Designing the Future by Jacque Fresco

I agree that we need to change the way we're living. From both a sustainability and a humanitarian perspective. But I'm not sure that Fresco's vision is the solution.

It's a long, long way between where we are now and having underwater cities where everyone walks around naked and no one is ever sad. I think Fresco should put more effort into affecting the transition than explaining how we'll still be able to express our individuality through our mix 'n' match domicile pods. I feel like a jerk for saying what he's doing is pretty much useless because,  well,  what am I doing to ensure the future doesn't suck? Nothing.  And I certainly don't have any better solutions to offer. I just think that his passion and energy could be redirected into something that's more tangibly useful to us right now.

So much of the technology that Fresco's future depends on is technology that, as far as I'm aware, doesn't exist yet. I'm completely willing, and would be happy, to be proven wrong on this though. I don't object to the cybernation of the future because I'm scared of the machines, which is what Fresco implies. I object to it because we don't have machines that are good enough to take over from humans yet. I don't think we can create machines that are capable of making such nuanced decisions as Fresco would have them make. Machines that are automated to build roads are fine. There'd be mistakes, sure, but probably no more than if people we doing the same job. But machines that take the place of governments and legal systems? Firstly, machines are binary – 1's and 0's, black and white, on or off – and governmental and legal decisions aren't. The majority might be, but there is always exceptional cases that don't follow precedent and need moral discretion. Secondly, someone has to program those machines, so won't it be their views and ideals that the machines are enacting?

Fresco says there won't be any crime in his future cities, because crime is scarcity based. People commit crimes because they need something they don't have. I agree that this is the cause of some, even a lot, of crime, but certainly not all crime. That's ok, says Fresco, we will be so civilised in the future that we will be above committing crimes of passion.

By eliminating money and supplying everyone’s needs Fresco plans to eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, the need to work. Most jobs will be taken over by some kind of machine. Other jobs, such as research will be done by people willingly, not because it is their job, though. They will do this because society will value research and knowledge and bettering oneself and people will do it because it's just what society does in these future cities. I don't think this will happen. If I didn't have to go to work I would sit about and read books and play computer games all day. How many other people would do that as well? But Fresco thinks I wouldn't do it because everyone else wouldn't approve of it. What if they're doing it too? What if I don't care if no one else approves? I'm not educated or smart enough to know exactly, but I think I'm skirting the edges of some Marxian theory that work is a means to control the masses...

I just can't see how Fresco's vision will work. I'm not entirely comfortable with what his future will be and there's so many holes that I want to see filled. Not to mention the gap between here and there. I might be willing to overlook my questions about how the future cities would work if only Fresco could give me a path, show me the plan, for how we are going to get from here to there.

Something has got to change, but I don't know how. At least Jacques Fresco is trying to provide a solution. It's more than I've done, or am capable of doing. I don't think it's the answer, but it's better than the alternative.