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The Zeitgeist Movement is an advocacy organization founded in 2008 that claims to hold over 1000 regional chapters across 70 countries. The movement primarily concerns itself with campaigning against the capitalist system, which they hope to replace with a utopian social system controlled by machines rather than people; they are also known for their criticism of fractional-reserve banking. The movement became known primarily for the film Zeitgeist: The Movie.

Activities and publications

Zeitgeist Day (Z-Day)

The Zeitgeist Movement holds an annual "Z-Day" in March. The first Z-Day was on March 15, 2009 and the second on March 13, 2010. On this date, the Zeitgeist Movement holds local gatherings "to learn and share information with all interested individuals". Zeitgeist claims that In 2009 there were more than 450 events held in 70 countries around the world. In 2009, among other events, Peter Joseph and Jacque Fresco spoke to a sold-out crowd of around 900 at the Borough of Manhattan Community College for over two hours. The third Z-Day was on March 13, 2011. Peter Joseph and others spoke to an audience of 1100 at "Friends House" in Euston, London.

Michelle Rodriguez of Avatar attended Z-Day 2011 in Los Angeles on March 12, 2011 at Los Angeles Convention Center. She said she is intrigued by the idea of the Venus Project.

Brandon Boyd of Incubus also attended Z-Day in Los Angeles with his girlfriend Baelyn Neff. He said Zeitgeist: Moving Forward is his favorite Zeitgeist film so far. He also said he is very familiar with Jacque Fresco and watched a documentary film about Jacque Fresco's work called Future by Design.

"Z-Day 2012" will be held at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 10, 2012.

The Zeitgeist Media Festival

The Zeitgeist Media Festival is an annual event that began in 2011 and is said to currently take place at forty-one locations worldwide with the stated aim of "uniting the world through socially conscious art".

Media Project

According to a press release circulated to members on May 12, 2010, the Zeitgeist Media Project (ZMP) Beta was released. The Media Project is an extension of the Communications Team.

Chapters

The Zeitgeist Movement's members are organized into country/regional, state and city "sub"-chapters. Each chapter/sub-chapter is hosted and maintained independently on its own domain, or in sub-domains from the Zeitgeist Movement's main site. The chapters are coordinated by individuals or groups of individuals who are versed in the movement's tenets and direction. According to the Zeitgeist Movement July 2010 Newsletter, the Zeitgeist Movement has 46 official country chapters and over 200 regional sub-chapters internationally. This includes all 50 official U.S. state chapters.

Radio address

Rotating members of the movement deliver a weekly radio address which is broadcast every Wednesday on BlogTalkRadio. These broadcasts define the Zeitgeist Movement and discuss the progress of the movement's efforts, hold interviews with various relevant personalities, and provide information for the Zeitgeist Movement's chapters. There are two other BlogTalkRadio shows that discuss the Zeitgeist Movement, a resource-based economy and the Venus Project. One is Z Radio, a weekly broadcast co-hosted by Thunder and Franklee, and produced by Shawn Hodgins. The other, known as V-Radio, is hosted by Neil Kiernan Stephenson.

Criticism and controversy

Jane Chapman, a film producer and reader in media studies at the University of Lincoln, called Zeitgeist: The Movie an example of unethical film-making that engages in "implicit deception" through the use of unreferenced and undated assertions and standard film-making propaganda techniques that are packaged as "a fast-paced assemblage of agitprop" and adds that parts of the film are "comically" self-defeating and accuses them of using “twisted evidence”. The Irish Times has characterized the Zeitgeist films as "nonsense” and "surreal perversions of genuine issues and debates". Other reviewers have characterized the film as "conspiracy crap", “based solely on anecdotal evidence” and “fiction couched in a few facts”.

The movement itself and its leadership have also been questioned due to an apparent inclination to censor opposing viewpoints and engage in ad hominem attacks.

Recently Zeitgeist and Venus Project were banned from Studivz, a large social networking site in Germany, over anti-semetic tendencies expressed by members of the Zeitgeist Movement.

See also

• Post scarcity
• Criticism of fractional-reserve banking

References

1. "The Zeitgeist Movement - Frequently Asked Questions".
2. ^ Alan Feuer (March 16, 2009). "They've Seen the Future and Dislike the Present". New York Times. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
3. "What is Zday".
4. "Michelle Rodriguez from Avatar at Zeitgeist Day Los Angeles".
5. "Brandon Boyd of Incubus at Zeitgeist Day Los Angeles".
6. "Zeitgeist Day 2012 - Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, BC".
7. "The Zeitgeist Media Festival".
8. http://www.zeitgeistmediaproject.com
9. The Zeitgeist Movement Polish
10. http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/July2010NL.pdf
11. "The Zeitgeist Movement Website". The Zeitgeist Movement. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
12. "V-Radio".
13. Chapman, Jane (2009). Issues in Contemporary Documentary. Polity Press. pp. 171–173. ISBN 978-0-7456-4009-9.
14. O'Dwyer, Davin (August 8, 2007). "Zeitgeist: the nonsense". Irish Times. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
15. Orange, Michelle (September 10, 2008). "Able Danger". The Village Voice.
16. "Towers of Babble". Utne Reader. January 1, 2008.
17. "The Zeitgeist Movement - A Critical Review". Skepticproject. Retrieved 6 March 2012.

External links

• Official Website
• Zday 2010 Review
• Zday 2009 Review by New York Times
• The Venus Project

• Social movements
• The Zeitgeist Movement
• Organizations established in 2008