Venus Project and Laudato Si

The transition advocated by the Venus Project and the conversion exhorted in Pope Francis encyclical “Laudato Si” share some common ground.

Source: https://www.thevenusproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/tvp_smi1200_series1_2of10_commonheritage.jpg

Jacque Fresco, Founder of The Venus Project, comments that the only hope for developing a new civilization is to accept responsibility for improving our lives through knowledge, understanding, and a deeper comprehension of humanity’s relationship to natural processes of evolution. Our future is determined by the effort we put forth to achieve this transition.

The Venus Project proposes directing our technology and resources toward the maximum benefit of people and planet, and seeking out new ways of thinking and living that emphasize and celebrate the vast potential of the human spirit. We have the tools at hand to design and build a future that is worthy of the human potential.1 

In this sixth episode of "Understanding Laudato Si," Fr. Daniel P. Horan, OFM, explores the second half of Chapter Two. The four subheadings of Chapter Two examined here include the themes of: (A) The message of each creature in the harmony of creation; (B) A universal communion; (C) The common destination of goods;

and (D) The gaze of Jesus.

95. The natural environment is a collective good, the patrimony of all humanity and the responsibility of everyone. If we make something our own, it is only to administer it for the good of all. If we do not, we burden our consciences with the weight of having denied the existence of others. That is why the New Zealand bishops asked what the commandment “Thou shall not kill” means when “twenty percent of the world’s population consumes resources at a rate that robs the poor nations and future generations of what they need to survive”.[78]2 

Laudato Si and the Venus Project both understand the earth’s resources to be the common heritage and responsibility of all peoples. The possibility of complementary action in acting on the direction of these projects is worth exploration.

References

1	(n.d.). What Kind of World (a series: #2 of 10) | The Venus Project. Retrieved June 29, 2019, from https://www.thevenusproject.com/multimedia/%E2%80%A8what-kind-of-world-a-series-2-of-10/
2	(2015, May 24). Laudato si' (24 May 2015) - La Santa Sede. Retrieved June 29, 2019, from http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

Insight into low election participation

George your blog post presents some explanations for low voter turnout that are worthy of deeper study. A disturbing thought crossed my mind while reading your comments that there is really no incentive for political parties who benefit from low turnout to change the system.

Part of the propaganda that has gone along with our system of electing representatives is that we need to resist, by force in war if necessary, any attempts to remove our “right” to vote. I get a thread in your discussion that the public in large measure and through common sense wisdom has concluded that the process of electing governments has not brought any change to their lives. In Nova Scotia health, education, homelessness and poverty are problems which persist with little attempt to ”engineer solutions” from one government to the next. The candidates go door to door and are told of the problems and the ‘elected government’ probably concerned mostly with becoming the ‘re-elected government’ makes little or no change to the root causes of the social economic problems. Is there an process outside of government to engineer and create social and economic change? Your blog ideas over the years have highlighted the “myth of scarcity”, the extra value available in a resource based economy and the use of the existing expertise to “engineer” solutions.

Perhaps a commune (maybe a ‘loaded’ word) of people donating time and skill weekly to projects that provide housing, feed people, diagnose medical conditions and create infrastructure to enable participation and engagement with others and in counselling may be the evidence that people can get their needs addressed. The entrenched privileged classes may rave about the loss of freedom and the rights that our parents and grandparents died for. Lets try to feed, clothe, house, and care for the pathology of people who can then address political freedom after they have gained some relief from social and economic slavery.

Sustainable Life style is supported by spiritual connection

Jacque, Richard and Francis challenge scarcity myth