Fresco wrote and lectured his views on sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural-resource management, cybernetic technology, automation, and the role of science in society.

[6][7] Jacque Fresco was born on March 13, 1916,[8] and grew up in a Sephardi Jewish household,[9] at the family's home in Bensonhurst, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

[10] Fresco's father was an agriculturist born in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), while his mother Lena was an emigrant from Jerusalem.

[12] A teenager during the Great Depression, he spent time with friends discussing Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, science, and the future.

[12] Fresco attended the Young Communist League before being "physically ejected" for loudly stating that "Karl Marx was wrong!"

Fresco, 32 years old at the time, along with his associates Harry Giaretto and Eli Catran conceived, designed and engineered a project house called the Trend Home.

[19][25] Here he also gave lectures, and taught technical design,[13] meanwhile researching and working on inventions as a freelance inventor and scientific consultant.

[14] In a newspaper article from that time period Fresco claimed to have a degree from Sierra University, Los Angeles, California, which is unverified.

He tells of joining a local Ku Klux Klan and White Citizens Council in an attempt to change their views about racial discrimination.

[30] Fresco made his living working as an industrial designer for various companies such as Alcoa and the Major Realty Corporation.

[14] Consisting of mostly prefabricated components, partitions, and aluminum, the project sold houses for $2,950, or $7,500 with foundation and all internal installations.

The authors picture an ideal 'cybernetic society in which want has been banished and work and personal possessions no longer exist; individual gratification is the total concern'.

[40] Fresco's "sociocyberneering" as a membership group was discontinued and land was purchased at another location in rural Venus, Florida.

[10] In 2008, Peter Joseph featured Fresco in the film Zeitgeist Addendum where his ideas of the future were given as possible alternatives.

"[55] Fresco's critical view of modern economics has been compared to Thorstein Veblen's concept of "the predatory phase in human development", according to an article in the journal Society and Business Review.

[58] Synergetics theorist Arthur Coulter called Fresco's city designs "organic" and "evolutionary", rather than revolutionary.

[59] Fresco described his form of governance in this way: "The aims of The Venus Project have no parallel in history, not with communism, socialism, fascism or any other political ideology.

"[58] Ludwig von Mises Institute scholar Robert P. Murphy has raised the economic calculation problem against a resource-based economy.

[60] In a resource-based economy, Murphy believes there would be no ability to calculate the availability and desirability of resources because the price mechanism is not utilized.

Addressing this aspect, another article in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics states criticism of "central plannings" computation problem applies to the ideas of Fresco.

"[64] Hans-Ulrich Obrist wrote that "Fresco's future may, of course, seem outmoded and his writings have been subject to critique for their fascistic undertones of order and similitude, but his contributions are etched in the popular psyche and his eco-friendly concepts continue to influence our present generation of progressive architects, city planners and designers.