As for guns: No, I cannot eat them. But they stock my freezer with meat each fall. Their private ownership is among the philosophical foundations of this great nation. And they serve as the only protection against the state obtaining a monopoly on force.

I encourage you to rethink your position on guns and expand your understanding of this marvelous tool – the tool that set men free and allowed them ownership of their own destinies independent of the war lord, the tribe, or the state.

Granted, the gun is an undervalued tool in our urbane, plastic, suburbanized society. But this will not always be the case. As we lose sight of our heritage and the philosophical foundations of our independence, the state will be there to fill the void. We see the encroachments of the state all around us. And while the gun is not the only tool one will need to preserve his dignity and independence, it is among the most important.

Finally, beware those who would take this tool of independence away from you. Question their motives and think deeply on what twisted philosophy would seek to deprive you of this tool while handing a monopoly on force to the state or collective.

One might say that people work for various reasons, well when we look at the history of work, one will see that the primary reason for work originated from the need for subsistence; the minimum (as of food and shelter) necessary to support life. For example early humans would hunter animals and gather fruits and vegetation (natural resources) for such subsistence. They would also inhabit caves and build shelter and make their clothing, all of which were something they POSSESSED (they DID NOT OWN THEM, as the concept had not been derived yet), and would defend all of their possession from any one or thing that may want to take that which they valued or possessed.

Humans would defend their possessions aggressively if need be, because the methods (technology, e.g. spears and catapults) used to acquire those possessions were primitive and required extensive amounts of work or energy and time, and to be robbed of their possession would be equivalent to killing them.
Though humans were mainly nomads deaths from confrontation with other humans was rare, as humans were not so populous at that time.

With passing of time humans became more efficient and effective in their methods of hunting and gathering that it propelled humans to CHANGE their methods for subsistence, and humans soon discovered Agriculture.
Population grew with the efficiency and effectiveness and human confrontations became more frequent, because segregated (by demographics) groups of humans were all searching for the land that had plentiful resources and would provide the best chances of survival.

Why do we own anything (early simplistic concept)?

As an attempt to curb the confrontations humans devised what is currently known as OWNERSHIP; “Ultimate and exclusive right (conferred by a lawful claim or title, and subject to certain restrictions) to enjoy, occupy, possess, rent, sell (fully or partially), use, give away, or even destroy an item of property. Ownership may be ‘corporeal’ (title to a tangible object such as a house) or ‘incorporeal’ (title to an intangible something, such as a copyright, or a right to recover debt). Possession (as in tenancy) does not necessarily mean ownership because it does not automatically transfer title.”

POSSESSION: the act of having or taking into control.

Definitions from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ownership.html

By analyzing this brief history one may be tempted to assume that ownership therefore eliminated as much confrontations as possible. However, the real reason behind the confrontations was an increase in overall human population (which had limited education and technology, e.g. humans weren’t educated about the effects of radical increase in human population on resources and how that led to confrontations, humans limited and misused technology that could provide help and abundance, e.g. Hydroponics has been limited and Top soil has been damaged), which caused the exhaustion or scarcity of resources.

What the TVP proposes: “All resources become the common heritage of all of the inhabitants, not just a select few. The premise upon which this system is based is that the Earth is abundant with plentiful resource”
http://www.thevenusproject.com/a-new-social-design/resource-based-economy

Now here I believe that TVP is referring to resources such as food, shelter, land, minerals, equipment of any sort, etc. And I see why it’s a difficult to grasp the concept because it doesn’t elaborate on certain relevant issues. What if any one whoever, wants to come and reside in the property you possess without your permission? I will answer that later.

The way I may try to explain it to you:
If you’re renting an apartment, that particular apartment is in your possession, but it’s in the ownership of the landlord.
In a Resource Based Economy since it’s not monetary based property will be in your possession, but in the ownership of Planet Earth, which is your Landlord. Therefore neither you nor others will make any monthly payments to live anywhere, but that particular space your apartment occupies is set aside as your particular possession, no one person sets this, the integrated computer system will tell you at the time of ordering, that a particular location you desire is occupied or not, and if it’s not occupied you’ll order an apartment in accordance with your tastes, though the system will make recommendations if the order is defying laws of physics or is unsustainable. If it is occupied it will suggest to you other alternative locations based on your particular desired description.
The concept of ownership as we know it today will change to a momentary(it could be a short or long period of time) possession of an earthly good. That means when you want to move to a different area of the world your possessed apartment will be recycled and someone else may take that location. You on the other hand will place another order in the area you’re now moving to.
Nothing prevents you or others from doing anything that will affect the earth, others and the system in general negatively, all we’ll have as human beings will be EDUCATION as a tool to communicate to other human beings facts by scientific method and to restore anything that’s affected negatively, NOT via forceful means.(This does not mean that if someone for example came to confiscate your possessions for whatever reason, that people will not intervene.)
Now back to the question, What if any one whoever, wants to come and reside in the property you possess without your permission?
TVP works in such a way that resources are made abundant, this means if someone needs a place to stay, they can simply order a place to stay. There will be a use of EDUCATION as a vehicle to change the behaviour of individuals if that individual feels different, not force or coercion.
When people are educated about particular things they have a tendency to act differently, only that some will learn things at slower rate than others and some faster than others. Eventually they get the message. And tolerance will be encouraged, as a means through which humans can coexist.
Having said this you can see that it will only be the process of transition that will be the most difficult to implement because TVP is for education and not force or violence.

“We must emphasize that this approach to global governance has nothing whatever in common with the present aims of an elite to form a world government with themselves and large corporations at the helm, and the vast majority of the world’s population subservient to them. Our vision of globalization empowers each and every person on the planet to be the best they can be, not to live in abject subjugation to a corporate governing body.
Our proposals would not only add to the well being of people, but they would also provide the necessary information that would enable them to participate in any area of their competence. The measure of success would be based on the fulfilment of one’s individual pursuits rather than the acquisition of wealth, property and power.”
http://www.thevenusproject.com/a-new-social-design/resource-based-economy

I am a supporter of the TVP, as I see a better, but not perfect, tomorrow. I see the potential in TVP and forums such as yours help address the issues people are having with TVP, and only by addressing those issues head on, will there some sort of clarification for both the TVP and the public in general.
The systems that are at work today have failed miserably to address issues that affect all human beings.
There are variations of Capitalism that have been put forward, but it looks in the long run wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, who’ll in turn be so powerful that they will follow their own agendas.
If you have read a proposed system that sounds plausible to you, please give me some reference so I may do my research and analyze it.

Systems such as Communism, Socialism, Capitalism and Fascism are all failing (one has failed out-right) because they have one thing in common. That is they are all based on the Monetary Economics.

“A Monetary System uses an intermediary exchange medium, known as ‘money’, as the means for facilitating employment, production, distribution, and the consumption of goods and services. The use of this medium of monetary exchange, as a basis for an economic system, could be termed: “Monetary Economics””
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/The%20Zeitgeist%20Movement.pdf

Capitalism is the prevailing system around the world, but many express dissatisfaction with this system because a common theme emerges in every society that has adopted it. That is Capitalism has the propensity to shift power to the already established. This is seen as normal when one considers that those established may have worked hard and intelligently and should be able to prosper from that labour. But I wish capitalism was that generous, and all who worked hard and intelligently were rewarded. The fact stands that those in power in a capitalist society will likely remain in power by the mere fact that they have all that money can buy and all that power can coerce. All that money can buy in this instance means: they can corrupt individuals, sponsor campaigns, coerce governments and businesses, etc. I wish it were not so and most people were benevolent in the monetary system. They do all this in the quest of more money, power and maintenance of power or control. They can do all this because people in societies of the monetary system are subject to the use of money to purchase that which they need, that means the less money you have the less you can purchase, and the more money you have the more you can purchase. Whether fiat money is abolished and Gold standard is introduced or not, the facts above mentioned (accumulation of wealth and power to a few, unjust compensation for efforts and intelligence, stratification of classes, propensity for bribes and coercion) will still remain under any type of monetary system. Therefore money is one of many tools to control any individual, business or government, because everyone in them needs money to at least get their most basic needs, therefore anyone of them is a potential victim of corruption, coercion, etc.
Now ponder on this:
Could one be bribed if she/he had no use for money at all?
Would corporate crime exist if no one had need for money or benefit from it?
Would a thief steal if I gave him whatever he NEEDED?

When we deeply analyze why individuals commit many crimes (not dealing individuals with particular degenerative diseases), we observe that it was initially in the need to satisfy their basic needs (have food when needed, shelter when needed, transportation, etc) and because money is always spent on needs and wants, the more you have of it the more you can assure those needs and wants, therefore this creates an incentive to keep committing crimes, to keep wanting power etc…

Money is not evil and was never evil! It is merely an out dated solution to the problems we once had.

Since capitalism advocates individualism, why is it that it doesn’t make sure the every individual section of its chain is equally strong?
If we say that other systems were theoretically sound, but practically flawed, capitalism befits this definition, the only difference being that capitalism appears less inhumane and gives individuals more of a chance, and where as other systems are inhumane and give individuals less of a chance. Nonetheless all systems have failed us as human beings.

I think it’s time for something radically different, something that doesn’t propagate the old crippled and outdated ways.

One might say that people work for various reasons, well when we look at the history of work, one will see that the primary reason for work originated from the need for subsistence; the minimum (as of food and shelter) necessary to support life. For example early humans would hunter animals and gather fruits and vegetation (natural resources) for such subsistence. They would also inhabit caves and build shelter and make their clothing, all of which were something they POSSESSED (they DID NOT OWN THEM, as the concept had not been derived yet), and would defend all of their possession from any one or thing that may want to take that which they valued or possessed.

Humans would defend their possessions aggressively if need be, because the methods (technology, e.g. spears and catapults) used to acquire those possessions were primitive and required extensive amounts of work or energy and time, and to be robbed of their possession would be equivalent to killing them.
Though humans were mainly nomads deaths from confrontation with other humans was rare, as humans were not so populous at that time.

With passing of time humans became more efficient and effective in their methods of hunting and gathering that it propelled humans to CHANGE their methods for subsistence, and humans soon discovered Agriculture.
Population grew with the efficiency and effectiveness and human confrontations became more frequent, because segregated (by demographics) groups of humans were all searching for the land that had plentiful resources and would provide the best chances of survival.

Why do we own anything (early simplistic concept)?

As an attempt to curb the confrontations humans devised what is currently known as OWNERSHIP; “Ultimate and exclusive right (conferred by a lawful claim or title, and subject to certain restrictions) to enjoy, occupy, possess, rent, sell (fully or partially), use, give away, or even destroy an item of property. Ownership may be ‘corporeal’ (title to a tangible object such as a house) or ‘incorporeal’ (title to an intangible something, such as a copyright, or a right to recover debt). Possession (as in tenancy) does not necessarily mean ownership because it does not automatically transfer title.”

POSSESSION: the act of having or taking into control.

Definitions from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ownership.html

By analyzing this brief history one may be tempted to assume that ownership therefore eliminated as much confrontations as possible. However, the real reason behind the confrontations was an increase in overall human population (which had limited education and technology, e.g. humans weren’t educated about the effects of radical increase in human population on resources and how that led to confrontations, humans limited and misused technology that could provide help and abundance, e.g. Hydroponics has been limited and Top soil has been damaged), which caused the exhaustion or scarcity of resources.

What the TVP proposes: “All resources become the common heritage of all of the inhabitants, not just a select few. The premise upon which this system is based is that the Earth is abundant with plentiful resource”
http://www.thevenusproject.com/a-new-social-design/resource-based-economy

Now here I believe that TVP is referring to resources such as food, shelter, land, minerals, equipment of any sort, etc. And I see why it’s a difficult to grasp the concept because it doesn’t elaborate on certain relevant issues. What if any one whoever, wants to come and reside in the property you possess without your permission? I will answer that later.

The way I may try to explain it to you:
If you’re renting an apartment, that particular apartment is in your possession, but it’s in the ownership of the landlord.
In a Resource Based Economy since it’s not monetary based property will be in your possession, but in the ownership of Planet Earth, which is your Landlord. Therefore neither you nor others will make any monthly payments to live anywhere, but that particular space your apartment occupies is set aside as your particular possession, no one person sets this, the integrated computer system will tell you at the time of ordering, that a particular location you desire is occupied or not, and if it’s not occupied you’ll order an apartment in accordance with your tastes, though the system will make recommendations if the order is defying laws of physics or is unsustainable. If it is occupied it will suggest to you other alternative locations based on your particular desired description.
The concept of ownership as we know it today will change to a momentary(it could be a short or long period of time) possession of an earthly good. That means when you want to move to a different area of the world your possessed apartment will be recycled and someone else may take that location. You on the other hand will place another order in the area you’re now moving to.
Nothing prevents you or others from doing anything that will affect the earth, others and the system in general negatively, all we’ll have as human beings will be EDUCATION as a tool to communicate to other human beings facts by scientific method and to restore anything that’s affected negatively, NOT via forceful means.(This does not mean that if someone for example came to confiscate your possessions for whatever reason, that people will not intervene.)
Now back to the question, What if any one whoever, wants to come and reside in the property you possess without your permission?
TVP works in such a way that resources are made abundant, this means if someone needs a place to stay, they can simply order a place to stay. There will be a use of EDUCATION as a vehicle to change the behaviour of individuals if that individual feels different, not force or coercion.
When people are educated about particular things they have a tendency to act differently, only that some will learn things at slower rate than others and some faster than others. Eventually they get the message. And tolerance will be encouraged, as a means through which humans can coexist.
Having said this you can see that it will only be the process of transition that will be the most difficult to implement because TVP is for education and not force or violence.

“We must emphasize that this approach to global governance has nothing whatever in common with the present aims of an elite to form a world government with themselves and large corporations at the helm, and the vast majority of the world’s population subservient to them. Our vision of globalization empowers each and every person on the planet to be the best they can be, not to live in abject subjugation to a corporate governing body.
Our proposals would not only add to the well being of people, but they would also provide the necessary information that would enable them to participate in any area of their competence. The measure of success would be based on the fulfilment of one’s individual pursuits rather than the acquisition of wealth, property and power.”
http://www.thevenusproject.com/a-new-social-design/resource-based-economy

I am a supporter of the TVP, as I see a better, but not perfect, tomorrow. I see the potential in TVP and forums such as yours help address the issues people are having with TVP, and only by addressing those issues head on, will there some sort of clarification for both the TVP and the public in general.
The systems that are at work today have failed miserably to address issues that affect all human beings.
There are variations of Capitalism that have been put forward, but it looks in the long run wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, who’ll in turn be so powerful that they will follow their own agendas.
If you have read a proposed system that sounds plausible to you, please give me some reference so I may do my research and analyze it.

I’ve also heard gun control people use this to show that concealed carry licenses would do nothing to prevent instances like Virginia Tech, etc… ‘if a fully armed military installation can’t even protect themselves…’ However, due to political correctness, this base was a “gun free zone”. Check your weapon at the entrance. Unless you’re a Jihadist…..

Check out some of the videos on the Venus Project website. Jacque Fresco talks about one of the circular cities he designed and he explains that there is a big entertainment center in the middle of the city.

Of course we will do almost all of the same stuff we will do now for entertainment and there will be new things too. We will have time to do more of it too. That is the whole point.

The only thing that will change is our behavior toward one another. Once children all over the world are bought up to realize that technology is the key to a high standard of living and they learn how to relate to others with out countries and classicism dividing them then they will have entirely different attitude toward the world.

They will read history about how there were once automobiles that were very dangerous and many people got killed. They will think, wow, everyone had to drive their own car??? That is too much work! The possibilities are endless.

There will be a new emergent world society where people will not have to compete for jobs just to survive. No one will starve or be homeless.

We won’t even think about things like war, poverty, economics and politics. People will want to work to make things better because they will have an awareness that their work directly impacts all people’s lives including their own.

I can tell you’re well-read, well-spoken and a student of the game. Surely you will survive and live to play again.

I teach Finance now and agree with so many of your comments.

Keep up the great work.