A breath of Fresco air

August 1, 2011 3:56 AM

Jacque Fresco is 95 years old. He met Bucky Fuller and Einstein when he was a kid. He's been trying to make a better world ever since. His designs are unusual, but he has been thinking about them for a long time. In 1974 he did an interview with Larry King. More recently his idea of a resource based economy, partially exemplified by the Venus Project has particular meaning. Future By Design is an hour and a half documentary about this strange maven.
posted by twoleftfeet (12 comments total)

The videos were too meandering for me, so I tried searching Wikipedia for resource-based economy. It redirected to "Post Scarcity," which looks like an interesting article.

One of my pet peeves is videos/books that purport to be about a movement, but instead focus on the movement's 'founder'.
posted by Net Prophet at 4:24 AM on August 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm just going to head off references to The Zeitgeist Movement, because Fresco doesn't care about TZM.
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:31 AM on August 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Net Prophet, this is common, and also a peeve of many. As Jello Biafra asked, "Why do we have Martin Luther King Day instead of Civil Rights Day?"

I bet Mr. Fresco reads Adbusters.
posted by JLovebomb at 4:35 AM on August 1, 2011

I dig this little dude. I also have a soft spot for Bucky Fuller, so there you have it. Thanks! Hadn't heard of him previously.
posted by PuppyCat at 4:40 AM on August 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm progeny of a Bucky Fuller education. He's romanticized now, but he was a lunatic. This video sounds very Fulleresque. Utopian. "All would be well if only everyone would stop doing what they're doing now and changed". Nice in theory. Ridiculous in reality.
posted by readyfreddy at 5:02 AM on August 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

They key to being taken seriously is good names. Like "sociocyberneering".
posted by DU at 5:14 AM on August 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sociocyberneering is a totally reasonable verbal construction if you combine sociocybernetics and engineering.

Today, a committee and a focus group would suggest a different name. We need a word that suggests a way forward towards The Future, so we'll go with "path". We also need a word that suggests society. Let's go with "Sociopath".
posted by twoleftfeet at 5:42 AM on August 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

I was ready to really like this guy, but viewing the link from twoleftfeet where he talks about how he raised his child, I dislike him intensely. What a manipulative guy. He talks about how he was constantly strategically messing with his son's mind, lying to him "for his own good," supposedly to make him a better, more creative person.

Would not trust this guy to plan lunch.

Very disappointing. Bite me, Fresco.
posted by edheil at 6:51 AM on August 1, 2011

I was almost on board until I found out that The Venus Project's first movie contained 9-11 conspiracy theories.

It just goes to show that revolution is impossible because long before your movement reaches critical mass, a lot of very unreasonable people will join the movement and discredit the entire thing.

That isn't to suggest that The Venus Project had any chance in the first place. I'm pretty sure this Fresco gentleman isn't the first person to suggest that there might be some problems with Capitalism.
posted by swellingitchingbrain at 8:07 AM on August 1, 2011

The "resource based economy" sounds great, until you try to figure out who sets up the allocation of resources program that runs everything. You have to watch the watchers, in this case, watch the programmers.
posted by MikeWarot at 8:23 AM on August 1, 2011

His brother, Al, always had to eat outside when they were kids.
posted by doctor_negative at 8:37 AM on August 1, 2011

I was mad about Bucky Fuller and Paolo Soleri and the like for a while. What magnificent designs of macro amazement. I worked to hard to try and understand how they justified the blueprints and sweeping curves they laid out.

That stuff is just made up. They've done no strain analysis of their giant arches, no thermodynamic modelling of heating processes. They just spat out their designs as revealed truths. Fuck them.

And Fuck all the design students out there that just cad up some magic device with no thought spent on the actual functioning.
posted by Chekhovian at 3:35 PM on August 1, 2011 [1 favorite]