Jacque Fresco
Jacque Fresco
Born	(1916-03-13) March 13, 1916 (age 96) Brooklyn, New York
Residence	Florida
Nationality	American
Occupation	Futurist, Social Engineer, Structural Engineer, Architectural Designer, Industrial Designer, Author, Lecturer
Known for	The Venus Project, Resource-based economy, Sociocyberneering
Notable work(s)	Looking Forward (1969), The Best That Money Can't Buy (2002)
Influenced by	B. F. Skinner,[citation needed] Jacques Loeb,[1] Alfred Korzybski,[1] Buckminster Fuller,[citation needed] Thorstein Veblen,[1] Stuart Chase,[1] Edward Bellamy,[1] H. G. Welles,[1] Howard Scott,[1] Norbert Wiener,[2] Arthur Radebaugh[3]

Jacque Fresco (born March 13, 1916), is a self-educated structural designer, architectural designer, philosopher of science, concept artist, educator, and futurist. His interests span a wide range of disciplines including several in philosophy, science, architecture and engineering.^[4] Fresco writes and lectures extensively on his view of subjects ranging from the holistic design of sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural resource management, cybernated technology, advanced automation, and the role of science in society, focusing on the benefits he thinks they may bring. With his colleague, Roxanne Meadows, he is the founder and director of an organization known as The Venus Project, located in Venus, Florida.^[5] He currently promotes a fundamental change in anthropic organization through the global implementation of a novel socio-economic system predicated on social cooperation, technological automation, and scientific methodology, called a Resource-based economy.

In contemporary culture he has been popularized by three documentaries, Future By Design,^[6] Zeitgeist Addendum,^[7] and Zeitgeist: Moving Forward,^[8] His Venus Project has been inspirational worldwide, especially to activists.^[9]

Early life[link]

Youth[link]

Born on March 13, 1916,^[10] Jacque Fresco grew up in a minority neighborhood of Bensonhurst in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.^[11][12] Precocious as a child, Fresco's interests did not pertain to the topics presented to him at school.^[13][14] Unwilling, or unable, to conform with a setting of formal education, he sought a self-directed education throughout his later teen years.^[15] Fresco spent many days of his youth at the local library where he investigated subjects of his own interest.^[12] At this early time, Fresco had a talent for acting and this won him the first prize at a prominent drama competition in New York.^[14] Fresco also exercised artistic abilities in painting and sketching.^[14] Atop the roof of his home at 67th and 20th Ave., Fresco spent time with his fellow comrades discussing Darwin, Einstein, science, and the future.^[13][14]

While mostly impoverished during the Great Depression, Fresco claims that it was during this time of hardship he developed the sensitivity and ambition to concern himself with the function of society and the future of humanity.^[16][17]

Flying Saucer

For a short time, Fresco took an interest in attending the Young Communist League wherein he caused commotion. After brief discussion and disagreements with the League president, Fresco was physically removed.^[11][18] Thereafter, Fresco turned his attention to Technocracy.^[12][13] In the travels of his youth, one destination was Florida where he developed an affinity for the tropics, a place to which he would return later in life.^[13] In the mid-1930s, Fresco traveled west to Los Angeles where he began his career as a structural designer in many fields.

Career[link]

In the Army

Aircraft Industry, South Seas Hiatus[link]

In California, Fresco found employment at the Douglas Aircraft Company^[11] after presenting many of his early alternative aircraft designs.^[19] Fresco had long taken an interest in designing flying wings as well as flying saucers. He attempted to interest the aircraft industry at a time when experimental construction was underway.^[20][21] Eventually, Fresco demonstrated such designs in 1938.^[22] After departing from Douglas due to safety design disagreements,^[11][23] he traveled to Hawaii in late 1939^[24] where he then traveled to the South Sea Islands where he interacted with native islanders.^[23] Fresco claims that his visit to these islands effectively helped shape his understanding of cultural relativism and the flexibility of human values in alternate environments.^[25][26] After returning to California, Fresco took residence at various locations in Hermosa Beach and throughout Los Angeles,^[13] meanwhile continuing industrial design projects for various companies.

Trend Home

Army Airforce, Wright Field[link]

In 1942, Fresco was drafted into the Army.^[13][27] He was soon given technical design duties for the Army Air Force at Wright Field design laboratories in Dayton, Ohio.^{[13][20][23][28]} There he would produce up to forty designs a day.^[23] Among Fresco's many designs, a design of a radical variable camber wing attempted to optimize flight control by allowing the pilot to adjust the thickness of the wings during lift and flight.^[29] It received a patent^[30][31] and was thereafter given to the Army Air Force.^[23][31] After difficulties with Army life, he was discharged.^[13] Fresco had many advanced ideas for airplane aviation and this gained him a reputation in the aircraft industry for being "a man twenty years ahead of his time"^[20][32]

Trend Home[link]

Model of the Trend Home

In the mid-1940s, Fresco was commissioned by Earl Muntz and Michael Shore to design a new low cost form of modernistic housing.^[13] The result was one of the first all glass-aluminum structures, known as the Trend Home. At 930 square feet, there were twelve variations. ^[33] The structure could be erected by ten men in eight hours.^[34] Its design of light weight, high strength, and long lasting materials allowed for reduced production costs and streamlined production which increased its economic viability.^[35] The resulting cost was approximately $5,200.^[34] The design was first introduced at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in 1947.^[36] The structure was first exhibited in the summer of 1948 at Stage 8 of the Warner Brothers Studio on Sunset boulevard.^[37] It would go on to attract over 20,000 visitors.^[19] The proceeds were donated to The Cancer Prevention Society to build part of a new hospital.^[38] For the next few years the Trend Home was to undergo mass production^[39] and was considered by the U.S. government as a possible solution for soldiers returning from World War II.^[13] For over a decade variations of the design were prototyped, sold, and occupied, until 1962 when a major housing project named Alumanor was built on Mt. Washington in Highland Park, Los Angeles.^[40]

3D Technology[link]

In 1949, Fresco was commissioned by Hollywood producers Jack Moss and Irving Yergin to develop technology for viewing three-dimensional images without the use of eye glasses. ^[41] The technology developed was for both theater audiences and home television. ^[41] Novel in its simplicity, it was relatively cheap and required little modification of the projection systems used at the time. The technology also had prospects for being used in medical x-ray units and surgery. ^[41] It was demonstrated in the summer of 1949 in California.^[42]

Scientific Research Laboratories[link]

Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, Fresco was director of Scientific Research Laboratories^[28] at two locations. First located near Elysian Park in Los Angeles, it was operated with associates Eli Catran and Henry Giaretto. It later moved to a location in Los Feliz, near Hollywood,^[43] where Fresco lived, lectured, and taught technical design,^[11] meanwhile researching^[44] and working on inventions as a freelance inventor and scientific consultant.^[23] As a freelance operation, Fresco asserts that many of his inventions were unconditionally sold to his clients, thereby excluding his name from many of the patents.^[45] Fresco also claims that many of his inventions were usurped by other associates. During these years, Fresco encountered setbacks due to financial difficulties, in at least one case, resulting in the repossession of his lab equipment.^[46][47]

Science Fiction, Film Industry[link]

During Fresco's later years in Los Angeles, he also worked as model designer for science-fiction movies^[13][28] such as the television show Ring Around the Moon which became the film Project Moonbase based on a story by Robert A. Heinlein.^[48] Fresco was noted for his high quality models and special effects despite the low budgets of the B-movie productions.^[49][50] His talents were recommended to Roger Corman for the film The Beast with a Million Eyes, (the movie for which Paul Blaisdell became famous for special effects) but Corman could not accommodate Fresco into the budget (of $23,000).^[51][52] Fresco also worked as technical adviser in the film industry, most notably for Lou Stoumen's 1956 Oscar nominated documentary The Naked Eye.^[53] Fresco's reputation in Los Angeles eventually earned him a guest appearance on Art Baker's nationwide television show, You Asked For It as the "man of tomorrow" in the early 1950s.

Eventually, in 1955, Fresco left California after his lab was commandeered to build the Golden State Freeway.^[11][19]

Midlife[link]

Therapy Service, Industrial Design[link]

Pursuing his affinity for the tropics, in 1955 Fresco moved to Miami, Florida, where he lived on a boat for a short time.^[19] He began practicing private therapy sessions,^[19] and at a time when the American Psychological Association was strictly pressuring therapists lacking approved credentials to relinquish their practice, Fresco clashed with the APA and received criticism for his therapy service.^[19][54] Fresco would later acknowledge that the absence of a formal academic orientation was often a detriment in academic contexts^[19] and often made it difficult to gain influence.^[55] In Miami, Fresco held public lectures throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, beginning his popular treatment of a rapidly changing future and his critique of cultural and political practices of the era.^[19][56]

Fresco spent much of his time in Miami trying to showcase his designs of a circular city and raise funds to get it built.^[55] He also designed a three-wheeled car that was to have only 32 moving parts, which he strove to fund as well.^{[26][55][57][58]} Fresco made much of his living working as an industrial designer for various companies such as Alcoa and the Major Realty Corporation.^[19] In 1961, with Pietro Belluschi and C. Frederick Wise,^[59] Fresco designed a more sophisticated sequel to his earlier Trend Home, known as the Sandwich House.^[19] Consisting of mostly prefabricated components, partitions, and aluminum, it sold for $2,950, or $7,500 with foundation and all internal installations.^[59] During theses years, Fresco also supported his projects by designing, non-competitive, prefabricated aluminum devices through Jacque Fresco Enterprises Inc.^[60]

Project Americana[link]

From the mid-1950s and throughout the 1960s, Fresco developed what he called "Project Americana."^[19][61] It was a ten year plan for American social change.^[19] His vision included a circular city and the application of full cyber-automation of city operations wherein machines direct other machines to operate. Such was Fresco's conception of a "thinking city" in "The Machine-Machine Age." The national plan also included methods for aiding struggling nations by erecting prefabricated factories that produce prefabricated products for building, installation of cultural centers, and a new curriculum for schooling. In 1962, CBS approached Fresco about developing a series on his ideas after appearing on two successive episodes of On the Town with Fred Fischer.^[62]

Beginning in 1960, California lawyer, Gerald V. Barron introduced Fresco to Hubert Humphrey with whom correspondence continued through the mid-1960s.^[26] The intention was to get Project Americana incorporated and implemented through Humphrey. Humphrey would later serve as Vice-President under Lyndon B. Johnson who implemented the new social programs known as the Great Society.

Looking Forward[link]

In 1969, with Ken Keyes, a book was written about Fresco's ideas, entitled Looking Forward. Abiding rationalist-humanist premises,^[63] the first half of the book was dedicated to detailing some of the causes of many problems in humanity's thinking and behavior and the changes that humanity will have to make as it enters the future. It described three components which can be used to best correctly analyze the future: humanity's values, methods of thinking, and tools i.e. technological developments.^[64] All three are described as being interdependent much like a set of gears. The second half of the book was dedicated to a speculative look at the future revolving around the experiences of the fictional characters, Scott and Hella, as they pursue their projects in a cybernetic society wherein individual gratification is the total concern, while human labor and personal possessions no longer exist.^[63] It was one of the earliest publications to theorize the possible social implications of a central network knowledge bank (Corcen) used to bring about a "humanized man-machine symbiosis".^[65] The book was highly speculative as Fresco and Keyes gave consideration for a wide range of technological and social possibilities, referred to as "out of this world."^[66] The society depicted in Looking Forward has been described as an ideal warranting a comparison to Plato's Republic whose inconsistencies and problems, it was argued, Looking Forward succeeded in resolving through technological means, primarily through the function of Corcen (the correlation center).^[67]

Sociocyberneering, Inc.[link]

Fresco's ideas for Project Americana evolved into what he called "Sociocyberneering." Fresco introduced this concept to students at the University of Miami in 1970. Due to appearances on television and radio, public lectures, and word-of-mouth, Fresco had built a following and was prepared to start an organization. He called this Sociocyberneering Inc. It was a non-profit organization founded in 1971 for which Fresco was president.^[68] It was a non-political and non-sectarian membership organization having, at its peak, 250 members,^[69] many of whom became Fresco's pupils. Fresco frequently hosted educational lectures in Miami Beach and at his home in Coral Gables.^[70] His lecture topics pertained to society, social change, science, technology, engineering, architecture, religion, prudence, semantics, anthropology, psychology, systems theory, and education, among other topics. Aside from educating, Fresco worked with members of the organization to produce designs, films, and booklets pertaining to the aims and goals of the organization.^[69]

At work in Venus studio

Construction in Venus

The term "sociocyberneering" is also a concept and was defined as "the application of the most sophisticated forms of computer technology in the management of human affairs."^[71] The stated goal of Sociocyberneering Inc. was to apply "the most sophisticated forms of science and technology toward problem solving ... an approach at the restructuring of society in humanistic terms," ^[72] and dedicated to finding practical solutions that could be rapidly applied to the many problems that faced society.^[73] The primary focus was to "investigate alternative solutions based in conservation of energy, international cooperation in all areas of social endeavor, and the assimilation of a systems approach for the design of cities."^[74] There was also heavy emphasis on the prospects of cybernated technology in the societies of human beings, arguing that, "the future of man and his cities does not depend on whether or not this or that design is preferred. It is determined by the forces of social and environmental evolution in which computerized approaches to human and environmental systems will ultimately emerge as the ultimate technique in all areas of the social sequences."^[75]

By this time Fresco had designed his circular city to be one mile in diameter with radially connected concentric rings "resembling the spokes of a wheel."^[76] Each ring was dedicated to a general function such as agriculture, recreation, housing, among others. At the nucleus center, in the dome, was a supercomputer that was intended to function as the centralized data management system for the automated processes throughout the city.

Throughout the 1970s Fresco worked to expand the organization and elevate its exposure to the general public by lecturing at universities^[77] and appearing on radio and television, such as on South Florida's popular Larry King Show and Joe Abrell's Montage.^[73] Fresco became acquainted with Larry King when King's career was emerging out of Miami. King featured Fresco on his television show and radio show several times to discuss, with academics and local callers, the proposals of Sociocyberneering Inc.^[72][78]

At the apex of the organization's membership, they began investing in 40 acres of land in Naples. The organization set out to construct an experimental community in which they would live and expand. They encountered a setback in 1978 when members feared that the Collier County zoning board would complicate implementation. The result was a partial dissolution of Sociocyberneering Inc. membership.^[79] The investment was abandoned and the land was resold. Fresco sold his home^[79] and new land was located in rural Venus. On agricultural land he established a research center for Sociocyberneering Inc. in 1980.^[80] With the help of remaining members, Fresco constructed buildings based on the designs of his futuristic renderings. After the move, Sociocyberneering Inc. became less popular as many members remained in Miami. Eventually, Sociocyberneering Inc. became much less active and through the 1980s Fresco dedicated his time to designing and studying alongside Roxanne Meadows who remained with Fresco as his colleague.

Later life[link]

Fresco with Roxanne Meadows in Venus

In 1994, Fresco developed a new image for Sociocyberneering Inc. and rebooted it under the new name, The Venus Project.^[5] By this time, Fresco had accumulated a large quantity of designs and models that could represent a general outline of how his vision may look and operate, and were used to gain exposure for the organization through educational films and literature distributed to teachers and universities.^[17] Aside from their educational materials, Fresco and Meadows continued to support the project throughout the '90s through freelance inventing, such as for Pratt and Whitney,^[81] industrial engineering, conventional architectural modeling,^[26] and invention consultations.^[26] In the process, some of Fresco's futuristic designs succeeded in inspiring some development companies.^[82] At one point, Fresco claimed that The Venus Project was under consideration for developing plans to build a theme park/experimental city in Turkey.^[83][84] A similar consideration occurred with Dubai. In 2002, Fresco published his main work The Best That Money Can't Buy. In 2006, William Gazecki directed the semi-biographical film about Fresco, "Future by Design" in which Fresco was compared to the Renaissance polymath Leonardo Da Vinci.^[6] In 2008, Peter Joseph featured Fresco in the film Zeitgeist Addendum wherein his vision of the future was presented as a possible solution for the societal and environmental crisis expounded in the film.^[7] The reaction that followed was manifested by the development of The Zeitgeist Movement which actively professes Fresco's ideas^[85] and once considered itself the "activist arm" of The Venus Project. As of April, 2011, however, the Venus Project and Zeitgeist Movement disaffiliated.^[26]

In 2010, Fresco attempted to trademark the phrase "Resource-Based Economy"^[86] in the midst of its popularization to preserve his definition of it. The phrase was reviewed and found to be too generic to qualify. The action to trademark Fresco's specific meaning was therefore blocked. Other small Internet organizations now profess a version of a resource-based economy based on Fresco's original conception.^[87]

Throughout 2010, Fresco traveled with Meadows on a worldwide tour in response to a growing interest in The Venus Project.^[88][89] On January 15, 2011, Zeitgeist: Moving Forward was released in theaters, again featuring Fresco and a more elaborate articulation of his vision as a possible solution for planetary dilemmas.^[8] Currently, Fresco holds lectures and tours at The Venus Project location^[90][91] and has initiated the funding of a major motion picture that may be made which will depict The Venus Project future.^[26] In November, 2011, Fresco spoke to protestors at the "occupy Miami" site at Government Center in Miami.^[92]

The Venus Project[link]

The Venus Project is an organization depicting, as well as professing, the culmination of Fresco's life work and serves as a foundation that represents his vision of a future without poverty, crime, war, corruption, or waste. It was founded in 1980 and took its name in 1994. It is located in central Florida near west Lake Okeechobee about fifty miles northeast of Fort Myers. On its 21.5-acre lot, there are ten buildings designed by Fresco, which showcase limited versions of Fresco's architectural designs. It is partly a research center for Fresco and Roxanne Meadows, and partly an educational center for supporters of the project.^[93] They produce videos and literature depicting and explaining the future vision and the goals to actualize it. Among these goals, the salient are to produce a major motion picture portraying the future world the project promotes; constructing a theme park with the intention of exhibiting technologies and the ideas of the Venus Project; and constructing an experimental city in an attempt to test Fresco's hypotheses. Its ultimate aim is to improve society by moving towards a global, sustainable, technological social design that is termed a "resource-based economy".^[94]

Personal life and family[link]

Fresco was born to immigrants from Europe, Isaac and Lena Fresco.^[10] His father was born in 1880^[95] and around 1905 immigrated from Istanbul to New York where he worked as a horticulturalist.^[10] He died in 1963.^[95] Fresco's mother was born in 1887^[96] in Jerusalem and also migrated to New York around 1904.^[10] She died in 1988.^[96] Fresco was brother to two siblings,^[10] a sister, Freda, and a brother, David. His brother was born in 1909.^[97] He was a draftsman,^[98] a private during World War II,^[98] and became a theater actor and a character actor in Hollywood.^[13] After being blacklisted by Hollywood in the 1950s for not cooperating with the House Un-American Activities Committee,^[99][100] he resurrected his career in the 1960s eventually appearing in many films and television shows.^[99][101] He died in 1997.^[97]

Fresco had two marriages when he lived in Los Angeles, California and carried his second marriage through his first couple years in Miami.^[28] He divorced his second wife in 1957 and remained unmarried thereafter.^[102] His second wife, Patricia, gave birth to a son, Richard, in 1953 and a daughter, Bambi, in 1956. Richard was an army private^[103] and died in 1976.^[104] Bambi died of cancer in 2010.^[105]

Vision[link]

Fresco himself cites several theorists and authors for contributing to his vision, such as Jacques Loeb, who established the Mechanistic Conception of Life; Edward Bellamy, who wrote the extremely influential book, Looking Backward; Thorstein Veblen, who influenced the Technocracy movement and Howard Scott, who popularized it; Alfred Korzybski, who originated General Semantics; H. G. Wells, and many others.^[1] Fresco has often been heard stating, "I have been able to achieve what I have achieved because I stood on the shoulders of giants," paraphrasing Einstein, (though the metaphore was first made famous by Isaac Newton, and stated by others before him).

Fresco's vision has formed as the culmination of many disciplines and schools of thought. The majority of Fresco's ideas and concepts have not been categorized or classified by scholars in academia. However, the dominant features of it have been compared to earlier thinkers from as early as the nineteenth century. Titles such as The Paradise within the Reach of all Men without Labor by Powers of Nature and Machinery, Emigration to the Tropical World for the Melioration of All Classes of People of All Nations, and The New World or Mechanical System were written in the 1800s by John Adolphus Etzler who has been described as an early forerunner to Fresco's vision.^[106] Likewise, Ebenezer Howard and his book Garden Cities of Tomorrow, as well as the Garden City Movement during the early 1900s has been described as another predecessor.^[107] Fresco's vision removes the mechanics of modern economics and his view toward modern economics has been compared to Thorstein Veblen's concept of "the predatory phase in human development."^[108] Other facets of Fresco's vision have been labeled a "tabula rasa approach."^[107]

Values and natural forces often undergo emphasis in Fresco's vision. Jack Catran provides a succinct summary of the significance for these two factors,

According to Fresco, the scientist of today is involved in a conflict between two value systems: 1. The orderly world of scientific methodology; 2. The non-scientific culture (and language) which surrounds him on all sides, but in which is embodied the embryo of the future. It is difficult, says Fresco, for non-scientific man to grasp the full implications of science because of the limitations imposed on him by his social environment. New forces, inherent in the framework of his present culture, are continually acting upon him, forces which are by their very nature unidirectional and irreversible, and tending always toward higher technical and social achievement.^[109]

Also noted is the organic nature of Fresco's city designs and the evolutionary (rather than revolutionary) development he expects them to take.^[110] The relationship and functions between city facilities and humans is compared to the relationships and functions of organismic bodies.^[111] Such cities are posited as the answer to Walter B. Cannon's idea of achieving homeostasis for society.^[110]

Other concepts prevalent in Fresco's thought include: sociocyberneering (the application of science and technology, especially cybernation, to human affairs),^[71] extensionality (relatability between people, formerly conceived as love); biosocial pressures (spawned by the interactions between self-preservation and resource availability); functional ethics (a view in which moral transgressions are effectively rendered improbable by the reinforcement provided through technological infrastructures),^[112] emergent society (a society continuously in flux and bound only by natural law rather than artificial limitations imposed by humans); "the march of events" (a progression in which social, technological, and economic forces propel a necessary course of change as the sum total effect of natural laws, for instance, the evolutionary factors of natural selection or supply and demand)^[109][113]; intellectronics (Fresco's term used before artificial intelligence was coined); self-erecting structures (architecture or objects that construct themselves);^[114] total enclosure systems (self-contained, self-sufficient dwellings);^[113] thinking cities;^[110] and resource-based economy.

Reception[link]

Throughout his life Fresco has been labeled a "dreamer,"^[55][115][9] an "eccentric,"^[115] an "utopian,"^[116][17] an "idealist,"^[79] a "crackpot,"^[19] a "charlatan,"^[11] yet, concurrently, a genius, a prophet, and a visionary.^{[116][117][118]} Some feel that his vision is impractical, idealistic,^[83] and/or borderline science fiction.^[119][120] The books Nineteen Eighty-Four or Brave New World are sometimes referenced in relation to his vision. These attitudes continue today across some Web sites. Even further, some claims have labeled him a cult leader due to his figurehead status in The Zeitgeist Movement.^[119][121] Others accuse him of affiliations with conspirators of a New World Order.^[122] Fresco dismisses these accusations.

Form of Governance, Human Nature, Scientism, Calculation Problem[link]

His hypothesis of a resource-based economy is sometimes equated with Marxism,^[123] socialism, communism, or fascism.^{[90][119][124]} Fresco responds to these comparisons by stating, "The aims of The Venus Project have no parallel in history, not with communism, socialism, fascism or any other political ideology. This is true because cybernation is of recent origin. With this system, the system of financial influence and control will no longer exist."^[107]

One writer notes, "it's also true that his system of governance, in which authority is given to the expert in each field — in this case, specially programmed computers — is one that many writers, including Nobel-prize-winner Friedrich Hayek, have shown to be disastrous."^[79]

Another writer reviewing one of Fresco's films writes,

the more I listened to Fresco's specifics and fuzzy non-specifics it seemed to me I was encountering a God-like hubris coupled with the standard sci-fi dreamer's naivete vis á vis human nature. But just as I was jotting this last down in my notes, Fresco cautioned viewers — and it gave me the shivers, since he seemed to be responding directly to my written reservations — to remember that human nature is not synonymous with human behavior; the latter can be changed. Although Fresco's futurist scenario is — in my humble opinion — rife with problems, it's not every day that somebody comes along ambitious enough to offer a blueprint for re-designing the world.^[123]

Other criticisms have implied a scientistic approach due to Fresco's heavy emphasis on science alone to overcome humanity's obstacles,

His vision is eminently practical, and although this constitutes an innovative and welcome element with reference to previous utopian projections, his focus on science alone makes him fail as a generalist – the criticism Fresco himself passed on academics and scientists. Today's pressing problems require a holistic approach – various disciplines, arts science, philosophy working on a "convergence mode", unfortunately Fresco's vision seems to consolidate the long established view that the "two cultures" (Science and Art) are antagonistic.^[106]

The calculation problem has also been raised against a resource-based economy.^[125] In a resource-based economy, it is claimed, there is no ability to calculate the availability and desirability of resources because the price mechanism is not utilized. Fresco responds to this issue stating, "we can achieve a level of production so high that it would be superfluous to put a price tag on things."^[126]

Question of Utopianism[link]

Exploring whether Fresco's vision is utopian, Viktor Vakhshtayn, the director of the Department of Sociology at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, claims that Fresco has carried forth a perspective that bypassed utopian perspectives of the twentieth-century. He describes the whole of Fresco's vision as "telling us about the deep past of the future." That, "in fact, the whole history of the 20th century is the history of death of utopia. This is in fact what gives Jacque Fresco such power. He jumped from the 19th century to the 21st century, leap-frogging the 20th century. It's a single step from Jules Verne to Jacque Fresco. This is very powerful. This keeps amazing me."^[127]

In response to association with utopianism, Fresco has stated, "We do not believe in the erroneous notion of a utopian society. There is no such thing. Societies are always in a state of transition. We propose an alternative direction, which addresses the causes of many of our problems. There are no final frontiers for human and technological achievement."^[107]

With a broader conception of utopianism than Fresco, Vakhshtayn upon initial assessment states that Fresco appears to have four out of five characteristic features of utopianism of the nineteenth-century, namely, the belief in rationality of science, belief in the technological process, that technology should better human life, and the overseeing of cities from a center.^[127] The only feature remaining to close the question of utopianism is a "final frontier, and this is exactly the element that Fresco is stressing so much." Vakhshtayn concludes by saying, "When we say utopia, we don't mean it cannot be implimented. So many utopias have been implimented in the twentieth-century. And they were discredited because they were actually put into life." Vakhshtayn further accuses Fresco of not answering the "epistemological" question, i.e. how does one certainly know that a course of events will unfold as one expects them to.^[127]

Fresco has addressed this by making an appeal to induction,

We have the technology to build a global paradise on earth, and at the same time we have the power to end life as we know it. I am a futurist. I cannot predict the actual future — only what it can be if we manage the earth and its resources intelligently. [...] If civilization continues on its present course, we will simply repeat the same mistakes all over again.^[1]

Focusing on accusations of utopianism, a writer from the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies remarks, "For most people, the promise of the project sounds like an unattainable utopia, but if you examine it more closely, there are surprisingly many scientifically founded arguments that open up an entire new world of possibilities."^[128] Another writer for CIFS points out,

Perhaps the modern interpretation of the word "utopia" is to blame when the Renaissance man and futurist Jacque Fresco says ... he doesn't want to call his life work, The Venus Project, a utopia. However, this visionary idea of a future society has many characteristics in common with the utopia. ... the word utopia carries a double meaning, since in Greek it can mean both the good place (eutopia) and the nonexisting place (outopia). A good place is precisely what Fresco has devoted his life to describing and fighting for."^[129]

One writer suggests instead that "The Venus project is no static utopia, rather a dynamic one: it requires an incremental process driven by an ever-changing extropic ideal."^[106]

As an influence and inspiration[link]

Hans-Ulrich Obrist notes, "Fresco's future may, of course, seem outmoded and his writings have been subject to critique for their fascistic undertones of order and similitude, but his contributions are etched in the popular psyche and his eco-friendly concepts continue to influence our present generation of progressive architects, city planners and designers."^[130]

When asked by a reporter why he has such difficulty actualizing his many ideas, Fresco responded, "Because I can't get to anybody. I have no credentials."^[83] Nevertheless, positive attitudes toward Fresco regard him as "a genius, a prophet, and a visionary." General praise appears among futurists, especially the World Future Society who have considered him a visionary engineer in review of his work in the Futurist,^{[131] [132]} commenting, "Whether the future Fresco envisions is probable or even possible is open to debate, but he succeeds in conveying the power of thinking of the future on a grander scale than we're used to."^[132] Fresco's work has been compared to the work of Paolo Soleri^[117] and especially Buckminster Fuller^[133] for all attempting to actualize their vision against great odds,^[106][134] as well as Nikola Tesla,^[84] Thomas Edison,^[19] and Da Vinci^[107] for sharing affluence in prolific innovation.

The elaborate scope of Fresco's vision intrigued the science fiction critic, Forest Ackerman,^[13] early on, who placed Fresco next to such names as H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, Philip Wylie, Hugo Gernsback, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Ray Bradbury.^[135] Fresco would later attract Star Trek animator, Doug Drexler, who worked with Fresco to produce several computer renderings of his designs,^[136] as well as Arthur C. Clarke who, late in his life, briefly attempted to help Fresco get exposure for the Venus Project.^[137] Synergetics theorist Norman Arthur Coulter appreciated Fresco's vision for his attempt to accomplish it "not for profit, but to meet the needs of human beings."^[137] Author, Harold Cober, comments, "Once you've seen the man's ideas and buildings, you can't let go of it."^[79] Bruce Eisner mentions that the Venus Project shares similar aims as his Island Sanctuary Project.^[138] Commenting on what he sees as Fresco's inspirational and charismatic teaching methods, physicist, Paul G. Hewitt, cites Fresco as being one of the three major sources of inspiration, turning him away from work as a sign painter and toward a career in science.^[70][139]

Psychologist and scientist, Jack Catran, notes,

Contemplate the staggering realistic views of the future published by Jacque Fresco ... There are many futurists, "geniuses", and self-styled seers in our midst who, upon careful examination, turn out to be disappointingly commercial and exploitive. Most extrapolations into the future are made from fixed and narrow points of view. We are all products of today's mediocrity-breeding culture, but if anyone can be called a genius in our money system society, Jacque Fresco should be singled out as the broadest, most aware, individual of our time.^[140]

At Drexel University, sociologist and futurist, Arthur B. Shostak, often incorporated Fresco's ideas into his writing and teaching, stating,^[141]

His contribution to futuristics is singular, as few, if any around the globe, dare the sweep, the depth, and the drama of his vision. When he writes or speaks, futurists grow quiet, pensive, and finally, appreciative — as his work is sound in its call for a thorough examination of the assumptions under which we labor. While little of his vision may materialize in the lifetime of us all, our grandchildren may yet salute much of what Jacque first helped them set in motion.^[17]

In 2008 the Raelian Movement gave Fresco their Honorary Guide award for dedicating "his life to the betterment of humanity as a whole."^[142] Fresco received the International Design Award in 2009 from the a! Diseño organization of Mexico. In 2010, it was announced that Fresco was selected to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Exemplar-Zero Initiative in the summer of 2011.^[143] In April of 2012, Fresco was honoree at Sustainatopia in Miami.^[144]

Works[link]

Books[link]

• with Keyes, Ken. Looking Forward. South Brunswick, New Jersey: A.S. Barnes. (1969). ISBN 0-498-06752-1. OCLC 21606. http://www.thevenusproject.com/images/stories/Looking-Forward-v2.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-26. 
• Introduction to Sociocyberneering. Lidiraven Books. (1977). OCLC 6036204. http://books.google.com/books?id=JbktHAAACAAJ. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 
• Structural Systems and Systems of Structure. Sociocyberneering, Inc. (1979). 
• The Venus Project: The Redesign of Culture. Venus, Fla.: Global Cyber-Visions. (1995). ISBN 0-9648806-0-1. OCLC 33896367. http://www.archive.org/stream/TheVenusProjectTheRedesignOfCulture/1995-TheVenusProject-TheRedesignOfCulturee-book#page/n1/mode/2up. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 
• The Best that Money Can't Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty & War. Venus, Fla.: Global Cyber-Visions. (2002). ISBN 0-9648806-7-9. OCLC 49931422. http://books.google.com/books?id=JhzxAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2009-03-26. 
• Designing the Future. Venus, Fla.: The Venus Project, Inc. (2007). OCLC 568770383. http://deluxe-catalog.ro/1/393/publication.html#/1/. Retrieved 2011-01-09. 

Articles[link]

• Modern Food Production
• "Project Americana: Man in the World of Tomorrow", Feedback. Vol. 1, No. 5, May 1961.: 6 
• "Science in 1980". Florida Living Magazine (Miami): pp. 8–9. (Dec. 31, 1961). http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OAxgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UOkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2940%2C4969865. 
• Designing the Future: A Cybernetic City For the Next Century in The Futurist. Vol. 28, No. 3. pp. 29–33. (May/June 1994).
• The Future and Beyond The Venus Project, Inc. (2000)
• with Meadows, Roxanne. Beyond Utopia in Utopian Thinking in Sociology: Creating the Good Society. pp. 86–92 edited by Arthur B. Shostak. American Sociological Association. (2001). OCLC 49561995.
• with Meadows, Roxanne. The Future by Design: Beyond Money and Politics in Viable Utopian Ideas: Shaping a Better World. pp. 197–205 edited by Arthur B. Shostak. London/Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. (2003). ISBN 0-7656-1105-8. OCLC 473852611.
• with Meadows, Roxanne. Reinventing Iraq in In the Shadow of War. pp. 147–154 edited by Arthur B. Shostak. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House. (2004). ISBN 978-1-4381-2468-1. OCLC 646806392.

Films[link]

• The Venus Project: The Redesign of a Culture (1994)
• Welcome to the Future (1998)
• Cities in the Sea (2002)
• Self-erecting Structures (2002)
• Designing the Future (2006)
• Paradise or Oblivion (2012)

References[link]

• Durrani, Noni. (2007). The Future: Jacque Fresco On The Future, Forbes
• Gia Films. (2010). Frequency of Genius, Gia Film Productions
• Gazecki, William. (2006) Future By Design, Docflix
• Hoving, K. (2002). Engineering the Impossible, Discovery Channel
• Joseph, Peter. (2008). Zeitgeist Addendum, Gentle Machine Productions
• Joseph, Peter. (2011). Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, Gentle Machine Productions
• Maja Borg, M. (2011). Future For Sale, Sonja Henrici, SDI Productions Ltd.
• Wachtmeister, J. (2007). Great Expectations: A Journey through the History of Visionary Architecture, Solaris Filmproduktion

External links[link]

• www.thevenusproject.com — The Venus Project
• www.youtube.com/user/thevenusprojectmedia — The Venus Project YouTube channel