A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
Christopher Reeve

All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.
Walt Disney

Paradise or Oblivion details the root causes of the systemic value disorders and detrimental symptoms caused by our current established system. This video presentation advocates a new socio-economic system, which is updated to present-day knowledge, featuring the life-long work of Social Engineer, Futurist, Inventor and Industrial Designer Jacque Fresco, which he calls a Resource-Based Economy.

The film details the need to outgrow the dated and inefficient methods of politics, law, business, or any other “establishment” notions of human affairs, and use the methods of science, combined with high technology, to provide for the needs of all the world’s people. It is not based on the opinions of the political and financial elite or on illusionary so-called democracies, but on maintaining a dynamic equilibrium with the planet that could ultimately provide abundance for all people.

Paradise or Oblivion, by The Venus Project, introduces the viewer to a more appropriate value system that would be required to enable this caring and holistic approach to benefit human civilization. This alternative surpasses the need for a monetary-based, controlled, and scarcity-oriented environment, which we find ourselves in today.

*This is NOT the “major motion picture” that The Venus Project is working towards but rather is a 52 min. documentary to introduce the aims and proposals to new people. Paradise or Oblivion will be released in March 2012 and we will post a link to the documentary as soon as it is released.

In the meantime, if you are not familiar with the work of Jacque Fresco and his Venus Project, here is a link to his highly informative newsletter and The Venue Project site. Fresco is one of the most brilliant minds of our time and his visionary proposals make total sense. He just raised funds to hire a screenwriter to develop a feature film that can inform the world that a solution exists to humanity’s challenges. This film cannot arrive too soon. Like Buckminster Fuller before him, the world is fortunate to have his brilliant mind and heart in service to life. NPD will continue to update readers on Jacque’s progress as it means our progress.

Just received this info on a new film, Money and Life, and want to share it with you because of its importance to this moment in our evolution. It is a continuation of the thinking of Charles Eisenstein’s Sacred Economics…

John Fullerton is Founder and President of Capital Institute, a transdisciplinary collaborative space dedicated to exploring and effecting economic change. The Institute’s mission is to help create “a more just, resilient, and sustainable way of living on this earth through the transformation of finance.”

In our candid interview with John, he shared his own transformative journey that lead him from Wall Street, where he managed capital markets worldwide at JP Morgan, to establishing himself as a thought leader in the “new economy” space.

In this 5 minute clip, John speaks soberly yet with optimism about the immense challenge of our time: the biospheric reality that is forcing us to re-think economics as we have known it, which is as John states “essentially our religion today.”

Watch, listen, comment and share!

John Fullerton: The Biospheric Reality from Katie Teague on Vimeo.

And here is another clip with David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule and Agenda for a New Economy.

David Korten: Walking Away From the King from Katie Teague on Vimeo.

Here is the trailer for the wonderful film these clips are taken from.

Money & Life trailer from Katie Teague on Vimeo.

The producer and director of Money & Life, Katie Teague, is seeking $50,000 to complete this important documentary that demystifies and questions the broken institution of money. No small undertaking. The heart of her message is that debt creates scarcity and her film is an empowering wake up call to end the vicious cycle and liberate us and money from its capitalist constraints so we can celebrate abundance instead and co-create a system that serves people and the planet. And, as you can see, through her interviews, she is touching on the soul of the issue with intelligence and compassion.

“My hope is that we can create an economy where we can do what we love, where we can be rewarded for doing what we love,” Teague said. “It’s idealistic, but it’s only limited by saying it’s impossible. The movie shows that money is a human artifact. It doesn’t grow on trees or fall from the sky. “We created it, and over time it’s changed. We are living in a time of significant shift. Things change and the main institution that needs to change in our lifetimes is money.”

Please join me in helping Katie complete her project.

To read a great story on Katie and her film and ideas, click here.

REMEMBER, TO WATCH THE CLIPS CLICK ON THE YELLOW LINK TO NPD’S WEBSITE.

We begin the new year with a gift. A connection to a highly talented healer based in Santa Barbara, CA.

Just before I left on my trip to New Zealand and Australia, I visited Dr. Hesu Whitten to see if he could help me with a chronic shoulder and back problem I had suffered on and off with for several years. When I saw him, it was seriously on and I was in extreme pain having had a series of prolotherapy injections in my shoulder with only minimal improvement. I had seen a massage therapist for my back, again with little improvement. So, my expectations were not high.

I saw Hesu once before heading to New Zealand and he tested me and suggested several exercises for my back and shoulder as well a homeopathic and some herbs and as I write this post, four months later, I am amazingly, pain free.

Dr. Whitten has a very interesting life story which you can read about on his website, sbchiro.com along with an explanation and video of his unique protocols and healing tools like Clinical Kineseology which is an integral part of his Quantum Chiropractic practice. You’ll also learn that my healing journey was hardly unique with everyone from Olympic athletes to surfers to stone masons to anyone with a health challenge offering glowing testimonials.

Before you consider spending lots of money for medical care, you may want to make an appointment with Hesu whose fees are very affordable. I hope this article may help you save the time and money I spent before I was fortunate enough to work with him.