the workings of society to the most advanced and proven methods known, leaving behind the damaging consequences and limiting inhibitions which are generated by our current system of monetary exchange, profit, business and other structural and motivational issues.

The movement is loyal to a train of thought, not figures or institutions. The view held is that through the use of socially targeted research and tested understandings in science and technology, we are now able to logically arrive at societal applications that could be profoundly more effective in meeting the needs of the human population, increasing public health. There is little reason to assume war, poverty, most crime and many other monetarily-based scarcity effects common in our current model cannot be resolved over time. The range of the movements activism and awareness campaigns extend from short to long term, with methods based explicitly on non-violent methods of communication.

The Zeitgeist Movement has no allegiance to any country or traditional political platforms. It views the world as a single system and the human species as a single family and recognizes that all countries must disarm and learn to share resources and ideas if we expect to survive in the long run. Hence, the solutions arrived at and promoted are in the interest to help everyone on Earth, not a select group.

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About | The Zeitgeist Movement UK

Welcome to the official California chapter of The Zeitgeist Movement

The term Zeitgeist can be defined as: The intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era. The term "movement" implies motion or change. The Zeitgeist Movement is thus a social aim that urges change in the intellectual, moral and cultural climate of the time. Specifically, to values and practices that would better serve the well-being of the whole of humanity.

What TZM advocates, in short, can be phrased as: "The application of the Scientific Method for social concern", which is currently not done since the main modes of social problem-solving are through monetary economics and politics.

If you are new to The Movement or ZMCA, we highly recommend viewing Zeitgeist: Moving Forward or reading our new book - TZM Defined - to accurately understand this social direction.

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ZMCA Homepage

The Zeitgeist Movement is a grass-roots international network promoting a change[1] in the current spirit of the time (hence the name "The Zeitgeist Movement") that was formed in response to Peter Joseph's Zeitgeist: Addendum documentary. Basically a modern re-hash of the Technocracy movement, their ideas are derived from multiple sources, primarily The Venus Project and Buckminster Fuller. Indeed, the movement's Activist Orientation Guide defines itself as "the activist arm of the Venus Project"[2], despite their split with the Venus Project in April 2011.[3] They consider themselves to be a "sustainability advocacy organization."[4] The community is largely concentrated on the internet and have their own live broadcasting shows.[5][6]

The Zeitgeist movement is organised into various different 'chapters' across more than 50 different countries, though just how active these chapters are is probably only known to those involved in them [7] and differs greatly from chapter to chapter. Recordings of most chapter meetings are freely available online, where all types of chapter related matters like activity are discussed. A quick glance at some chapter websites reveals they have at least some presence in certain university societies and at the local level. Nevertheless, most of their forum posting seems to be discussions about the movement's philosophy and what activists intend to do in the near future. It is however difficult to measure if the movement achieves its goals seeing their sole intention is to be an educational movement[8] and "spread awareness," one could suspect they do seeing new chapters are added on a monthly basis (see chapter list on the website) and the userbase on the different Facebook pages[9] show an increase.

The organization is based on undirected whining about capitalism, accompanied by a belief that somehow computers should be used excessively to do all future resource planning for the purpose of maximum efficiency and sustainability, and that shortly robots will be doing most work - in summary something one could call techno-utopianism.

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The Zeitgeist Movement - RationalWiki

As of June 2016, The Zeitgeist Movement has formed an official 501c3 non-profit, tax exempt entity to help administration. As has been suggested for years, this new aspect of TZM has been created to assist core administrative tasks and costs, allowing for greater project development. See Intro Video

The 8th Annual Global 'Zeitgeist Day' Symposium Promotes Sustainability, Global Unity, and a Post-Scarcity Society

The 2016 event, featuring prominent speakers and guests from around the world, will be held in Athens, Greece on Saturday, March 26th, 2016

Press Release

June 2015 "Zeitgeist founder, Peter Joseph, joins Jesse Ventura to discuss the concept of a resource-based economy. With all of Earths resources in decline, it is time to scientifically manage the ones we have left. In this brand new episode of Off the Grid, Peter Joseph talks about the benefits of moving away from a market economy toward one that is based on resource management." Watch Now

The Zeitgeist Movement Education project is now live! The aim of the project is for every chapter of TZM to initially try to go into just one school or university to promote/discuss sustainable values and practices with the next generation.

To find out more and to get involved in the project please visit the website at http://www.tzmeducation.org

http://www.tzmeducation.org

Great activist tool. This 2 DVD set contains the talks from The Zeitgeist Movement's flagship awareness event known as "Zeitgeist Day" (aka Zday). This DVD Set is from the 5th annual Main Event that was held in Los Angeles, CA on March 17th, 2013. 12 Lectures in 6 Hours. Go Here

The Zeitgeist Movement's new Orientation Guide "The Zeitgeist Movement Defined" has been released.

Read Book

THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT 2014 EVENTS!

Uniting the world through the power of art, the Zeitgeist Media Festival is back for its fourth annual main event. Occurring at The Federal in North Hollywood, Saturday, October 4th, 2014 from 6pm-11pm, this not-for-profit activist arts festival features live music, comedy, short films, spoken word and more.

More Info/Press Kit

3rd Annual News Coverage

WATCH INTERVIEW

Peter Joseph exclusive interview with Abby Martin of "Breaking The Set" on Russia Today.

Economic Calculation in a Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy, Nov. 12th 2013

Watch Video

Thank you TZM Germany for a great event.

Published on Mar 14, 2013 "This week, Cenk Uygur sits down with Peter Joseph, founder of the Zeitgeist movement. The Zeitgeist movement's goal is to create global sustainability by changing established social systems. Can people save the world by changing socially? Is the market economy responsible for corruption, and is it serving its original purpose? Does the market economy leave room for true freewill, and is it truly possible to shed ourselves of material goods?

Free TZM Global Show Archives: Free Archive

Huge Thanks to our dedicated Chapters Coordinators for this helpful contribution!

OFFICIAL TZM CHAPTERS WEBSITE

NEW CHAPTERS GUIDE

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined is the official, representative text of the global, non-profit sustainability advocacy organization known as The Zeitgeist Movement (TZM).

This tediously sourced and highly detailed work argues for a large-scale change in human culture, specifically in the context of economic practice. The dominant theme is that the current socioeconomic system governing the world at this time has severe structural flaws, born out of primitive economic and sociological assumptions originating in our early history, where the inherent severity of these flaws went largely unnoticed.

However, in the early 21st century, these problems have risen prominently, taking the consequential form of increasing social destabilization and ongoing environmental collapse. Yet, this text is not simply about explaining such problems and their root causality - It is also about posing concrete solutions, coupled with a new perspective on social/environmental sustainability and efficiency which, in concert with the tremendous possibility of modern technology and a phenomenon known as ephemeralization, reveals humanity's current capacity to create an abundant, post-scarcity reality.

While largely misunderstood as being "utopian" or fantasy, this text walks through, step by step, the train of thought and technical industrial reordering needed to update our global society (and its values) to enable these profound new possibilities. While this text can be read strictly from a passive perspective, it was created also to be used as an awareness or activist tool. The Zeitgeist Movement, which has hundreds of chapters across dozens of countries and is perhaps the largest activist organization of its kind, hopes those interested in this direction will join the movement in global solidarity and assist in the culmination of this new social model, for the benefit of the whole of humanity.

Note: This text is produced for sale in paperback and proprietary ebook form only at the exact cost of publishing and nothing more. It is a non-profit text which is also available for open, non-commercial distribution in whatever form, as protected by its associated Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International). This work may also be viewed online for free at TZM's global website.

If you find a Typo, please email media@thezeitgeistmovement.com

PART I - AN INTRODUCTION

PART II - SOCIAL PATHOLOGY & THE ANTI-ECONOMY

PART III - A NEW TRAIN OF THOUGHT

PART IV THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT

APPENDICES (online online)

-PREFACE-

The outcome of any serious research can only be to make two questions grow where only one grew before. -Thorstein Veblen

Origin of the name The Zeitgeist Movement (TZM) is the identifier for the social movement described in the following essays. The name has no relevant historical reference to anything culturally specific and is not to be confused or associated with anything else known before with a similar title. Rather, the title is based upon the semantic meaning of the very terms, explicitly.

The term zeitgeist is defined as the general intellectual, moral and cultural climate of an era. The term movement simply implies motion or change. Therefore, The Zeitgeist Movement is an organization that urges change in the dominant intellectual, moral and cultural climate of the time.

Document Structure

The following text has been prepared to be as concise and yet comprehensive as possible. In form, it is a series of essays, ordered by subject in a manner that works to support a broader context. While each essay is designed to be taken on its own merit in evaluation, the true context resides in how each issue works to support a larger train of thought with respect to the most efficient organization of human society.

It will be noticed by those who read through these essays in a linear fashion that a fair amount of overlap exists with certain ideas or subjects. This is deliberate as such repetition and emphasis is considered helpful given how foreign some of the concepts might seem to those with no prior exposure to such material.

Also, since only so much detail can be afforded to maintain comprehension given the gravity of each subject and how they interrelate, great effort has been made to source relevant third party research throughout each essay via footnotes, allowing the reader to follow through with further study as the interest arises.

The Organism of Knowledge

As with any form of presented research we are dealing with serially generated data composites. Observation, its assessment, documentation and integration with other knowledge, existing or pending, is the manner by which all distinguishable ideas come to evolve.

This continuum is important to understand with respect to the way we think about what we believe and why, for information is always separate in its merit from the person or institution communicating or representing. Information can only be evaluated correctly through a systematic process of comparison to other physically verifiable evidence as to its proof or lack thereof.

Likewise, this continuum also implies that there can be no empirical origin of ideas. From an epistemological perspective, knowledge is mostly culminated, processed and expanded through communication amongst our species. The individual, with his or her inherently different life experience and propensities, serves as a custom-processing filter by which a given idea can be morphed. Collectively, we individuals comprise what could be called a group mind, which is the larger order social processor by which the efforts of individuals ideally coalesce. The traditional method of data transfer through literature, sharing books from generation to generation, has been a notable path of this group mind interaction, for example.

Isaac Newton perhaps put this reality best with the statement: If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants. This is brought up here in order to focus the reader on the critical consideration of data, not a supposed source, as there actually is no such thing in an empirical sense. It is only in the temporal, traditional patterns of culture, such as with literary credits in a textbook for future research reference, is such a recognition technically relevant. There is no statement more erroneous than the declaration that this is my idea. Such notions are byproducts of a material culture that has been reinforced in seeking physical rewards, usually via money, in exchange for the illusion of their proprietary creations. Very often an ego association is culminated as well where an individual claims prestige about their credit for an idea or invention.

Yet, that is not to exclude gratitude and respect for those figures or institutions that have shown dedication and perseverance towards the expansion of knowledge itself, nor to diminish the necessity of importance of those who have achieved a skilled, specialized expert status in a particular field. The contributions of brilliant thinkers and engineers such as R. Buckminster Fuller, Jacque Fresco, Jeremy Rifkin, Ray Kurzweil, Robert Sapolsky, Thorstein Veblen, Richard Wilkinson, James Gilligan, Carl Sagan, Nikola Tesla, Stephen Hawking and many, many more researchers, past and present, are quoted and sourced in this text and serve as part of the larger data composite you are about to read. Great gratitude is also expressed here towards all dedicated minds that are working to contribute to an improving world.

That understood, The Zeitgeist Movement claims no origination of any idea it promotes and is best categorized as an activist/educational institution that works to amplify a context upon which existing/emerging scientific findings may find a concerted social imperative.

Websites and Resources The following 10 websites are officially related to The Zeitgeist Movement's global operations:

-Main Global Hub: http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com

This is the main website and hub for TZM related actions/events/updates.

-Global Chapters Hub: http://www.tzmchapters.net/

This is the main global hub for chapter information and materials. It includes maps, a chapters tool kit and more.

-Global Blog: http://blog.thezeitgeistmovement.com/

This is the official blog which allows submissions of editorial style essays.

-Global Forum: http://www.thezeitgeistmovementforum.org/

This is the official forum for members to discuss projects and share ideas from across the world.

-Zeitgeist Media Project: http://zeitgeistmediaproject.com/

The Media Project website hosts and links to various audio/visual/literary expressions create by TZM members. Users donate their work for posting and it is often used as a resource toolkit for flyer graphics, video presentations, logo animations and the like.

-ZeitNews: http://www.zeitnews.org/

ZeitNews is a news style service that contains articles relating to socially relevant advancements in science and Technology.

-Zeitgeist Day (ZDay) Global: http://zdayglobal.org/

This site becomes active annually to facilitate our Zday global event, which occurs in March of each year.

-Zeitgeist Media Festival: http://zeitgeistmediafestival.org/

This site becomes active annually to facilitate our Zeitgeist Media Festival, which occurs in autumn of each year.

-Global Redesign Institute: http://www.globalredesigninstitute.org/

The Global Redesign Institute is a virtual graphic interface think tank project which uses map/data models to express direct technical changes in line with TZM's train of thought in various regions. General Social Networks TZM Global on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/tzmglobal

TZM Global on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tzmglobal

TZM Global Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TZMOfficialChannel

PART I: INTRODUCTION

-OVERVIEW- Neither the great political and financial power structures of the world, nor the specialization-blinded professionals, nor the population in general realize that...it is now highly feasible to take care of everybody on earth at a higher standard of living than any have ever known. It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness is unnecessary and henceforth unrationalizable as mandated by survival. War is obsolete. -R. Buckminster Fuller

About

Founded in 2008, The Zeitgeist Movement (TZM) is a sustainability advocacy group that operates through a network of regional chapters, project teams, public events, media expressions and charity operations. TZM's activism is explicitly based on non-violent methods of communication with the core focus on educating the public about the true root sources of many common personal, social and ecological problems today, coupled with the vast problem solving and humanity improving potential science and technology has now enabled, but yet goes unapplied due to barriers inherent in the current, established social system.

While the term activism is correct by its exact meaning, TZM's awareness work should not be misconstrued as relating to culturally common, traditional activist protest actions such as we have seen historically. Rather, TZM expresses itself through targeted, rational educational projects that work not to impose, dictate or blindly persuade, but to set in motion a train of thought that is logically self-realizing when the causal considerations of sustainability and public health are referenced from a scientific perspective. However, TZM's pursuit is still very similar to traditional civil rights movements of the past in that the observations reveal the truly unnecessary oppression inherent in our current social order, which structurally and sociologically restricts human well-being and potential for the vast majority of the world's population, not to mention stifles broad improvement in general due to its established methods.

For instance, the current social model, while perpetuating enormous levels of corrosive economic inefficiency in general, as will be described in further essays, also intrinsically supports one economic group or class of people over another, perpetuating technically unnecessary imbalance and high relative deprivation. This could be called economic bigotry in its effect and it is no less insidious than discrimination rooted in gender, ethnicity, religion, creed or the like.

However, this inherent bigotry is really only a part of a larger condition that could be termed structural violence, illuminating a broad spectrum of built in suffering, inhumanity and deprivation that is simply accepted as normality today by an uninformed majority. This context of violence stretches much farther and deeper than many tend to consider. The scope of how our socioeconomic system unnecessarily diminishes our public health and inhibits our progress today can only be recognized clearly when we take a more detached technical or scientific perspective of social affairs, bypassing our traditional, often blinding familiarities.

The relative nature of our awareness often falls victim to assumptions of perceived normality where, say, the ongoing deprivation and poverty of over 3 billion people might be seen as a natural, inalterable social state to those who are not aware of, for example, the amount of food actually produced in the world, where it goes, how it is wasted or the technical nature of efficient and abundant food production possibilities in the modern day.

This unseen violence can be extended to cultural memes as well where social traditions and their psychology can, without direct malicious intent, create resulting consequences that are damaging to a human being. For instance, there are religious cultures in the world that opt out of any form of common medical treatment. While many might argue the moral or ethical parameters of what it means for a child in such a culture to die of a common illness that could have been resolved if modern scientific applications were allowed, we can at least agree that the death of such a child is really being caused not by the disease at that point, but by the sociological condition that disallowed the application of the solution.

As a broader example, a great deal of social study has now been done on the subject of social inequality and its effects on public health. As will be discussed more so in further essays, there is a vast array of physical and mental health problems that appear to be born out of this condition, including propensities towards physical violence, heart disease, depression, educational deficiency and many, many other detriments that have a truly social consequence which can affect us all.

The bottom line here is that when we step back and consider newly realized understandings of causality that are clearly having negative effects on the human condition, but go unabated unnecessarily due the pre-existing traditions established by culture, we inevitably end up in the context of civil rights and hence social sustainability. This new civil rights movement is about the sharing of human knowledge and our technical ability to not only solve problems, but to facilitate a scientifically derived social system that actually optimizes our potential and well-being. Anything less will create unnecessary imbalance and social destabilization and constitute what could be considered a hidden form of oppression.

So, returning to the broad point, TZM works not only to create awareness of such problems and their true root causes (and hence logic for resolution), it also works to express the incredible potential we have, beyond such direct problem solving, to greatly improve the human condition in general, solving problems which, in fact, have not yet even been realized. This is initiated by embracing the very nature of scientific reasoning where the establishment of a near empirical train of thought takes precedence over everything else in importance. A train of thought by which societal organization as a whole can find a more accurate context for sustainability and efficiency on a scale never before seen, through an active recognition (and application) of the scientific method.

Focus TZM's broad actions could be summarized as to diagnose, educate and create.

Diagnose: Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of anything. To properly diagnose the causal condition of the vast social and ecological problems common to modern culture is not merely to complain about them or criticize the actions of people or particular institutions, as is frequent today. A true d iagnosis must seek out the lowest causal denominator possible and work at that level for resolution. The central problem is that there is often what could be called a truncated frame of reference, where shortsighted, misdiagnosis of given consequences persist. For instance, the traditional, established solution to the reformation of human behavior for many so-called criminal acts is often punitive incarceration. Yet, this says nothing about the deeper motivation of the criminal and why their psychology led to such acts to begin with. At that level, such a resolution becomes more complex and reliant upon the synergetic relationship of their physical and cultural culmination over time. This is no different than when a person dies of cancer, as it isn't really the cancer that kills them in the literal sense, as the cancer itself is the product of other forces .

Educate: As an educational movement that operates under the assumption that knowledge is the most powerful tool we have to create lasting, relevant social change in the global community, there is hence nothing more critical than the quality of one's personal education and their ability to communicate such ideas effectively and constructively to others. TZM is not about following a rigid text of static ideas. Such confined, narrow associations are typical of religious and political cults, not the recognition of emergence that underscores the anti-establishment nature of TZM. TZM does not impose in this sense. Rather, it works to make an open-ended train of thought become realized by the individual, hopefully empowering their independent ability to understand its relevance on their own terms, at their own pace. Furthermore, education is not only an imperative for those unfamiliar with this train of thought and the application set related, but also for those who already subscribe to it. Just as there is no utopia, there is no final state of understanding.

Create: While certainly related to the need to adjust human values through education so the world's people understand the need for such social changes, TZM also works to consider how a new social system, based on optimum economic efficiency, would appear and operate in detail, given our current state of technical ability. Programs such as the Global Redesign Institute, which is a digital think tank that works to express how the core societal infrastructure could unfold based on our current state of technology, working to combine that technical capacity with the scientific train of thought so as to calculate the most efficient technical infrastructure possible for any given region of the world, is one example. It is worth briefly noting that TZM's advocated governance approach, which has little semblance to the current manner of governance known today or historically, originates out of a multi-disciplinary bridging of various proven methods for maximized optimization, unified through a counter-balancingsystems approach that is designed to be as adaptive as possible to new, emerging improvements over time. As will be discussed at length, the only possible reference that could be considered most complete at any given time is one that takes into account the largest interacting observations (system) tangibly relevant. This is the nature of the cause and effect synergy that underscores the technical basis for a truly sustainable economy.

Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy Today, various terms exists to express the general logical basis for a more scientifically oriented social system in different circles, including the titles Resource-Based Economy or Natural Law Economy. While these titles are historically referential and somewhat arbitrary overall, the title Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy (NLRBE) will be utilized here since it has the most concrete semantic basis. A Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy is defined as an adaptive socioeconomic system actively derived from direct physical reference to the governing scientific laws of nature. Overall, the observation is that through the use of socially targeted research and tested understandings in science and technology, we are now able to logically arrive at societal approaches which could be profoundly more effective in meeting the needs of the human population. We are now able to dramatically increase public health, better preserve the habitat, create a general material abundance, while also strategically reduce or eliminate many common social problems present today which are sadly considered inalterable by many due to their cultural persistence.

Train of Thought Many figures or groups have worked to create temporally advanced technological applications, working to apply current possibilities to this train of thought in order to enable new efficiencies and problem solving, such as Jacque Fresco's City Systems or R. Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House. Yet, as obviously important as this applied engineering is, it is still critical to remember that all specific technological applications can only be transient when the evolution of scientific knowledge and its emerging technological applications are taken into account. In other words, all current applications of technology tend to become obsolete over time. Therefore, what is left can only be a train of thought with respect to the underlying causal scientific principles. TZM is hence loyal to this train of thought, not figures, institutions or temporal technological advancements. Rather than follow a person or design, TZM follows this self-generating premise of understanding and it hence operates in a non-centralized, holographic manner, with this train of thought as the origin of influence for action.

Superstition to Science A notable pattern worth mentioning is how the evolution of mankind's understanding of itself and its habitat also continues to expand away from older ideas and perspectives which are no longer supported due to the constant introduction of new, schema altering information. A worthy notion to note here is superstition, which, in many circumstances, can be viewed as a category of belief that once appeared to be adequately supported by experience/perception but can no longer be held as viable due to new, conflicting data. For example, while traditional religious thought might seem increasingly implausible to more people today than ever in the West, due to the rapid growth in information and general literacy, the roots of religious thought can be traced to periods where humans could justify the validity and accuracy of such beliefs given the limited understanding they had of their environment in those early times. This pattern is apparent in all areas of understanding, including modern academia. Even so-called scientific conclusions that, again, with the advent of new information and updated tests, often cannot be held as valid anymore, are still commonly defended due to their mere inclusion in the current cultural tradition . Such established institutions, as they could be called, often wish to maintain permanence due to reasons of ego, power, market income or general psychological comfort. This problem is, in many ways, at the core of our social paralysis. So, it is important to recognize this pattern of transition and realize how critical being vulnerable really is when it comes to belief systems, not to mention coming to terms with the rather dangerous phenomenon of established institutions which are culturally programmed and reinforced to seek self-preservation rather than evolve and change.

Tradition to Emergence The perceptual clash between our cultural traditions and our ever growing database of emergent knowledge is at the core of what defines the zeitgeist as we know it and a long-term review of history shows a slow grind out of superstitious cultural traditions and assumptions of reality as they heed to our newly realized benchmark of emergent, scientific causality. This is what TZM represents in its broadest philosophical context: A movement of the cultural zeitgeist itself into new, verifiable and more optimized understandings and applications. Hence, while society certainly has witnessed vast and accelerating changes in different areas of awareness and practice, such as with our vast material technology today, it appears our social system is still long behind. Political persuasion, market economics, labor-for-income, perpetual inequality, nation states, legal assumptions and many other staples of our current social order continue to be largely accepted as normality by the current culture, with little more than their persistence through time as evidence of their value and empirical permanence. It is in this context that TZM finds its most broad imperative: changing the social system. Again, there are many problem solving technical possibilities for personal and social progress today that continue to go unnoticed or misunderstood. The ending of war, the resolution of poverty, the creation of a material abundance unseen in history to meet human needs, the removal of most crime as we know it, the empowerment of true personal freedom through the removal of pointless and/or monotonous labor, and the resolution of many environmental threats, are but a few of the calculated possibilities we have when we take our technical reality into account. However, again, these possibilities are not only largely unrecognized, they are also literally restricted by the current social order for the implementation of such problem solving efficiency and prosperity stands in direct opposition to the very mechanics of how our current social system is operating at the core level. Therefore, until the socioeconomic tradition and its resulting social values are challenged and updated to present day understandings; until the majority of the human population understands the basic, underlying train of thought technically needed to support human sustainability and public health, as derived from the rigor of objective scientific investigation and validation; until much of the baggage of prior false assumptions, superstition, divisive loyalties and other socially unsustainable, conflict generating, cultural hindrances are overcome - all the life improving and problem resolving possibilities we now have at hand will remain largely dormant. The real revolution is the revolution of values. Human society appears centuries behind in the way it operates and hence what it values. If we wish to progress and solve the mounting problems at hand and, in effect, reverse what is an accelerating decline of our civilization in many ways, we need to change the way we think about ourselves and hence the world we inhabit. The Zeitgeist Movements central task is to work to bring this value shift to light, unifying the human family with the basic perspective that we all share this small planet and we are all bound by the same natural order laws, as realized by the method of science. This common ground understanding extends much farther than many have understood in the past. The symbiosis of the human species and the synergistic relationship of our place in the physical world confirm that we are not separate entities in any respect. The new societal awakening must show a working social model that is arrived at from this inherent logic if we expect to survive and prosper in the long term. We can align or we can suffer. It is up to us.

-THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW-

Almost every major systematic error which has deluded men for thousands of years relied on practical experience. Horoscopes, incantations, oracles, magic, witchcraft, the cures of witch doctors and of medical practitioners before the advent of modern medicine, were all firmly established through the centuries in the eyes of the public by their supposed practical successes. The scientific method was devised precisely for the purpose of elucidating the nature of things under more carefully controlled conditions and by more rigorous criteria than are present in the situations created by practical problems. -Michael Polanyi

Generally speaking, the evolution of human understanding can be seen as a move from surface observations, processed by our limited five physical senses, intuitively filtered through the educational framework & value characteristics of that period of time, to the technique of objective measuring and self-advancing methods of analysis which work to arrive at (or calculate) conclusions through testing and retesting proofs, seeking validation through the benchmark of scientific causality a causality that appears to comprise the physical characteristics of what we call nature itself.

The natural laws of our world exist whether we choose to recognize them or not. These inherent rules of our universe were around long before human beings evolved a comprehension to recognize them and while we can debate as to exactly how accurate our interpretation of these laws really is at this stage of our intellectual evolution, there is enough reinforcing evidence to show that we are, indeed, bound by static forces that have an inherent, measurable, determining logic. The vast developments and predictive integrity found in mathematics, physics, biology and other scientific disciplines proves that we as a species are slowly understanding the processes of nature and our growing, inventive capacity to emulate, accentuate or repress such natural processes confirms our progress in understanding it. The world around us today, overflowing with material technology and life-altering inventions, is a testament as to the integrity of the scientific process and what it is capable of.

Link:

TZM - Orientation - The Zeitgeist Movement

Peter Joseph (creator of Zeitgeist) believes that I'm mentally ill because I disagree with him. You can read all about it on his forums (linked from this forum post). You better not disagree with him, or you'll be labeled insane next. Perhaps I'm crazy for pointing out his forum post?

Before we go anywhere, I want to talk about The Venus Project and before you read my analysis I would appreciate it if you read this part first.

First of all, as I described on my about page, I am a huge believer in technology. The first time I heard of The Venus Project was sometime prior to 2000, around 15 years ago, and from the beginning I was in love with the idea of putting technology in a position to help us rather than hold us back. And as I investigated this whole idea more, I found a lot of people confused the idea with communism, socialism, or whatever their latest hate was.

The Venus Project, in essence, is Technocracy, which you can learn about on Wikipedia and at the Technocratic Movement's web site. The only difference between the two is how Jacque Fresco and Technocracy, Inc. thought production should be tracked. A concept so small and unimportant it's a shame, to me anyway, that Jacque Fresco is no longer a member of Technocracy, Inc.

Whether you choose to support the Venus Project or Technocracy Inc. doesn't matter, so long as you keep the conspiracy bullshit out of the current technocratic (or "resource based economy") movement. It is hard enough to discuss technocracy and The Venus Project with people, we do not need to also talk about conspiracies. Whether you like it or not, conspiracy theories scare people away, period, and they won't listen to anything you have to say.

If you are a member of the Zeitgeist Movement and want to spread the ideas of The Venus Project, please keep the conspiracy jargon to the minimum - in fact I've seen that Peter Joseph has already moved away from that, but many fans of the films are still obsessed with conspiracies.

How much money does Peter Joseph make from the sales of Zeitgeist? Find out

I am not going to discuss The Venus Project/Technocratic parts of the film, for two reasons.

Firstly, untried economic and political ideas are essentially opinions and anyone, from any side, can debunk anything else from any opposing side -- so it's a waste of time; you can find a million free marketers, libertarians, anarcho-capitalists, and so forth that will disprove technocracy with what they believe to be evidence -- but when it comes to politics and economics, it's really a severe waste of time to debunk anything.

Secondly, I myself am a Technocrat, and I believe in such ideas. I watched the Zeitgeist: Addendum movie when it was first released early morning (my time) on October 4th. At first I was torn, because while I agreed with promoting the interview and such with Jacque Fresco, I did not like the idea that the first 50 minutes of the movie were essentially propping up more lies. Regardless, I decided to say something about the other parts of the movie.

<- You can navigate through the various sections on the left.

See the rest here:

Zeitgeist: Addendum, Debunked - Skeptic Project

As of June 2016, The Zeitgeist Movement has formed an official 501c3 non-profit, tax exempt entity to help administration. As has been suggested for years, this new aspect of TZM has been created to assist core administrative tasks and costs, allowing for greater project development. See Intro Video

The 8th Annual Global 'Zeitgeist Day' Symposium Promotes Sustainability, Global Unity, and a Post-Scarcity Society

The 2016 event, featuring prominent speakers and guests from around the world, will be held in Athens, Greece on Saturday, March 26th, 2016

Press Release

June 2015 "Zeitgeist founder, Peter Joseph, joins Jesse Ventura to discuss the concept of a resource-based economy. With all of Earths resources in decline, it is time to scientifically manage the ones we have left. In this brand new episode of Off the Grid, Peter Joseph talks about the benefits of moving away from a market economy toward one that is based on resource management." Watch Now

The Zeitgeist Movement Education project is now live! The aim of the project is for every chapter of TZM to initially try to go into just one school or university to promote/discuss sustainable values and practices with the next generation.

To find out more and to get involved in the project please visit the website at http://www.tzmeducation.org

http://www.tzmeducation.org

Great activist tool. This 2 DVD set contains the talks from The Zeitgeist Movement's flagship awareness event known as "Zeitgeist Day" (aka Zday). This DVD Set is from the 5th annual Main Event that was held in Los Angeles, CA on March 17th, 2013. 12 Lectures in 6 Hours. Go Here

The Zeitgeist Movement's new Orientation Guide "The Zeitgeist Movement Defined" has been released.

Read Book

THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT 2014 EVENTS!

Uniting the world through the power of art, the Zeitgeist Media Festival is back for its fourth annual main event. Occurring at The Federal in North Hollywood, Saturday, October 4th, 2014 from 6pm-11pm, this not-for-profit activist arts festival features live music, comedy, short films, spoken word and more.

More Info/Press Kit

3rd Annual News Coverage

WATCH INTERVIEW

Peter Joseph exclusive interview with Abby Martin of "Breaking The Set" on Russia Today.

Economic Calculation in a Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy, Nov. 12th 2013

Watch Video

Thank you TZM Germany for a great event.

Published on Mar 14, 2013 "This week, Cenk Uygur sits down with Peter Joseph, founder of the Zeitgeist movement. The Zeitgeist movement's goal is to create global sustainability by changing established social systems. Can people save the world by changing socially? Is the market economy responsible for corruption, and is it serving its original purpose? Does the market economy leave room for true freewill, and is it truly possible to shed ourselves of material goods?

Free TZM Global Show Archives: Free Archive

Huge Thanks to our dedicated Chapters Coordinators for this helpful contribution!

OFFICIAL TZM CHAPTERS WEBSITE

NEW CHAPTERS GUIDE

Founded in 2008, The Zeitgeist Movement is a sustainability advocacy organization, which conducts community based activism and awareness actions through a network of global/regional chapters, project teams, annual events, media and charity work.

The movement's principle focus includes the recognition that the majority of the social problems that plague the human species at this time are not the sole result of some institutional corruption, absolute scarcity, a political policy, a flaw of "human nature" or other commonly held assumptions of causality. Rather, the movement recognizes that issues such as poverty, corruption, pollution, homelessness, war, starvation and the like appear to be "symptoms" born out of an outdated social structure.

While intermediate reform steps and temporal community support are of interest to the movement, the defining goal is the installation of a new socioeconomic model based upon technically responsible resource management, allocation and design through what would be considered the scientific method of reasoning problems and finding optimized solutions.

This Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy" (NLRBE) is about taking a direct technical approach to social management as opposed to a monetary or even political one. It is about updating the workings of society to the most advanced and proven methods known, leaving behind the damaging consequences and limiting inhibitions which are generated by our current system of monetary exchange, profit, business and other structural and motivational issues.

The movement is loyal to a train of thought, not figures or institutions. The view held is that through the use of socially targeted research and tested understandings in science and technology, we are now able to logically arrive at societal applications that could be profoundly more effective in meeting the needs of the human population, increasing public health. There is little reason to assume war, poverty, most crime and many other monetarily-based scarcity effects common in our current model cannot be resolved over time. The range of the movement's activism and awareness campaigns extend from short to long term, with methods based explicitly on non-violent methods of communication.

The Zeitgeist Movement has no allegiance to any country or traditional political platforms. It views the world as a single system and the human species as a single family and recognizes that all countries must disarm and learn to share resources and ideas if we expect to survive in the long run. Hence, the solutions arrived at and promoted are in the interest to help everyone on Earth, not a select group.

Read this article:

TZM - Mission Statement - The Zeitgeist Movement