George Lucas giving half his fortune to charity

[Guest Coalbucket PI]

I don't know how you can turn this in to a bad thing, I struggle to donate a tenner to charity when I know I won't miss it. Anyone who gives half their wealth to charity no matter how much they have has done an honourable thing and there is no shame in it if your public profile benfits. HALF YOUR FUCKING FORTUNE, fuck

[sneaksta303]

Lucas needs to pay me for emotional distress from watching the new Indy movie.

[Redruth]

Rudolf Steiner

[kcinsu]

The Giving Pledge is an effort to invite the wealthiest individuals and families in America to commit to giving the majority of their wealth to the philanthropic causes and charitable organizations of their choice either during their lifetime or after their death.

 

Each person who chooses to pledge will make this statement publicly, along with a letter explaining their decision to pledge. At an annual event, those who take the pledge will come together to share ideas and learn from each other.

 

The Pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract. It does not involve pooling money or supporting a particular set of causes or organizations.

 

While the Giving Pledge is specifically focused on billionaires, the idea takes its inspiration from efforts in the past and at present that encourage and recognize givers of all financial means and backgrounds. We are inspired by the example set by millions of Americans who give generously (and often at great personal sacrifice) to make the world a better place.

 

the first bolded part makes it a lot less impressive.

[Bob Dylan]

In a way, when you think about it, George giving half his fortune... he's giving half the money I gave him. That all of us gave him throughout the years.

[Candiru]

Maybe he realized he didn't deserve a penny for the shitty movies he helped make, and in his crippling state of guilt, donated what he found in a old pair of jeans, which amounted to $543,980,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001.37

 

Ah come on, that was a good move. It makes him seem like less of a skeeze ball, anyway.

[lumpenprol]

Couldn't he have used it to a better purpose, namely tracking down and burning every existing copy of the three prequels, and then funding a group of brilliant young filmmakers to remake them?

[Guest underscore]

What a waste -- as long as we have a monetary system, there will always be charities. Throwing money at charities to make the world better solves nothing in the long term. Putting that kind of money towards sustainable, long term solutions is what should have been done.

 

 

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/154845

[Redruth]

What a waste -- as long as we have a monetary system, there will always be charities. Throwing money at charities to make the world better solves nothing in the long term. Putting that kind of money towards sustainable, long term solutions is what should have been done.

truth

[azatoth]

Well, giving half your fortune to charity is always better than just to sit on it. No matter what Bread and his Zeitgeist brethren or the common internet hater thinks.

 

Maybe this is the wrong thread, but I would like to know how Bread thinks the current monetary system should be dismantled and how the replacing system implemented. And NO youtubes, please.

[Redruth]

so azatoth i take it that in your heart of hearts you believe the current monies systems should be done away with and a new system co-created in it's place - but the

only thing that stops you from giving yourself completely to the idea is it's opposition presenting itself as insurmountable?

 

faith and hope are powerful things when fueled with action

[azatoth]

Yes, I don't like the current capitalist system which seem to make so that wealth seeks wealth and gets distributed unevenly. Now the ideas that Bread has been trying to spread here, as far as I am concerned seem like utopian pipedreams and nigh impossible to pull through unless we have big advancements in technology.

 

And the Zeitgeist Movement has a vaguely cultist air about it. I mistrust anyone who tries to s/tell me the "truth".

[Guest happycase]

so azatoth i take it that in your heart of hearts you believe the current monies systems should be done away with and a new system co-created in it's place - but the

only thing that stops you from giving yourself completely to the idea is it's opposition presenting itself as insurmountable?

 

faith and hope are powerful things when fueled with action

 

 

rhetorical idealism. you're buying into your own language constructs. it's completely fucking impractical. you need to rethink your thinking.

[Dale]

Maybe this is the wrong thread, but I would like to know how Bread thinks the current monetary system should be dismantled and how the replacing system implemented. And NO youtubes, please.

I don't think it's a case of systematically dismantling the current system. It will take for a monetary collapse of some kind to make people wake up out of their apathy and consider new ideas out there that focus on sustainability and the well being of people + the planet. The Great Depression is a fairly good example. For instance, communist leagues and socialists were bringing in many people on the streets of New York because people did not trust the current social system, and wanted to learn about new directions to stop such a problem from occurring again. Of course, the Great Depression did not go far enough -- it was only a crash of the stock market, and not the economy itself. Afterward, new loans were being created, thus expanding the money supply and causing inevitable booms/busts AGAIN via fractional reserve banking -- which hence devalues the currency -- which hence causes inflation etc. etc.. do you really want this perpetual cycle to drag on and on? It's a terrible system we have. Not to mention the only two things you need to know about the monetary economy:

- It does not operate in accordance with natural law or the carrying capacity of the Earth

- It is an economy based on infinite growth, on a finite planet. Endless consumption occurs, without considering the planet or the well being of others who don't have enough food to feed themselves tonight. We need a social system which intelligently manages the Earth's resources.

 

So, there are probably two routes we can go. We can either gain as much support as possible as the Zeitgeist Movement, advocating a resource based economy and growing in numbers. The numbers would then create social pressure on current established political systems to change the environment we have otherwise we will not survive as a species. The social pressure in high numbers scenario is what I advocate the most. Think about the movement behind Martin Luther King -- along these lines basically. We are a group who communicate via activism the ideas and direction of The Venus Project.

OR

2nd scenario (which I dislike, but if it takes for this to happen, then so be it), a collapse of the whole monetary system globally caused by many interrelating factors such as:

- scarcity of oil/food and of certain limited resources that people need to survive in this system

- a severe "bust" scenario of the economy, where debt levels are so significantly high that banks STOP making money out of thin air, distrust is rampant in the economy between traders, currencies worldwide are severely effected by deflationary or inflationary measures etc.. rendering the value of money practically zero.

The collapse of the monetary system would then, logically speaking, cause for people to listen to new solutions and ideas that offer sustainable solutions for the world.

 

azatoth -- hope this helps clear up what we consider to be possible transitional phases. Of course, I'm no prophet so I don't know, nor does anyone know in the movement, what sort of scenario(s) will pan out.

Please note the word cult is heavily used to label religiously oriented groups of people, or ones which advocate a spiritual flimsy way of life. TZM is based on scientific understandings of the world - nothing about us is correlated with spirituality or religion for that matter. We don't have flimsy, floaty, emotional feelings on this irrelevant stuff. We don't ask for people's money, it's people's time that we want people to contribute, and not for the ego of the movement, but to promote a saner society. The words "zeitgeist movement" don't mean a thing at all... we could be called the "Hippo movement", it doesn't matter --- what matters is the ideas we advocate and whether we are getting up off our butt and communicating this stuff to the public. We try and look at what is considered "socially relevant"? We know the monetary system is not a system designed for society, it's designed for people to work against each other. We're merely a group of people who come together with a common goal/purpose - try not to project tendencies of "cult-like" labeling as it doesn't do any good if you can't or haven't supported your disposition. "Cult" is very much a loaded term with varying degrees of history attached to it. If people see an organised group of humans working together for a common purpose, are we to always say they are a cult??

[Guest happycase]

What I hear Bread saying is that a potential shift can't really be planned for and implemented. There are too many forces operating out of anyone's control. The systems themselves have a high degree of autonomy. What we're waiting for is for these autonomous systems to continue interacting and eventually collapse on their own accord. Either new systems ("system" includes what we call group-think) take root, or we continue revising and adjusting the current system, which has been and will continue to fail horribly.

[Redruth]

Yes, I don't like the current capitalist system which seem to make so that wealth seeks wealth and gets distributed unevenly. Now the ideas that Bread has been trying to spread here, as far as I am concerned seem like utopian pipedreams and nigh impossible to pull through unless we have big advancements in technology.

 

And the Zeitgeist Movement has a vaguely cultist air about it. I mistrust anyone who tries to s/tell me the "truth".

 

don't get me wrong - i don't mean to over simplify things - it would take a great deal more discussion and doing to truly achieve what i've outlined

roughly below and there are many many more details - but with that being said.....

 

i'm not familiar with what bread has been selling - but i like what your saying here. i believe there is a way we could live in a state of enlightened socialism and it

would work. a group of elders that went through 50 or 60 years of preparation would be a round table on decision making and a think tank. suggestions could

be filtered in to this group and they would be taken into consideration. when i say enlightened socialism i mean a system devoid of any hint of competition or hierarchy where

all who are in the world are focused on improving infrastructure for the betterment of the whole - crating abundance and opportunities that are freely

distributed among the people - however no one has more then another. hemp fuels, composite plastics and bamboo housing etc are mainstream

and yes in this vision the eating of animals is not necessary anymore (and not appealing) because there is so much biodiversity and such a

treasure trove of choices to choose from as far as food stuffs. right now we choose from hundreds of what are literally hundreds of

thousands of different fruit baring and edible plant varieties that in alot of cases greatly out way the nutritional value of animal products

and by-products. we could still have technology derived from plant based materials and could have rail systems criss crossing

the globe made from highly perfected composite plastics and plant based materials, running on water or hemp fuel or a

number of other potential energy sources. i could go on and on and on - my point is this though - we are being duped

tricked into thinking (or not thinking) certain things - thinking certain things are necessary or not possible because

certain 'powers that be' want to make money and if everyone is free and gets everything they need by helping each

other then there is no lack (the greatest tool for controlling the masses besides fear) and their power pumping

systems don't fucking work anymore - they lose their earthly power - the only thing they have to hold on to in their

pathetic little reality based on an appetite for destruction.

 

we empower them when we fall victim to believing that their systems are the only ones available for us to use and

we then support them. if we continue to play by their rules then we will continue to suffer - but first we need to gain a

firm grasp on what are rules are - so we can contrast and compare and know what were aiming at

 

there are of course certain sacrifices that some would need to make in the short run - certain adjustments in our lifestyles

to have this all work - but if we made use of a purely plant based realty and simply scrapped petroleum and meat reality

then transitionally we could slowly start to integrate and have some of the same technology and conveniences that we

have today made form plants - it's really just about refocusing and truly understanding and then most people wouldn't want the

'old ways' anyway because they wouldn't want to be riddled with sickness and pain like they are today or will be very soon if

changes are not made - disease rates are at an all time high and people are believing a large amount of it is genetic disposition

..please, what a truck load of horse crap - another load to go along with the other ones they already delivered that are stinking

up the place! we could have commodities just made out of raw materials that truly check out - made by people for

people in a way that is not oppressive or toxic in any way. this is all possible, but not on their terms!

 

if we continue to let the rich and powerful and even the world and nature itself dictate what is or isn't possible then we

might as well just give up right now. that is the way we are controlled by so many different mediums in this world. controlled

to forget how powerful ( true power not earthly power) we are, and controlled to think it would never be possible

for us to turn the tides and make this experience truly what it is supposed to be...

 

an advanced healing process - mixed with experiences that check out for all living things with no baggage, no exhaust coming out the

tail pipe. we can have 'fun' and still get the work done that we are here to do for a higher power (or at least each other) ..or we can just have fun.

 

it's for us to choose - i for one choose fun joined with function and i dare say to those around me that i think they should to!

 

is that so wrong? i don't think so.

[eugene]

get the work done that we are here to do for a higher power

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRp_mVi969I

[Dale]

Troon -- I like some of your ideas but most do not go far enough

 

How do the elders arrive at decisions? Do they subjectively decide on certain factors with their life experiences?

TZM advocates utilising the scientific method to arrive at decisions e.g. [here's a decent analogy] to eliminate subjectivity over where an apple tree should be planted on a plot of land, the idea is to find the best area of soil so there are no arguments or disputes, and subjectivity is minimised. After all, why would you want to argue with what is empirically and scientifically proven to be the best and most optimised decision we've arrived at by using evidence derived from:

- taking measurements of the PH levels of the soil

- research on where the highest rates of photosynthesis can occur on the plot of land (e.g. seeing where the sun shines the most, where light is most concentrated using scientific equipment to assess this)

- Testing the nutrients of the soil using scientific equipment

You get my point.. there's no reason why we can not expand this decision making process on a larger, societal level. This was just a simple analogy I used to illustrate the point I was trying to make. Of course, not every single decision in society would be scientifically arrived at -- for instance, the colour of a building could be decided on a community level, where people discuss, rationally, what sorts of colours they would like to have. Aesthetic decisions like this could be resolved via rational conversations. People in the future will hopefully be equipped with interpersonal skills from school -- where each of us can relate to one another on a common level.

 

Are you part of an organisation/group which communicates these ideas you are discussing by the way? Would you advocate socialist decision making processes such as the concept of "direct democracy"?

[Guest happycase]

get the work done that we are here to do for a higher power

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRp_mVi969I

 

This doesn't have to have some material or even objective existence. Principles and compassion can also be higher powers.

[Redruth]

bread: i see where your getting at and agree to some degree with the method but not the labeling - the current state of

the science community would make me feel about as comfortable as the thought of using current political systems as decision making mediums.

 

i'm sure however that you must be talking about enlightened science just as i spoke of enlightened socialism above. such as science that is not

bound by monies or powers or limits itself by not including the metaphysical.

 

also in regards to the circle of elders - we are talking a group of twelve that is so morally, ethically and spiritually connected that

there would be no room for error and their whole lives would be focused on attaining this heightened awareness from birth

(so far removed from the election processes today that it almost seems unthinkable and impossible) furthermore they would

also be using intrinsic and eternal decision making methods which have been around for thousands

of years, much akin to what we call science but much more expansive and multidimensional.

[Redruth]

- It is an economy based on infinite growth, on a finite planet. Endless consumption occurs, without considering the planet or the well being of others who don't have enough food to feed themselves tonight. We need a social system which intelligently manages the Earth's resources.

fucking right ..you said it all right there!

 

my my how strange and stubborn we humans can be. it's almost as though many of us are conveniently avoiding

the truth because we don't want to let go of our precious little lies, some of them are so nice to have around

 

.....hmmmmmmmm

[Guest abusivegeorge]

Yeah whatever it's kool they should have kept their money and not bothered to help at all because that would only cause an argument on a message board.

 

 

 

Gotta love the haters for the idealism they bring.

[Redruth]

hate is not whats being spread here george. i for one am just wishing there was more focus on priority in the world of charity organizations today and more unification around a central theme that could really and truly change the world. not just feed the hungry, but show them what and how to eat and how to produce food sustainably, not just treat and medicate the sick, but heal them and show them how to be healthy for the rest of their lives and not just educate the illiterate and uneducated, but actually give them skills, knowledge and wisdom free of specialization that will help them find out who they truly are!

 

what's wrong with idealism? that's like saying "lets not shoot spot on, lets just aim to hit left of center" why not go directly for the center?

 

[Caretstik]

there are always going to be problems. stop being so idealistic. it's a good, admirable move.

 

I like Bread, he's always seemed a genuinely decent guy. But people with billions in the bank can't do right for doing wrong. Sit on it and they're bloated greedy fucks, give any of it away and they're promoting 'learned helplessness' and perpetuating poverty and powerlessness. If people like George Lucas choose to donate any of their fortune (which they're under absolutely no obgligation whatsoever to), then good on them. What have I or any of you ever truly done in our own much more modest ways?

 

And I agree with the OP. Lucas gave me Star Wars, which I'll love until the day I die.

 

we couldn't give the boc subforum away.

The most beneficent thing to do would be to keep it contained within this website for eternity.

 

Sometimes I remember to love you just a tiny bit more than I already do.

 

I just swooned

 

remember Lucas only directed a New Hope and the new trilogy. He did not direct Return of the Jedi or Empire.

 

also one of his biggest pet projects after Star Wars was his producing Howard the Duck, one of the most abominable movie adaptations of all time. The movie is one long cringe

 

his talent was fleeting at best, unless you consider milking the american public on toy sales talented

 

Granted, but then Empire and Jedi wouldn't even have come about in the first place without him. Also agreed on Howard The Duck, but come on, THX 1138? Surely you don't think that's a pile of shit? (and I do have the greatest respect for your opinions btw, GBIII).

 

Plus us kids in the UK got well milked by Star Wars merch as well in the 70s thank you, and very happy it made me in my younger years.

 

Without wishing the pot to call the kettle black here, this thread got a bit tl;dr for me. But surely it's more important to address practicalities and help try and prevent those less fortunate than ourselves from actually starving and dying first, before focusing on things such as health education and promotion? Just sayin'.

[Dale]

bread: i see where your getting at and agree to some degree with the method but not the labeling - the current state of

the science community would make me feel about as comfortable as the thought of using current political systems as decision making mediums.

 

i'm sure however that you must be talking about enlightened science just as i spoke of enlightened socialism above. such as science that is not

bound by monies or powers or limits itself by not including the metaphysical.

 

also in regards to the circle of elders - we are talking a group of twelve that is so morally, ethically and spiritually connected that

there would be no room for error and their whole lives would be focused on attaining this heightened awareness from birth

(so far removed from the election processes today that it almost seems unthinkable and impossible) furthermore they would

also be using intrinsic and eternal decision making methods which have been around for thousands

of years, much akin to what we call science but much more expansive and multidimensional.

Describe what you are referring to as 'enlightened' science? I understand your concern with conventional science -- but you must remember that science applied in a monetary social system, where corruption is rewarded through pay-offs etc.. becomes distorted with no social imperative in mind. Science is a tool - all that matters is how we use it. If we use it to make money off manufacturing weapons and bombs that blow up cities full of people, then obviously we have to look at the root, causal problem here, which is money. Take money out of the situation and science will not be so distorted as it sometimes seems today as you're eliminating the incentive for negative behaviour.

 

I honestly think that the scientific method produces the most effective results to arrive at decisions. I can not think of any other tool to utilise. Elders are humans. They are still subject to emotional responses. Just because they may have more life experiences, doesn't mean they are capable of making objective decisions. If they have no technical knowledge on how to solve technical problems such as not making the roads slippery when wet, what types of soil-less agriculture to utilise or how to run a power plant, these are all decisions processed by scientific studies + research by teams of people with the relevant education regarding those areas. A team of elders may not be able to provide objective decisions for the benefit of a city or community. Please expand when you get the time..

 

edit: science has more-or-less proved itself. Without medical science, we wouldn't have current hospital technologies which save lives everyday. Without scientific discoveries we wouldn't have certain medicines which aid in treatments of diseases. Without it, we wouldn't know a lot to be honest. It's proved to be effective over time and I think humanity needs to advance science even further.