Moving Forward is not a single film, but rather one part in the Zeitgeist series. In 2007, the first Zeitgeist film was released for free online. I liked this film so much that I bought a copy of the DVD. Not only this, but I made many more copies of the DVD and passed them out to anyone who would take them. I was, for lack of a better term, a fan of Zeitgeist, and of independent "truth" media in general. The release of these documentaries for free online inspired me to make my own film, The Age of Transitions, and put it up for free so that everyone could watch it. The boost that Zeitgeist gave to independent media, and independent thought is a wonderful thing. I still appreciate the first Zeitgeist as a standalone piece however, I am extremely skeptical of the Zeitgeist Movement that has emerged from the subsequent films.
The movement was spurred on by part II of the Zeitgeist series: Addendum. The very first time I watched Addendum was straight from DVD. This was a bewildering experience to say the least. Where part I identified the collective problems of our society, part II offered many intricate solutions. An organization called the Venus Project was introduced. The overarching goals of the Venus Project were to move away from the current corrupt money-based/ financial system in favor of a wise technocracy. Their claim was that automation could easily take over many of the jobs that humans do today, and that real wealth and abundance could be shared by everyone in a new and better system. So why exactly was I worried by all of this? The many answers to this question will be found in this article so please read on, but first I want to review Zeitgeist III: Moving Forward.
In Review
In my opinion, Moving Forward was an improvement over Addendum. Here is what I liked about Moving Forward:
It criticizes the Federal Reserve, and the fractional reserve debt-based financial system. By its very design this system is "unsustainable," because it keeps creating more and more debt with no possible way of paying it off.
It points out the danger of blaming human problems on genetics. This ignores all of the broader social issues that could and should be addressed in order to create a healthier environment for us all to live in.
It shows that humans are extremely adaptable. They can grow accustomed to any environment, even an unhealthy one.
It explains the concept of "planned obsolescence," the idea that many mass-produced products are actually designed to break down and/or be used for a limited amount of time. This is a deliberate exploitation of the current monetary system.
It shows that our health care system measures success according to the amount of money spent. This means that the more drugs/treatments sold, the bigger perceived success. Clearly when there are more and more people who require medical treatment, then there must be more and more disease.
It shocks people into realizing that things are not right, and motivates them to take some sort of action.
If there is one thing that the Zeitgeist series does well, it is smashing many of the skewed paradigms of our day. At the same time however, it does tend to take some of its own perspectives to an opposite extreme. For instance, point 1 from the above list (criticism of our money system), tends to get oversimplified and muddied. A typical viewer of Zeitgeist could come away from the film thinking something like this,
"Man, money is BS. We need to get rid of it, and all of those evil banks and corporations. That would solve our problems"
This attitude is healthy to an extent, but it is also dangerous. The problem here is in thinking that money itself is the end all-be all evil, and not simply a tool of control. The truth is that money is nothing more than a means to animate our current social/political system. Money could (and likely will) be replaced by another instigator of social obedience. The real issue here is: who gets to design a new system in the first place? If the Zeitgeist Movement wants to talk about a "sustainable" future society then they certainly are not alone. Actually, they are behind the curve and have some serious catching up to do if they want to overcome the owners of our current system. The very same evil banks, governments, and corporations that Zeitgeist attacks are the same entities most involved in pushing the "sustainability" meme. A new form of Pavlovian reward and punishment could be introduced to reduce citizens' "carbon footprints," by regulating every facet of human life. An honest look at emerging propaganda leads one to the conclusion that just such a system is in its embryonic stage, and is being set up by the same socio-economic elite that is in power now.
To expand on point 1, Zeitgeist leaves out a very important detail. It does not explicitly mention that our current economic system was designed to break down from its very inception. To simplify, it revolves around the creation of debt. It keeps producing debt that is impossible to pay off. To say that the initiators of this debt-based system did not understand this, that they knew not what they were building in the first place, is ridiculous. The craftsmen of the Federal Reserve set up their scheme as a means to create a dependent population of debtors. This allows them to acquire the real resources before fully engaging the economic self-destruct button. Even though this system is a fiscal disaster at its core, it still produces serious resources. Deficit spending fuels technological progress. The wonderful automated systems that the Venus Project envisions are actually being produced right now with the financial support of huge government grants. These grants are made from the magical fiat dollars that are given to our government by the Federal Reserve. This method produces more and more debt with each new technological resource built. So we can see that both technological resources and debt are accumulating. What will become of these two things? Who will end up owning the resources? Who will be forced to pay off all of that debt, and if it can't be paid off with money, than how will it be paid? What forms of social control will be instituted in order that the citizenry may obtain everything for "free?"
Moving Forward starts out strong on point 2: that you cannot simply blame human problems on genetics. Unfortunately they end up taking this argument to the opposite extreme. Our social mileau ends up being the sole problem, and genetics are basically thrown out of the equation completely. In this way the nature vs nurture argument is merely tipped to the opposite side of the scale, not balanced.
Zeitgeist is very good at being confrontational, and demanding change, but what sort of change does it advocate? This is a valuable question, that needs to be analyzed carefully.
A Zeitgeist Agenda 21?
Let me say again, that when Zeitgeist was a single film I loved it. There were many folks within the alternative media who criticized it strongly. I thought that their claims were for the most part unjustified, and I was legitimately upset with the way in which many people went out of their way to attack Zeitgeist. They claimed that the film had an anti-Christian agenda, and much more. Part of this attack seemed to stem out of jealousy, and it appeared as though an alternative media turf war had been waged. This did not interest me in the slightest, and it hurt me to see such things happen on the apparent road to finding truth. I did not think that Zeitgeist had an agenda to sell. Boy, did my mind change after I saw Addendum. Zeitgeist was no longer an internet film made by one guy, it was now an all out political platform. It was advocating an extremely detailed plan for a new scientific technocracy.
"Moving Forward" from a single online truth film all the way to an international movement, Zeitgeist has become a powerful force. The original film is no longer a standalone piece. It is not merely a thought provoking film meant to inspire individual self-reflection. It now stands as the initiator of the entire Zeitgeist Movement. The movement itself has extremely ambitious goals, and troubling rhetoric that sounds very familiar. The similarities between the Zeitgeist Movement, Communism, the United Nations Agenda 21, and all things "green" are too quickly brushed off by members of the movement. Moving Forward deliberately makes a point of dismissing the many valid questions of Zeitgeist's critics by portraying them as the paranoid delusions of conservative yokels and idiotic conspiracy theorists. This disturbing tactic will clearly fuel the fire of the Movement's true believers and make them more antagonistic toward any dissenting views from outside.
youtube user BrutusCass presents some problems with the Venus Project
the term sustainable development was coined by the U.N. and used extensively in their Agenda 21. The document focuses heavily on creating local initiatives to further the U.N. sustainability project. This project has already progressed under many different banners that are not overtly U.N. related.
Agenda 21 talks about moving rural populations into cities. The Venus Project calls for the same thing.
the Venus Project states that what is needed is a centralized global system. The U.N. is the true life international body that is facilitating this.
The subject of overpopulation ties in here too. The U.N. has mentioned the issue quite overtly (in addition to Agenda 21, go back in time and read UNESCO's introductory document penned by Julian Huxley), but the Zeitgeist Movement seems to be tiptoeing around it, at least for now. It is still taboo to talk about a political plan aimed at curtailing population numbers. Little by little we are hearing about how overpopulation is a problem, and that we need to create a more sustainable system. I have no doubt that most voices talking about sustainability are building up to the introduction of some form of political proposal that would limit population. The Zeitgeist Movement may speak to this point more overtly in the near future.
The Zeitgeist Movement is beginning to form some very real political goals. To say that Zeitgeist has no agenda now would be ridiculous. The question is not whether there is or is not an agenda but rather: what exactly is the Zeitgeist agenda? Are those old criticisms of the original film now justified?
The Transition
The Zeitgeist Movement is advocating the creation of a scientific technocracy. Their idea is to set up a system that scientifically measures resources and allocates them accordingly. This would supposedly create abundance through efficiency. Automating labor with machines would also help increase efficiency, and relieve much of the burden of human labor.
Zeitgeist calls for a "centrally controlled" automated world. I am assuming that this vision includes extensive use of AI machines. I know that Moving Forward talks about building an automated highway system. Again, I must mention that the Zeitgeist Movement is not unique in calling for such technological advances. A great deal of government reports get into the construction of automated systems, and new sustainable economies. The Zeitgeist Movement itself is merely echoing what is said by a great deal of official sources: governments, NGOs, think tanks, and the like.
The Zeitgeist Movement started upon an anti-establishment platform. Members of the movement would do well to realize that they are now working right alongside the establishment. I don't think that this point has sunken in just yet, and this is troublesome to say the least. It seems as though the Zeitgeist Movement is following along the same lines of previous revolutionary movements.
Human stupidity is a frequent object of ridicule within the Zeitgeist series. In this way Zeitgeist makes a joke of our shortcomings while simultaneously saying that science and technology can fix them. What aren't mentioned are the issues of cybernetics, transhumanism, and current AI systems. Zeitgeist calls for automating everything with machines, but it doesn't mention that human beings themselves are eventually to be merged with these machines. This concept still seems ridiculous to some people, but not governments. Policy papers have been written on this subject since the turn of the millennium, and they continue to be written as scientific progress speeds forward.
In terms of "transitions" and the subject of "human enhancement," I came across a very interesting promotional video for Zeitgeist III. The editor chose to use a clip of Michio Kaku, a major spokesman for the cybernetic merge of man and machine. In this clip Kaku talks about the type of global civilization that we may be headed toward.
It is clear that Kaku is advocating wonderful possibilities for the future, and his sales pitch fits right in with the Zeitgeist Movement. It is appropriate that the video's editor chose to use this clip. What was unfortunately edited out was Kaku's mention of the "terrists" who would fear such a "planetary civilization." I assume that the terrists Kaku mentions are akin to all of those kooky people who criticize Zeitgeist. I actually used this same clip of Kaku in my own film, The Age of Transitions, and highlighted his mention of the terrists.
Dealing with words, the actual term transition is incredibly important. The reason that this website is titled theageoftransitions.com is to call attention to this highly charged and loaded word that is now used everywhere. You will notice in the above clip of Kaku, that he says transition over and over again. The reason for this is because his job is to sell you the idea of change/ progress/ transition. He is talking about the creation of a "planetary civilization." A world of scientific marvels, in which humans actually merge with machinery. This world is far removed from our current system, and thus the inherent need for a transition. Kaku is talking about the very same transition that the Zeitgeist Movement now advocates. The transition to a centralized global technocracy.
I have noticed that posters, fliers and trailers for Zeitgeist: Moving Forward have been labeled with a subtitle The Transition. This is extremely telling, and far more important than most people realize. The very word transition tells you what Zeitgeist is all about. The entire point of the series is to break down old socio-political systems, long held traditions, and paradigms to help facilitate mass acceptance of new ones. The Zeitgeist Movement is but one of many groups calling for a new world social system based on sustainability, which operates through the wisdom of science.
Looking back, I now view the original Zeitgeist in a new light. It seems as though its purpose was to deliberately destroy old modes of thinking, to dissolve the social constructs that used to provide meaning to the inhabitants of this age. Not only Zeitgeist, but it seems that much "conspiracy" material has been used in this way; To cut down old lines of thought and leave the masses searching for something new and better. An environment in which faith in the government, religion, and money is eroded becomes fertile ground to grow something new. I believe that a new faith for a new age is now being promoted. It is to be a faith based on the logic of science, and it will be used to ensure that we all live "sustainably." This faith is being produced and advocated by the very same creators of our current socio/economic system.
So What's the Problem?
I really did love Zeitgeist, until it turned into a revolutionary political movement. The profound nature of revolution is ironically not something that is well understood by most revolutionaries. It seems as though this has always been the case, and in this realization the true seeker can find greater truth. There really is nothing new under the sun.
Looking deeper into some of the subjects that the original Zeitgeist briefly touched upon, one can find the secrets of the ages brought out into plain view. This provides a profound sense of understanding that empowers the individual, and spurs them to continue seeking. It is this road less travelled that vanishes into the distance when one chooses to join a movement intent on racing toward an overly ambitious goal. Followers of movements believe that their particular goals are unique, and will lead to real change. In reality revolutions just keep the wheel spinning round and round. Most people who watched Zeitgeist can remember that Jesus Christ represents the sun, but what does that truly mean? I don't think that the members of any given mass movement have ever really cared to find an answer to that question.
I have no animosity toward the Zeitgeist Movement, or any of its members. i simply want to present information that I feel is relevant, and is all too often being overlooked. Just like anybody else, I want to be a better person capable of making a better world.
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