What is The Zeitgeist Movement?

The Zeitgeist Movement is a Global Sustainability Advocacy Group with roughly 500,000 members across virtually all countries, currently working in over 1000 Regional Chapters. Each group works to spread awareness about new economic & socially progressive ideas which seek to reform our methods and perceptions in the interest to create a truly progressive, sustainable, peaceful, global society. The core interest is to bring about a more responsible, humane and sustainable socio-economic system, known as a “Resource- Based Economy”.

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 Asheville Zeitgeist Movement has been meeting on the first Thursday of each month at the Firestorm Café, in downtown Asheville.

The NC State Chapter has meetings on the first and third Monday of each month, on a chat server called Teamspeak.

free movie events,

bannering downtown on Sundays,

pass out DVD’s,/information,

Zeitgeist Media Festival=Sat September 10th Hazel Robinson Amphitheater (food, massage, arts, games, musicians)

We are on Facebook http://facebook.com/BlueRidgeZeitgeistMovement

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as poverty, corruption, collapse, homelessness, war, starvation and the like appear to be "Symptoms" born out of an outdated social structure.

The world today has become very detached from the physical world, with techniques of production and distribution that have no relationship to the environment. Our use of a profit based, “growth” driven monetary system has become one of the greatest destroyers of the natural world and sustainable human values. It is important to understand that the entire global economy requires “cyclical consumption” to operate, which means that money must constantly be circulating. Thus, new goods and services must be constantly introduced regardless of the state of the environment and actual human necessity. This “perpetual” approach has a fatal flaw, for resources as we know it are simply not infinite. Resources are finite and the Earth is essentially a closed system. 

While intermediate Reform steps and temporal Community Support are of interest to the The Movement, the defining goal here is the installation of a new socioeconomic model based upon technically responsible Resource Management, Allocation and Distribution through what would be considered The Scientific Method of reasoning problems and finding optimized solutions.

This "Resource-Based Economic Model” 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 Science has to offer, leaving behind the damaging consequences and limiting inhibitions which are generated by our current system of monetary exchange, profits, corporations and other structural and motivational components.

A Resource-Based Economy utilizes existing resources rather than money. It is a system in which all natural, man-made, machine-made, and synthetic resources would be available without the use of money, credits, barter, or any other form of symbolic exchange. A Resource-Based Economy would utilize existing resources from the land and sea, and the means of production, such as physical equipment and industrial plants, to enhance the lives of the total population. In an economy based on resources, conservation and the most advanced methods of science and technology, we could easily produce all of the necessities of life and provide a high standard of living for all. To do this, we have to overcome our current, outdated, established practices. This is the purpose of The Zeitgeist Movement- to create a global awareness to thus transition into a new, sustainable direction for humanity as a whole.

The Movement is loyal to a train of thought, not figures or institutions. In other words, 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 which could be profoundly more effective in meeting the needs of the human population. In fact, so much so, that there is little reason to assume war, poverty, 95% of most crime and many other money-based scarcity effects common in our current model cannot be resolved over timeThe range of The Movement's Activism & Awareness Campaigns extend from short to long term. The long term view, which is the transition into a Resource-Based Economic Model, is a constant pursuit and expression, as stated before. However, in the path to get there, The Movement also recognizes the need for transitional Reform techniques, along with direct Community Support.

For instance, while "Monetary Reform" itself is not an end solution proposed by The Movement, the merit of such legislative approaches are still considered valid in the context of transition and temporal integrity. Likewise, while food and clothes drives and other supportive projects to help those in need today is also not considered a long term solution, it is still also considered valid in the context of helping others in a time of need, while also drawing awareness to the principle goal.

The Zeitgeist Movement also has no allegiance to a 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 the planet Earth, not a select group.

Fluid social change can only materialize if two circumstances are met.

1. The human value system, which consists of our understandings and beliefs, must be updated and changed through education and thoughtful introspection.

2. The environment surrounding that value system must change to support the new global view. The interaction between a person's value system and their environment is what influences their (human) behavior.

For example, in our culture, "ethics" is really is a matter of degree, for our social system promotes and rewards competition and self-interest. This perspective doesn't just "lead" to aberrant behavior... it creates it directly. Corruption is the norm in our society and most people do not see this, for since the society supports this behavior, it is considered right and normal... or as a matter of degree. Given this understanding, there is a fallacy that has emerged where certain groups are deemed "corrupt" and everyone else is "good". This is the age old "us and them" world view which has no basis empirically, for it is, again, all a matter of degree.

For example, there is a large movement of people who constantly talk about "The New World Order" and this notion that there is an elite group of people who have been trying to take over the world for a long time and have manipulated society in various ways to further their goals. This, of course, is true to a certain extent. BUT, the failure of awareness is that this "group" is not a group at all. It is a tendency.

If you took out all the people at the top who are engaged in global hegemonic rule, it would simply be a matter of time before another group stepped in to seek the same ambition. Therefore, it isn't the individual people or groups that are the problem. It is actually the conditions upon which those people have been accustomed and indoctrinated by. Of course, many argue against this view with the escapist notion that it is "human nature" that causes this competition and need for dominance. This is unsupported by the facts. In reality, we are nearly clean slates when we are born and it is our environment that shapes who we are and how we behave.

Therefore, in order for TRUE change to occur, we must spend less time battling the products of this sick social structure and more time trying to change the root causes. As difficult and daunting as it may be to think this way, it is the only way our world will change for the better.

We can continue to stomp on the ants coming out from under the refrigerator, but until we remove the spoiled food behind it, they are just going to keep coming.

What we can do transform our world into a RBE:

1. We can recognizing the world’s resources as the common heritage of all Earth’s people.

2. We can transcend the artificial boundaries that separate people. (political parties, religious intitutions, races, classes, etc...)

3. We can evolve from money-based nationalistic economies, to a resource-based world economy.

4. We can assist in stabilizing the world’s population through education and voluntary birth control in order to conform to the carrying capacity of Earth’s resources.

5. We can reclaim and restore the natural environment to the best of our ability. (reclaiming our yards/planting indigenous trees, and edible one)

6. We can redesign our cities, transportation systems, agricultural industries, and industrial plants so that they are energy efficient, clean, and able to conveniently serve the needs of all people.

7. We can share and apply new technologies for the benefit of all nations, not just those who can afford it.

8. We can develop and “use” clean and renewable energy sources.

9. We can manufacture the highest quality products for the benefit of the world’s people.

10. We can requiring environmental impact studies prior to construction of any mega projects.

11. We can encourage the widest range of creativity, and incentive toward constructive endeavor, with ourselves and those we know.

12. We can outgrow nationalism, bigotry, and prejudice through education.

13. We can outgrow any type of elitism, technical or otherwise.

14. We can arrive at methodologies through careful research, rather than from mere opinions.

15. We can enhance communication in schools so that our language corresponds to the actual physical nature of the world.

16. We can provide not only the necessities of life, but also offering challenges that stimulate the mind while emphasizing individuality over uniformity.

17. Finally, we can prepare ourselves and others intellectually and emotionally for the changes and challenges that lie ahead.

Even with our current, destructive methods, the Earth is still abundant with resources. Today our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter-productive to the well-being of people. Today’s society has access to highly advanced technologies and can easily provide more than enough for a very high standard of living for all the earth’s people. This is possible through the implementation of a Resource-Based Economy.