 As we were drafting the finale for our Money Series, something very important came up to be explored on the subject of resource-based economies, which is the usage of resources in the world today. Scientists studying how many resources people consume have found that individually, the higher the overall income of a region, the more the people there tend to consume an excess of resources, something especially prevalent in the middle classes. To top it all off, these consumption rates are growing, but instead of being concerned about the growing population, these researchers are worried that the growing demands of our current population are a much bigger threat. For the most part, some of these resources include things like transport and industrial costs like fuel and water. Further, household consumption is seemingly giving rise to more than 60% of global emission. To put that in perspective, that's between 50 and 80% of the total resources that we use. Not only are resources being used unnecessarily, but according to the Journal of Industrial Ecology, the growing consumption rate on food and international goods in households has significant environmental impacts that are just not sustainable. It's thought that one of the main reasons behind this excess spending is the increasing levels of disposable income in our society, enabling consumers to soak up resources far past what is needed for them to survive. Though at first, this may be a depressing thought, it's also an exciting opportunity. More and more people around the world are waking up to issues like our vulnerable environment and social inequality. And actually, it's middle-class citizens who can do the most about it. If a cultural and mindset shift occurred where people agreed to consume less of what they didn't need, a significant amount of pressure could be relieved from our environment. This would hugely free up more resources and help to promote our collective welfare. Now, one of the most important steps we could take to sustain everyone in our current population, as well as growing populations, and protect our environment, is to collectively make the decision to consume less unnecessary goods. We know the world, though, and that is much easier said than done. Baked into many of our modern cultures is the importance and glamour of living a materialist life, one that is ultimately based on consumption. Many people are misguided by their desire to be materially wealthy, so much so that they don't even know what they would do with the money if they had it. Maybe buy a mansion, or a nice car, or some other quick fixes to the illusion of poverty. But even though most people don't become wealthy in this way, the mindset has trickled down into what is basically a consumer culture. Today, there is always an exciting new version of the thing that you already have that works completely fine. And many people are convinced that the status of owning such things is so important to their lives and their well-being. Seriously, I remember in high school that when you got a new pair of shoes, it was like the thing that everyone talked about for a day. Everyone you saw, even people you didn't really know would compliment you on your new shoes, and then the next day, nobody cared. But there was some sort of status associated with getting new shoes. In reality, the addiction to consumption is an ever-present issue that functions much in the same way as any other kind of addiction. Many people can relate to the dopamine release of buying something, even if you never actually get your money's worth out of it. There really is an effect in your brain that feels good to own the newest things before your friends. In this kind of situation, it's important to be honest and open and approach it from a position of compassion. If buying and spending is something people do to relieve stress, then shaming people for consuming more will only make them feel more stressed and ultimately make the problem worse. What we really need to help make ourselves conscious of our consumption is shifting our sources of satisfaction to something else, such as doing good work, helping others, and making connections. This isn't a simple issue, of course, but like any problem, the first step to solving it is looking at it without judgment. Curbing consumption and freeing up resources is something everyone can work on right now. And maybe this is the first step to living in this new kind of world, one where no one is starving or in poverty. It's not all doom and gloom, though. While on average, most middle and upper-class areas are consuming and polluting more, there are some cities thriving today which live a much more environmentally friendly ideal. Copenhagen in Denmark and Porto Alegre in Brazil are both middle or upper-class cities, and yet Copenhagen has experienced both economic growth and emissions reductions by working with local planning programs to make the move towards renewable energy sources way easier. These cities are demonstrations that if a city collectively sets an intention to do something, it can be done. Because as we already know from many new emerging scientific explorations today, intention and observation steers reality. Are there even enough resources in the world to allow everyone to thrive? The answer to this is, as you might have guessed, it's not so necessarily a simple answer, because human life is very complex. And as you attempt to answer one question, it opens up many more. Yet with almost every initial complex problem, it is possible to create solutions. For example, food production can be completely transformed if we were to invest in something like vertical farming, which would lead to a whole new slew of innovations on how we could make something like that possible. As long as we remain open and flexible to new ideas and are willing to invest in ourselves in the long term, there's really no problem we can't solve. But you see, this does take a shift in mindset from thinking of short term profits to long term lasting solutions. This is where the whole resource-based economy thing comes in, which is essentially a different kind of economy than capitalism. A system in which all goods and services are available without the use of any system of debt or servitude, like money, credits or barter. All resources become the common heritage of all people, not just a select few. The challenge with this kind of system is that what happens when some individuals create tremendous value for society and others do the bare minimum, yet they both have access to all of the exact same resources? The question rises, is that fair or harmonious? The way we overcome this challenge is with a collective shift in consciousness, and this is something we'll talk about more soon. Now along the journey to creating a resource-based economy is where central planning systems seemingly enter the conversation. In the face of the logistical challenges of getting separate industries to work together and provide for all people efficiently and effectively, central planning, also known as planned economies, seek to unify and harmonize the control of certain industries. In a nutshell, it's an economic system where a central planning group, such as a government, controls and regulates production, distribution and prices, among other things, as opposed to the current model where prices allocate resources. This type of system is naturally pretty large-scale and ambitious and gets a very bad reputation with certain people in the world for being socialist in nature. Due to the interlocking nature and dependence of the industries which supply necessary goods, though, planned economic systems aim to increase efficiency by managing and coordinating multiple massive industries to achieve a single, charitable goal. Just getting a system like this off the ground can seem like an impossible task. It's no wonder so many communists throughout history sought change so aggressively. Now, one serious option to achieve a planned economy seeks to do so by more harmonious means, though. Something known as the Venus Project is a central planning system with plans to start small and make use of advanced technology to organize societies and distribute resources intelligently. But their vision goes even further, for in their own words, they say, we call for a straightforward approach to the redesign of a culture in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt, environmental degradation and unnecessary human suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but totally unacceptable. Reflecting on that, I feel it is important that as we move forward collectively, we take ideas like this and build them into the framework of new developing systems. The plan to transition to this kind of system exists with the awareness of the failures of more extreme and aggressive pushes to radically transform the capitalist economy, which it's coming from. Instead, these guys are focused on how they can grow organically from inside our current system and have plans to transition from a semi-capitalist starting point to a fully centrally planned city in the long run. The cities and the planning are designed to be universal and scalable, so a small community with merit and interest could easily be grown to accommodate more and more citizens. And in the end game, one without Thanos, new cities like this could be initiated around the world. To some, this may seem like a pipe dream or even a complete impossibility. And it's okay to have your own opinions and feelings on the matter, don't get me wrong. What almost everyone can agree on, though, regarding the Venus Project are its end goals. No one logically wants to live in a world with war, a hazardous environment, poverty, or unsustainable resource production. What the Venus Project is doing uniquely is stating that, actually, we don't have to. In fact, we should strive to create an earth without these issues. Without any call to destabilize our current systems or societies, the Venus Project aims to show what progress can be made and allow people to hop on with their success or learn from their mistakes. To learn more about the Venus Project, you can visit their website, which we'll link in the description. Whether you believe global suffering is best solved by central planning or by just everyone doing their part or everything in between, I hope this video has helped in the exploration that we all have a role to play and that we can all make changes today and move forward to reduce waste and access in our own lives. Paving a way for a future with freer resources to share with those less privileged and support for expanding education across the board so that everyone has access not just to resources, but knowledge and wisdom that we can use to make the world a better place. And if you ever feel like the future is hopeless, remember that there is always something you personally can do to make a difference and that if you make a genuine difference in your own life, it will ripple out. People around you will sense the change and if enough people do this, amazing things can be accomplished one step at a time. And speaking of steps, if you're someone who wants to rapidly shift their financial paradigm, we are excited to share with you the brand new Spiritual Money Masterclass that we've launched, a nine hour event called Spiritual Money Mastery, which encompasses everything we've learned about creating value in the world by being in service and generating wealth in the process to be used towards making the world a better place. You can click the link below in the description and jump in right now.