Thanks for your email.
It was Paul Schulte who first brought Bucky Fuller to my attention. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Buckminster_Fuller
I've been thinking about Bucky lately, and am sorely tempted to re-read his short, brilliant book, "Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth."
Here is a "summary excerpt."
Fuller "states that to take advantage of potential wealth we must give life fellowships to each person who is or becomes unemployed, and further states that for every 100,000 fellowships given out one person will come up with something so valuable that it will pay for the remaining 99,999 fellowships. Fuller predicts that soon the great office buildings will be turned into residences and that all the work that had been done in them will be done in the basements of a few buildings. He states that we "must operate exclusively on our vast daily energy income from the powers of wind, tide, water, and the direct Sun radiation energy".
Fuller "states that to take advantage of potential wealth we must give life fellowships to each person who is or becomes unemployed, and further states that for every 100,000 fellowships given out one person will come up with something so valuable that it will pay for the remaining 99,999 fellowships. Fuller predicts that soon the great office buildings will be turned into residences and that all the work that had been done in them will be done in the basements of a few buildings. He states that we "must operate exclusively on our vast daily energy income from the powers of wind, tide, water, and the direct Sun radiation energy".
Years after Paul's intro, he recounted his one-and-only meeting with Fuller who was sitting in an airport, waiting for a plane.
Paul approached and opened the conversation by saying, "I've been meaning to talk to you Bucky..."
I only remember one other thing about Paul's encounter. Because Bucky's shirt was all puffed up with something, Paul asked about the oddity.
Fuller replied: "It's always cold on planes and the simplest, best insulation is to stuff your shirt with crumpled newspaper."
I have another memory of Bucky which I think is true... and just now verified it.
Early in life, Bucky was sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come...
"When he was 32, Buckminster Fuller's life seemed hopeless. He was bankrupt and without a job. He was grief stricken over the death of his first child and he had a wife and a newborn to support. Drinking heavily, Buckminster Fuller contemplated suicide. Instead, he decided that his life was not his to throw away: it belonged to the universe. Fuller embarked "an experiment to discover what the little, penniless, unknown individual might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity. Thus, production will no longer be impeded by humans trying to do what machines can do better. Contrariwise, omni-automated and inanimately powered production will unleash humanity’s unique capability - its metaphysical capability." Fuller spent the next half century searching for "ways of doing more with less" so that all people could be fed and sheltered." http://architecture.about.com/od/greatarchitects/p/fuller.htm (Alan: As I recall, Bucky actually waded into the sea intending to drown himself when the epiphany described above came over him.)
Pax tecum
Alan
PS The following web page makes for excellent "one stop shopping."
http://architecture.about.com/od/greatarchitects/p/fuller.htm
And here's a free online link to "Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth."
http://www.designsciencelab.com/resources/OperatingManual_BF.pdf
Another excellent Fuller source (from Brain Pickings):
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/tag/buckminster-fuller/
http://architecture.about.com/od/greatarchitects/p/fuller.htm
And here's a free online link to "Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth."
http://www.designsciencelab.com/resources/OperatingManual_BF.pdf
Another excellent Fuller source (from Brain Pickings):
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/tag/buckminster-fuller/
Bucky said - and I quote from memory - "The most idealistic is the realistically most practical."
On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 8:43 PM, Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:
Farm labor shortage cannot be resolved by either left-wing or right-wing thinking.Hillary Clinton can't fix it. Marco Rubio can't fix it.Gonna have to transcend to a higher level....... Calling Buckminster Fuller...... Calling Buckminster Fuller......... Calling Buckminster Fuller ...
--
Fred Owens
cell: 360-739-0214
My blog is Fred Owens
send mail to:
Fred Owens
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