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Q: Why do you feel that an approach as revolutionary as Future By Design is necessary?

A: Our current system is not capable of providing a high standard of living for everyone, nor can it ensure the protection of the environment because the major motive is profit. Businesses aren't entirely to blame; they are forced to operate this way in order to retain the competitive edge. Additionally, with the advent of automation, cybernation, and artificial intelligence, there will be an ever-increasing replacement of people by automated systems. As a result, fewer people will be able to purchase goods and services even though our capability to produce an abundance will continue to exist. This is well-documented in Jeremy Rifkin's new book The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-market Era (Putnam, 1995). Future By Design offers a fresh approach that reverses the negative aspects experienced in our current applications of automation and artificial intelligence. This project eliminates the disastrous consequences that such approaches can have on our society, i.e. the displacement of millions of workers, skilled and unskilled alike.

Q: Elaborate a bit, if you will, on your views regarding money.

A:If all the money in the world were destroyed, as long as we have sufficient arable land, the factories, the necessary resources, and technical personnel, we could build anything and even supply an abundance. During the Depression, there were vacuum cleaners in store windows and automobiles in car lots. The Earth was still the same place. There was just no money in people's wallets and very little purchasing power. At the beginning of World War II, the U.S. had about 600 first-class fighting aircraft. We rapidly overcame this short-supply by turning out over 90,000 planes per year. The question at the start of World War II was: Do we have enough funds to produce the required implements of war? The answer was No, we did not have enough money or gold, but we did have more than enough resources. It was the available resources and technical personnel that enabled the U.S. to achieve the production and efficiency required to win the war.

It appears that the real wealth of any nation is in its natural resources and its people who are working toward a more humane life-style through the elimination of scarcity. All social systems, regardless of the political philosophy, religious beliefs, or social mores, ultimately depend upon natural resources -- i.e. clean air and water and arable land area -- and the industrial equipment and technical personnel for a high standard of living. The money- based system was designed hundreds of years ago and was hardly appropriate for that time. We still utilize this same outmoded system, which is probably responsible for most of today's problems. I have no doubt that even the wealthiest person today would be far better off in the high-energy society that Future By Design proposes.

Q: What will bring about the kind of society you envision?

A: I do not believe it can be brought about by the free exchange of ideas alone. It takes more than words and verbal exchange to bring about an innovative society. At the present time, the world is not a rational place. It will require a new set of values more appropriate to our needs.

Future By Design's proposals and methods for arriving at a new social design are as follows:

Phase 1: The 25-acre planning center in Venus, Florida, which is already complete.

Phase 2: The production of books, pamphlets, and videos inviting the participation of people who advocate a similar direction. Future By Design would also like to produce a feature-length motion picture and a television series, which would be a very effective way of presenting this evolutionary vision to a much larger audience.

Phase 3: The building of a new experimental city.

If our project appeals to a sufficient number of people and enough funds are made available, it will be directed toward the building of the first university city. The size and complexity of the city would depend on the funds available. This first experimental city would be a major planning, research, and development center where new technologies could be developed. It would also serve as a showplace for these new, clean technologies, operating in a pollution-free environment with built-in processes for recycling waste. Another of its functions would be to serve as a center for the dissemination of information in all areas of the social complex. It could serve as a global networking center, eventually inviting the participation of all nations, individuals, and organizations.

This would not be a private-enterprise venture for a selected few. Rather, it would be an open city for the public. Included in its design proposal is a theme park that could provide an exciting visual presentation of the operations of this new society designed to enhance the lives of all people; it would present to the public a positive, hopeful, attainable vision of the future. In our present culture, there is no comprehensive plan for a sustainable future; therefore the probability of a smooth transition from today's economy to a resource-based economy is highly unlikely. Unfortunately, what is most likely to occur is a breakdown in our current economic system and a reduction in the quality of life for most people. However, such conditions would not necessarily bring about a change for the better. Today the rate of change is so fast: new plants, technologies, and processes become obsolete in a relatively short time. To effect a smooth transition, we recommend that you inquire into the design proposals of Future By Design. In order to realize our aims, it will require unrelenting effort from those genuinely interested in social change to better the lives of everyone, otherwise we are just engaged in a verbal hobby. We invite everyone's inquiry and participation to further this direction.

Q: In this new culture do you propose to utilize a technical elite that would decide the direction for society?

A:No. Future By Design calls for a cybernated society in which computers could replace the outmoded system of electing politicians that, in most cases, represent the entrenched vested interests. Technology will never dictate or monitor individuals' lives, as this would be considered socially offensive and counterproductive. Motion pictures such as 1984, Brave New World, Blade- Runner, and Terminator 2 have spawned fear in some people regarding the takeover of technology in our society. Future By Design's only purpose is to elevate the spiritual and intellectual potential of all people while also providing the goods and services that will meet their individual material needs.

It has been said that many people employed by private corporations feel they serve in private dictatorships from the moment they step though the door and punch the time clock. Future By Design, on the other hand, would utilize the best of technology to better the lives of everyone. In the proposed system, the workday will be shortened, thus providing individuals with more leisure time, a healthier life-style, and a stress-free environment.

Q: How does Future By Design deal with incentive? Doesn't the competitive money system generate incentive?

A: The free-enterprise system does create incentive to achieve, however it also breeds the incentive for corruption, graft, and greed. Our aim is to encourage a new incentive system, one no longer directed toward the shallow and self-centered goals of wealth, property, and power. Today, financial barriers place enormous limitations on innovation, individual creativity, and personal incentive. In Future By Design, money would not be required to help one achieve or create, as facilities would be made available to serve everyone's needs.

Q: Why the emphasis on the cybernated approach to the social operation?

A: There is sufficient evidence to show that technology is evolving in this direction. As computers and artificial intelligence continue to evolve through environmental feedback, computers can arrive at more appropriate decisions in the operation of our social system. Today, automated systems can launch and guide the flight path of spaceships to distant planets. In a cybernated society with sophisticated technology, we will ultimately surpass the need for human participation in government, manufacturing, and distribution of goods and services. Through cybernated systems, a balanced-load economy can easily be maintained. This will free human beings from the boring and monotonous tasks of the work-day world. Yes, most jobs will eventually be phased out.

Q: What will people do?

A:They will engage in all manner of research and development, the creative arts and crafts, travel and exploration, and participation in all of the other limitless horizons the future has to offer. The ultimate realization of the potential of cybernated and computerized technology solely to improve people's lives could produce the most revolutionary system ever to evolve. It will eventually eliminate all superficial boundaries set up by nations; as we are beginning to witness with the introduction of satellite communication and personal computers, it is almost impossible for nations today to censor ideas and information.

Q: What actions do you recommend people take to prepare for the future?

A: Well, a lot of people are going to school today to learn a profession that will probably be obsolete in the next few years. Frank Ogden says that parents often ask him what profession their children should prepare for. His response is: "A profession that you've never heard of."

Q: What are the safeguards against abuse of power in the society you envision?

A:In a resource-based economy, we surpass the need for money which is the basis for most corruption. The society we envision makes all goods and services available for everyone without a price tag. This is what the function of government could be, by surpassing the need for politics in the management of human affairs. At present, governmental decisions have always been subject to the influence of the power elite. The cybernated complex would only manage and improve the distribution of resources, to provide clean air, clean water, and all of the amenities that enhance human life. Again, it does not control people or manage the lives of individuals -- on the contrary, it could encourage the development of individual initiative and creativity far beyond that of our present-day money- oriented culture.

There are many who fear the installations of cybernated systems. This fear is unfounded. It is not technology that is to be feared. Our concern should be with the abuse of this technology, rather than with the inanimate technology itself.

Q: What is your approach to research and development?

A: The facilities for this would be available to everyone.

Q: You place great emphasis on human behavior as opposed to human nature. Would you define both?

A:There is no such thing as human nature in the conventional sense of being a set of predetermined, preprogrammed behaviors and values to which all human beings are predisposed. What we are concerned with is human behavior and values, which can certainly be changed. If they could not, we would still be living in caves.

The question we should be concerned with is: What are the factors that shape human behavior? We feel that human behavior is just as lawful as any natural phenomenon. Our customs, behaviors, and values are by-products of our culture. If the environment is unaltered, similar problems and behaviors will reoccur. Future By Design proposes to provide an environment that will bring out the best in human behavior and to extend maximum courtesy to all nations.

Take, for example, the situation witnessed after W.W. II: even the most respectable families could be seen fighting over scraps of food. When people's basic needs are not met, they resort to whatever behavior is necessary to ensure the necessities of life for themselves and their families. By making the necessities of life available to all in this participatory democracy and through a meaningful and productive education, we can dramatically reduce counterproductive behavior.

Q: What can you tell us about Future By Design's approach to education?

A:A high emphasis would be placed on education. The better informed children are, the richer everyone's life could be. Every child shooting up drugs today is a wasted life that you and I will ultimately pay for. Although books, videos, computers, and virtual reality would be used, most of the educational processes would be of a participatory nature in which students could interact directly with the physical environment. They would become aware of the symbiotic interrelationships between plant and animal life. They would learn by doing in a hands-on approach in which education and the communicative sciences would be brought into sharp focus, enabling the student actually to grasp the significance of physical phenomena in a much more concrete way. Above all, they would learn how to interact effectively with others, to share experiences, examine alternative approaches to problems, and accept ethnic and cultural differences, replacing intolerance with understanding.

A comprehensive overview of the history of all civilizations would be essential to understanding other cultures, values, and the forces that shape them. The generalist education, as proposed by Future By Design, will enable students to gain a better understanding of cultures that differ from their own, leading to a better understanding of the advantage of all nations joining together for the preservation of life on planet Earth. With emphasis on a world viewpoint, it would be more difficult to persuade anyone to engage in aggressive, offensive, or belligerent behavior toward individuals and other nations. With this broader education, children would come to see that the Earth is a fantastic and bountiful\ place where all nations can share and prosper.

Q: One last question. What about religion?

A:The concepts presented by Future By Design are in no way inconsistent with most of the religious teachings of the world. Perhaps the major difference is that we would like actually to transform these lofty ideals into a working reality for the nations of our planet.

In closing, to achieve this new social design, it will require much voluntary, unselfish participation for it's realization. The future does not depend solely on Future By Design. We only propose a direction. Our future depends on the decisions we make today.

Mr. Fresco is available for lectures. For more information fax, call or write to:

Mr. Jacque Fresco • 21 Valley Lane • Venus, Florida 33960
Ph: 863-465-0321• Fax: 863-465-1928
e-mail: fresco@futurebydesign.org • website: http://www.futurebydesign.org