If you haven’t heard of the movies Zeitgeist and Zeitgeist Addendum then perhaps you’ve spent the last two years hiding away in your lounge watching TV? Online it’s a totally different story. Zeitgeist has been nothing short of a global phenomenon with over 100 MILLION views on YouTube and Google Video. Meanwhile barely a whisper has been uttered in the mainstream media.

We tracked down Peter Joseph, writer and producer of Zeitgeist and Zeitgeist Addendum, and asked him what all the fuss wasn’t about…

Everest: Given the amount of views Zeitgeist has received on Google Video and YouTube, were you at all surprised by the lack of coverage in the mainstream media?

Peter: No. Although we did get a New York Times review for ZDAY 2009 in New York City. I really don’t care about the mainstream media. In fact, it’s good we are in the shadows still as it’s easier to function. However, the ‘movement’ that is happening is going to explode in the near future to an extent that will take a lot of people by surprise. This has little to do with our actions, but rather the degradation of the current system as a whole. As things get worse, more people will wake up and look not only for answers, but a new direction. Our direction is the next logical progression. I feel and I suspect millions of other humans are going to see this soon as well.

Everest: You mention the ‘movement’ but there’s still a huge amount of online debate with many different opinions over the central message of Zeitgeist. The first part of the film states that religion is nothing more than an astrological allegory used for controlling the masses. The second claims that 9/11 was an inside job: a fabricated event designed to manipulate the American public into supporting the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. The third part deals with money and how it is created and controlled by a private bank called the Federal Reserve. Can you explain why you chose to focus on these three areas and what, if any, the relationship is between them?

Peter: First of all, part one of Zeitgeist does not simply conclude that religion is nothing more than an astrological allegory. It’s more about what happens when a certain number of people engage in a certain value / belief system. My aim was to point out that the establishment power (governments) will always seek to hijack those issues in order to maintain control. In effect, you really can’t have a society without a general collective awareness. So, the establishment religions were always in transformation and always secretly guided to support the agenda for the elite classes who run the world. It is that simple. Religion is very relevant historically as to the nature of human thought and development, but 90% of religiously minded people today have been indoctrinated in a system of belief that is really there to preserve the status quo. For instance, in the old Capitalist newsreels they would say that the free market was a ‘Christian ideal’ while Communism was a cold ’spiritless atheistic’ ideal. They did this to convince the largely Christian population of the West to accept their system of social control vs. a new one that might alter the power balance.

As far as claiming that 9/11 was an inside job … yes, that is essentially correct.

Every major war for profit needs an excuse to get the public on board. 9/11 was just a CIA black op. It was also an infiltration to counter the growing anti-establishment sentiment growing around the world which threatens those in control. ‘Terrorism’ is a blanket term designed to subdue and intimidate those interested in social change. It is a preservation mechanism for the establishment, an attempt to contrive legal grounds to quash activism and rebellion.

I would summarize the three parts of Zeitgeist as all being related to social myth. Religion, of course, is naturally mythological, but other historical notions, such as money and catalytic events like 9/11, often do not get the attention they require on this level. 9/11, as per the government’s story, is essentially a myth and serves the same function – to influence people’s perspectives and worldviews. 9/11 was presented as a sacred event that “we will never forget” which essentially reinforces the idea of ‘good and evil’ and the notion of ‘freedom’ in ‘America’ and the like. This myth led to two wars for profit and caused more division for society. Division = control.

Part three dealt with the monetary system which is, perhaps, the most profound myth of them all! Money is a ‘nothing thing’ but people today are so conditioned that they can’t envision any other kind of life without it, mainly because they have never been shown any positive alternative. The only reason the monetary system works is because people continue to have faith in it.

Everest: Do you receive more ‘love-mail’ than ‘hate-mail’?

Peter: Yes: 98:2

Everest: I read a quote of yours on the Internet this morning: “It is my hope that people will not take what is said in the film as the truth.” Did you really say that?

Peter: Kind of … some time ago I made a poetic statement on my website referring to the nature of understanding. I stated something like what you’ve just said. This was, of course, taken out of context as though I was telling people not to believe the research in the film. The rest of the statement was something like “find out for yourselves for knowledge is not told, it is realized.” You can’t just tell people things, they have to figure it out for themselves. I hope that is clear. Debunkers of Zeitgeist have used that statement to berate the presentation as though it was a ‘disclaimer.’

Everest: What concerns, if any, do you have regarding the huge following Zeitgeist appears to have developed since its release?

Peter: I have no concerns about the supporters. The movement is not going to stop and the change we are advocating isn’t a matter of opinion. The evolution is going to happen one way or another … whether it takes a decade or a millennium. The only concern I have is the chaos that is likely to ensue in between, as we are on a path toward a kind of imbalance and disequilibrium that has never before been seen in history.

“We were saying how very important it is to bring about in the human mind the radical revolution. The crisis is a crisis in consciousness; a crisis that cannot anymore accept the old norms, the old patterns, the ancient traditions. And, considering what the world is now with all the misery, conflict, destructive brutality, aggression and so on, man is still as he was, is still brutal, violent, aggressive, acquisitive, competitive and he has built a society along these lines.”
– J. Krishnamurti

Everest: Will it be any different from the chaos that is our history? With all the violence and war and the rise and fall of one empire after another, are we not heading inexorably towards a one-world-government? Is it an avoidable step in our struggle to birth ourselves as an intelligent species?

Peter: A world organization, in and of itself, is actually a positive thing, as long as the corporate / financial elements are removed. The highest optimization of the planet’s resources is a system worldwide for mining / production / distribution. It is this eventuality that will lead to an abundance for all the world’s people. We need a ’systems’ approach to society as a whole using science, technology and intelligent resource management. That’s it. We don’t need ‘politics’ or ‘government’ or 99% of the legislation out there. Our system today is a failed one. It is like a house that was poorly built on the side of a cliff. Since it is weak, it needs stilts and supporting structures to put pressure on each side to keep the house standing. That house is the ‘monetary / corporate system’ and the supports are ‘laws.’ A true system needs no laws. Laws are patches to try and keep a failing system in place. That is why every year, across the world, thousands of new laws are introduced to control the behavior of the people. It doesn’t work and it won’t work. The daily destruction of the environment, the wars, the poverty, the labor exploitation and death every second from starvation is the result. It is time to change.

‘One World Government,’ when I use the term, is a system of centralized control based on money and what I would call ‘pocket capitalism.’ The free-market never existed as a larger system … it was actually a scam put upon the lower class, while the upper classes maintained control. This is why banks are being ‘bailed out.’ The system is a mathematical fraud so they have to bailout those that fall victim. Unfortunately, these never help the people … only the larger order corporate constituents. A corporate fascist one world state is avoidable if the public understands what the real direction is. Sadly, most people have no understanding of what is actually important or relevant to social functionality and peaceful coexistence. They don’t know the state of technology … they are constantly absorbing nonsensical biases from a culture which continues to reinforce aberrancies that do not help progress. We have a tremendous hurdle of ‘consciousness’ that we need to overcome. Patriotism, religion, capitalistic self-interest are just a few of the despotic world views that continue to paralyze human potential and keep the blinders on the public. Check out the website: www.thezeitgeistmovement.com.

Everest: Joining a website or an online forum to discuss a movie on YouTube is one thing. Holding or sharing an intellectual belief or a vague hope in change may be another. But, beyond the movie, what is the real nature of this transformation you anticipate in society?

Peter: We need psychological, sociological and environmental change. These have to occur more or less in tandem. The human value system needs to be rescued from the sea of the selfish, narrow sighted materialism which it is drowning in, and thus cultured to see the world as a singular entity. The basic realization is that we can accomplish a zillion times more productive things if we learn to ‘cooperate,’ rather than ‘compete.’ Likewise, the environment needs to support our flourishing, not our restriction. We live in an abundant world yet most of us have been conditioned by the system to think everything is scarce. Even our farce president Obama talks about cutting funding from government programs … this is just moronic … for there is no such thing as money! There are only resources and the fact that we live in a world governed by a game that artificially CREATES scarcity and deprivation is just pathetic and sad. It doesn’t have to be like this.

Everest: Do you suspect that the global recession or ‘credit crisis’ was deliberately engineered to pave the way for a single global currency?

Peter: No, but it is being used as such, among other things. The trick now is for the central banks to figure out how to avoid this issue from happening again, so they want to devise a new system that removes transparency. The more people understand the inherent fraud of the monetary system, the bigger the problem for the banks. If they can blanket the whole thing with a single currency and a worldwide organization, then the public will have no basis to compare and relate.

Everest: What about food and water? Surely these are two of the most fundamental resources for any society. How would resources like these be managed in a society without money? Or are you saying that the ’system’ would not require management? How will scarcity / hoarding be avoided in an ever-growing population?

Peter: Food and water are unbelievably easy to create and maintain. There is no sound reason for any human to have to pay for these things, for automation is already doing 90% of the labor. We simply need to finish the other 10%. There is no reason to hoard anything that is free to all. As far as scarcity, it can be overcome through environmental monitoring and autonomous cybernated systems. The management would be very simple. One person behind a computer could monitor the production for an entire city once the system is set up. For more on this, see the 83-page Orientation guide at www.thezeitgeistmovement.com. The sad thing is, 99% of the population has no idea as to the true state of technology, so they find it very hard to think that machines can replicate themselves. Machines can ‘heal,’ self-correct and maintain an ‘awareness’ of their environment. In time, the machines will be constructed through nanotechnology from the atom up. This also goes for most production items, including food. We face a new world of incredible abundance and we need to realize this and adapt a social system to fit the new level. For this to occur, our present monetary system must be overcome. The longer we have it, the more paralyzed we become.

Everest: Do you grow any of your own food?

Peter: No, I live in New York City.

Everest: Remember you’re talking to Urban Garden here. Living in NYC is all the more reason to grow your own food! Don’t you think that home and community-based food production has a role to play in any such transition, no matter where you happen to live?

Peter: In time, considering how bad things are getting with corporate greed and environmental destruction, it could have a huge role.

Everest: Finally, any plans for a third film?

Peter: Yes. But I would prefer not to give too many details at this time, as it is still in development, but it will likely focus on human behavior, technology and rationality, generally speaking.

Don’t know what we’re talking about?
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist Addendum