Zeitgeist: Moving Forward is the third documentary by activist Peter Joseph, who has independently released three of the most thought-provoking films I’ve ever seen. Their overall message has far-reaching implications: our world’s economy, which is based on money and power are increasingly becoming redundant in the modern world, and as a species it is in our own interest to think of an alternative way of life – one that encourages progress, rather than restricts it. The films offer a potential solution to the apparent dire state of global culture, and it is very hard not to feel inspired by the ideas they suggest…
I don’t want to review this film as much as I merely want to spread the word about its existence. Its one of those films you see and just wish everyone around you would see it too and take on board what its trying to say, because frankly I can’t imagine anyone being able to justifiably argue against some of its core ideals. It goes into depth about how society shapes a person and makes them who they are, regardless of their upbringing or biological background. It criticises the modern economy which forces people to fight a constant battle for ownership of property, jobs and other life essentials. However, its biggest enemy is the monetary system, which it claims serves no useful purpose any more. Its this part of the argument which felt like a real eye-opener for me, and has been gnawing away at my mind for several days since seeing the film.
I work in marketing, and part of my job requires me to create online advertisements which sell mostly boring products. I was animating a printer the other day (as exciting as it sounds), and it struck me how utterly pointless that task was. In six months time, this printer will probably be outdated and a newer model will have been released. It will essentially do the same job, albeit with a few improvements here and then, enough to justify selling it at a higher price than the previous model, which would by then have moved down to the ‘discontinued’ shelf of the store. So, why waste all those materials on producing the first printer, if you could just make a better model in the first place? Why, because you’ll make more money if you sell two of them! Sounds logical, and reasonable, right? Not if you understand that the materials wasted on producing two sub-par products could have been more efficiently used to create a single, superior product that lasts twice as long.
We unfortunately live in a world where money is required in order to gain literally anything, but the fact is that if money didn’t exist, it wouldn’t make any difference to the amount of available resources we have. Money simply dictates who can control them. The more money you have, the more control you have. Money is a fictional commodity, invented in order to give a value to everything, and its this self-centred constant struggle to earn more of it that can be to blame for many of societies problems. Since everything is limited and shared out based on how much money you have, we end up with the ultra rich getting richer, while the poor get poorer. As the Zeitgeist films suggest, this system is fundamentally flawed and yet we continue to rely on it as though there is no other way. But, there could be.
The Venus Project offers a radical alternative which is a resource-based economy, rather than a monetary one, and as outlandish as it may seem on the surface, you cannot fault the logic behind it. It started in the 70s by Jacque Fresco, a very forward-thinking man who witnessed humanity at its very worst during the second world war. This is a man with perspective. His main wish is to see the world’s resources distributed more equally, as he believes its this which causes the most conflict around the globe. Currently, supply and demand is dictated by the “invisible hand” of the market, and what Fresco’s ideas amount to is a world where everyone can have access to the things they need – a world of ‘global abundance’. The Venus Project is like a blueprint for a better world, and though I would never expect some of its suggestions to happen in my lifetime, the idea of living in a money-free world is made very appealing.
The problem is I can’t escape the fact I want to live. And I live in the world as it stands, and rather than dream about how much better everything could be, a large part of me wants to simply make the best of what I have. For many others, this is the only option. I still strongly admire these films though. They have opened my eyes to how messed-up the monetary system really is and I recommend everyone see it for themselves to make your own mind about the things it suggests. It doesn’t hurt to question your world every now and then.
You can watch all three of the films here, theres lots more information about The Zeitgeist Movement and The Venus Project on their websites. And since Zeitgeist: Moving Forward is freely available to view on YouTube, you can watch the whole thing below, if you want.
I want to talk about Cloudpunk, a game where you get to be a flying-car delivery driver in a futuristic cyberpunk city. Its world is an incredible achievement of environmental design, and while the gameplay itself may be basic, the city of Nivalis is a thing of beauty to behold. Nivalis is built out of hundreds of hand-modelled cuboid buildings; there’s nothing procedural about it. Apparently it took 3 years for the devs to design the city, and it really shows.
I do love me some quality pixel art, and it doesn’t get much better than this. Cast n Chill is a cozy side-scrolling fishing game by small indie dev team Wombat Brawler, with absolutely gorgeous visuals. It’s simple to play, and you you can dip in and out of it at your leisure, making it a fine addition to our collection of coffee break games.
Is bingeing bad for us? It seems an obvious question, but I have been thinking about it lately, while revisiting Lost, the tv show that started 22 years ago (cripes, I feel old). Back when it was airing, my friends and I watched it religiously every week, talked about it in great detail, eagerly awaiting the next episode. It was the definitive show of its time, sparking debates and endless theories. It felt great to be a part of that, the sense of all experiencing the same thing together over a long period of time – most seasons had over 20 episodes, which is way more than most shows get these days – and they aired one by one, every week for several months. In today’s age of bingeing a show from beginning to end, I wonder what we are missing by not taking our time.
Now and then one can’t help climbing aboard the hype train. You work yourself up into a frothing frenzy in anticipation of some new game whose trailers and screenshots make it seem like the best…thing…EVER. That’s how I felt about Conker’s Bad Fur Day when I first read about it in N64 Magazine (before the internet butchered the magazine industry). They did several preview write-ups about it in the years before it was released, and it changed from being a cutesy 3D adventure, to merely looking like a cutesy 3D adventure plastered with a layer of adult filth. I couldn’t have been more excited to play it. Did it live up to my expectations? Hell yes.
The Trials franchise is surely the most successful game to ever start out life as a Flash browser game. I remember playing the original game on Miniclip back in the day, and I have played every single iteration since. The game’s core concept is simple – you control a trials bike, and must navigate it across a series of increasingly difficult obstacle courses on a 2D pane. It’s the perfect pick-up-and-play game, because it’s easy to get the basics, but insanely difficult to master.
It may look clunky as hell thanks to the original Unreal engine, but Deus Ex was a pioneer in videogames because it gave the player so many choices to make. It resulted in one of the deepest gaming experiences of the time, because it went to great effort to show the consequences of those choices. The story was spread across many ‘hub’ levels, giving you total freedom to approach your objectives whichever way you wanted, aided by an RPG style upgrade tree that you invested in as you played. Wanna finish it without killing a single soul? That is entirely possible. Prefer to tool up with a rocket launcher and just murder your way to the end? Nothing could stop you. Your NPC allies would respond differently back in the Unatco base, depending on what you did out in the field. This level of responsiveness was unparalleled for a long time, to the point that even if you walked into the ladies toilets, your boss would scold you for it during the mission debrief later on. It was many little moments like that which made the game so memorable for me.
