The Best That Money Can't Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty, & War

By Jacque Fresco

Book Overview

Jacque Fresco envisions a global civilization in which science and technology are applied with human and environmental concern to secure, protect, and encourage a more humane world for all people.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0964880679
• ISBN13: 9780964880672
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Global Cyber Visions
• Length: 166 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.8" x 0.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

The Giver

Text sounds plausible, that can be applied to our reality. Reading and through and through -

World peace is possible and Mr. Fresco offers an indepth, feasible, practical and sustainable path t

Global peace is so very important as a goal we must leave no stone unturned in exploring the possibilities of making it real. Too many of us are trapped in the box of complacency and denial. Any American citizen should have enough common sense to realize that business as usual is not working, never has worked and never will work to develop world peace. Any Economic paradigm built upon a class system is inherently flawed. Capitalism, deceptive though it may be, is built upon a class structure. Just ask the indigenous native, the Hispanics, or descendents of the slaves in The USA. No human being is a second class citizen whether they are a citizen of a nation or the world. No human being will ever accept second class citizenship status. How can any rational human being in this day and time not understand this? The use of monetary economics is, practically, as old as human civilization and although peace has endured as the most common dream of humanity it has never been actually attained. A popular definition of 'insanity' is doing the same things over and over expecting different results. Capitalism is the epitome of monetary economics. Communism, socialism, Fascism all use money to regulate resource distribution and are but variations of monetary economics. Monetary Economics is manmade - Not God given - and it is flawed like any other creation of mankind! Capitalism is most compatible with a Plutocracy (a wealthy minority controls government) and it is rational because the wealthy are the most adept at monetary policy and practice. We know it is a ruthless affair. In a system that thrives upon competition, and Capitalistic competition is dog-eat-dog at best, the winners rule. A Plutocracy just inevitably emerges within such systems. A plutocracy is not what the citizens of the United States admit to desire. Such systems divide the general population, creates strife and gross inequities. Deceit, fear and violence are required to maintain order is such societies. At some point in all of our lives we have probably wondered, "There must be a better way to live1". There is . . . but we must escape the trappings of thinking within the box constructed and maintained for us by the gatekeepers of our Economic establishment and the media. "The Best That Money Can't Buy", takes us outside the box and revives our dreams of world peace with a virtual guide to world peace that was relatively impossible much of the twentieth century. Democracy demands an economic system of different stripes. Democracy cannot thrive in a Capitalistic society. It is just incompatible. What is wrong with our systemic methodology for determining who gets how much of what and what is our best alternative for a systemic adjustment that makes everyone a winner and allows democracy to thrive? . . . Jacque Fresco's work breaks it all down and lays out a virtual blueprint for the kind of society we dream about the most. Don't give up on your dreams of peace. Dreams are what mak

Utopia just in real time

The Best That Money Can't Buy - Beyond Politics, War, and Poverty. In the context of these troubled times, the title itself seems the epitome of Utopian thinking. Within these pages, however, are not the meanderings of well-intentioned dreamers, but straight-forward analyses of, and solutions to, many of the troubles that continue to plague the world, in spite of - and often, under the present scarcity-oriented distribution system of advantage, because of - the vast technological achievements of the modern age. Even the term Utopian rankles Fresco, who sees stagnation in the notion of a civilization that feels it has "arrived" at some sort of ultimate state of being. Rather, The Best That Money Can't Buy takes Utopia beyond an unattainable (and undesirable) dead end to an exciting, dynamic, and perpetual quest not for perfection, but for the next step in social development, pulsing with all the vitality of the unquenchable human spirit. The Best That Money Can't Buy takes all the most admirable, humane hopes and aspirations of humankind, dovetails them with known and developing technologies, and comes up with a comprehensive design for the future that surpasses any that have been offered thus far. Fresco's work doesn't just break new ground; he fuses it into glass viaducts to provide fresh water to the whole world. Fresco's unique, streetwise background in behavioral science eminently qualifies him to identify the roles of culture and physical environment as shapers of much of humanity's past and present situation - and the surest footing for establishing a new direction for civilization, based on manageable data and enhanced communication, rather than the vagaries of philosophical remnants of an age of ignorance, scarcity, and superstition.Fresco even takes into account the tendency of some humans to establish a pecking order of advantage by, for the most part, taking them out of the loop when it comes to making decisions based on their inevitable prejudices, psychological limitations, and an inherent lack of a sufficient knowledge base to render objective decisions that favor all members of society equally. Instead, Fresco leaves the arrival at (not "making" of) decisions to computers. An intimidating prospect to some, no doubt, until one considers the major roles computers play in things like landing jetliners safely or transporting one's messages across thousands of mile.Particularly notable is Fresco's prescription for a new incentive system based on personal achievement and satisfaction, rather than on the shallow, socially divisive, and ultimately environmentally disastrous value system based on a ceaseless quest for exclusive access to ever more consumptive material possessions. The environmental impact (or lack of) under Fresco's proposed "resource-based economy" is profound, as are the social benefits. Producing the highest quality, most durable goods for common use by all not only guarantees the most efficient allocation of natura

A vision of a grander, more humane future

The Best That Money Can't Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty, & War by futurist and inventor Jacque Fresco is a seminal, ground breaking vision of a grander, more humane future borne of the advantages of science and technology as well as human concern for the well-being of other people and the planet. Individual chapters address how to help basic human nature evolve beyond enlightened self-interest for a better tomorrow in this wondrous, compelling, superbly illustrated, hope-filled, highly recommended treatise.

A Solution to our Future

A book like this was long in coming, but finally it is here! As a long time seeker to newer and better solutions to the problems our society is facing, I have never read such all-encompassing proposals as those put forth by Mr. Jacque Fresco in `The Best that Money Can't Buy'. The ideas presented in this book are nothing short of groundbreaking and brilliant.Imagine a Society where Money is obsolete and no longer required, where technology is put full-force in service of mankind,and where all resources are declared the common heritage of all people.This book goes against the competitive trends of Corporate Globalization which we are seeing today,trends which are slowly shrinking out the middle class and empoverishing vast numbers of people while an elite few are becoming ever-more wealthy.When the prime directive in our society is Profit rather than People, it is the inevitable result to have a constantly diminished quality of life, an erosion of our environment, and an increase in social unrest in all parts of the world.Mr. Fresco has researched and studied this problem for the past sixty years, and this book contains a comprehensive blue-print for a new culture in which the development of humanity's full potential is put at the forefront, as well as an emphasis on the conservation of our Earth and it's natural resources.What is so revolutionary is the marriage of high technology with a people-oriented culture.A world For the people, By the people. The net result is a society where we are liberated from the oppression of constantly trying to survive, and are free to finally pursue the untapped potential that is in each one of us individually, and collectively as a species.As Mr. Fresco has stated, `Our civilization hasn't even begun to get off the ground'.

All the Solutions We Need

This book is just absolutely fantastic! It provides us with all the solutions we need to live on earth in a way that we are all yearning to live. Fresco truly understands the human plight and has combined his lifelong experience in science and technology with arts and aesthetics to create a new direction beyond our wildest dreams. If his ideas came to fruition, I have no doubt that war, poverty, crime, scarcity and the like would be distant relics of the past. If you have a desire to bring about social and environmental change in a positive way and on a planetary scale, this book provides the ways and the means to achieve that goal. If your mind is open to ideas that go farther than anything you've read so far, I say this book is for you.