https://miculpionier.ro/projects/why-the-venus-project-might-be-an-activist-industrial-complex/
Introduction
The Venus Project has departed from its original mission and some of its promises have gone unfulfilled for a long time. While an activist industrial complex is not required to advocate for in-system solution, they make a money out of criticizing the status quo and selling knowledge that should be both free of charge and free of copyrights.
Here is some criticism about why TVP might be an activist industrial complex.
Content
The Venus Project initially advocated for the Resource-Based Economy (RBE) proposed by Jacque Fresco.
However, the organization has transformed into a company:
- No longer advocating for the frescoist RBE.
- Where the activists that run this project produce and sell information that opposes the current system.
- That is very focused on merchandising, creating sellable content, and making profits.
Because:
- It’s a legal, charitable, hierarchical and centralized organization, which makes it vulnerable to instability because of problems such as power struggles, conflicts of interest, lack of transparency, legal constraints and inefficient bureaucracies.
- A lot of references to the original frescoist RBE have been removed from the website, which means that the original idea that the organization should have headed is mostly lost.
- Nearly everything that TVP offers is in strict copyrights, which promotes the limitation of access to essential information.
- For years, there has been very little progress in the building of the center for resource management.
This is problematic because of unfulfilled promises. - There are a lot of products in its store (106 items), which includes knowledge, at prices which are evaluated to be expensive.
This is unusual for a genuine activist organization, whose purpose is to promote an idea or direction, not to make profits.
These patterns are specific to an activist industrial complex, so it might be an AIC.
Additional Notes
This transformation should be a cautionary tale about the dangers of being a centralized organization advocating for systemic change. A decentralized organization might be better fitted for this type of activism.