Zeitgeist: Moving Forward

The filmmaker, Peter Joseph, gathered up some of the best scientists in their respective fields (along with Michael Ruppert, of "Collapse" fame) to present a case for a near-empirical way of dealing with the problems of society.

Any fan of science over opinion, evidence over belief or challenging the status quo in general will find much to love here.

It is seemingly thought of as a political documentary, but technically, there is nothing "political" about it. It takes no sides in the establishment, basing its solutions on evidence (and the scientific method, in a general sense).

This comes off as a radical approach to problems, only because we don't see that in politics. But as far as radical notions go, what Zeitgeist : Moving Forward presents doesn't seem "out there" at all. But the ideas here are really quite universal. They exist in every culture or religion as "goals" or things to work towards. But until now, a clear case hasn't been presented on how to actually get there - how to solve the problems by taking them into account from the beginning.

Strong societies require strong foundations - and not a country in the world currently has a foundation like that.

I watched Zeitgeist: Moving Forward on Jan.15 premiere. I have also seen the others 1 & 2. The one thing I have to say about the movie is that it thinks outside of the box. We do have a problem and it needs to be addressed. The movie will inspire thinking of a different alternative than what we have now. Most people have never been exposed to problems that could arise in the future maintaining the current system. The Venus Project is only a dream just like going to the moon. I would suggest everyone to watch the movie. Its free in most cases and will be on the Internet for free soon. Just a different way of looking at things that might just help. I really have to give them credit for that.

this film is life-changing and hopefully world-changing.

filmmaker Peter Joseph has created a must-see documentary that doesn't only analyze the main problems in the world in a never-before-seen way, but also offers a real solution.

there's no more "conspiracy theory" type information in this film, as used to be in the first ZEITGEIST.

this is a profound, professional, scientific work of genius.

if you ever watch a documentary, watch this.

spread this movie wherever you can, this information needs to reach everyone in the world.

A fascinating insight into the underlying causes of many of the world's problems. The solution Z proposes is flawed, although a sound basis for further thought.

The most powerful flaw with this new society is how people are motivated to strive and improve. If everyone gets their fair share, what is the motivation to toil in difficult jobs that will never be made redundant such as the sciences, computing, or robotics? An individual's life can never be better than his neighbour's. So is societal gain from your endevours enough of an incentive to spend your life toiling in a science lab rather than do less challenging work? Given the choice, most people would choose an easy life.

Secondly, the natural conclusion of this new society is Gattaca. The first half hour of Z explains that criminals, addicts, etc are more a product of their environment than genetically predisposed. By removing the bad environment so the argument goes - poverty, poor education, healthcare, inequality, etc, the conditions that create problematic people are removed. Sounds plausible. However would such a society not then place far more emphasis on the quality of your genes? Environment and cause & effect would no longer be factors, everyone would receive good upbringings. The distinguishing factor would be genetic. And that essentially is the dystopia depicted in Gattaca (an excellent film btw).

To those who say this solution is communist, which has been tried and failed - this solution is not communist. It is post-communist. With the power of modern computers, the efficient resource-allocation system could be operated on a decent-spec home computer. The reason communism kept failing is that it inevitably led to a corrupt elite who were rightfully deposed by popular uprising. If everyone can duplicate the system on which resources are allocated themselves on their own computers, there can be no accusation of corruption. There would be healthy debate and democratic decision making as to the rules and inputs to the system, but there would be no elitist subversion of the planned economy that people hated so much about communism (nor capitalism's elite 1% owning 40%).

So in summary, not the definitive blueprint it wants to be, but food for thought nevertheless.

This was definitely the best, in both visual effects and quality of content, out of the Zeitgeist series. A few animated shorts provide welcomed comic relief throughout the 2-hour and 40-minute film.

As a sociologist, I particularly appreciated the first half of the movie which was dedicated to discussing human "nature", behavior, and social pathology.

With the basic groundwork laid for understanding how humans *do* have the potential to create a massive shift in our current social/cultural paradigm, the film goes on to offer the potential design and physical layout of a more efficiently functioning social system.

Anyone who is concerned with the current state of our global society should watch this film... and then share it with a friend. (And anyone who's not concerned with the current state of our global society should probably read about international news more often.)