The Bucky Starts Here
by Steve Bhaerman (a.k.a. Swami Beyondanama)
Dear Friends and Co-Hearts …
No matter how you look at it, these are extraordinary times where we seem to face crisis at every turn. Interestingly, the word “crisis” first came into the English language in a translation of Chauliac’s Grande Chirurgie (Major Surgery) and it meant “the turning point in a disease.”
Well folks, the body politic – and indeed the biosphere – is one sick puppy. We are at a pivotal moment where things can take a turn for the worse, or the better. Looking at the magnitude of the crises, it becomes clear that – to paraphrase Einstein – these problems cannot be solved at the same level they were created. Inside-the-box economic fixes aren’t fixing anything, nor can technological fixes alone repair the excesses of technology.
Meanwhile, we have an intransigent system invested in remaining the same, doing everything it can do to keep people asleep – or roused up in anger against the wrong enemy. It really doesn’t look good for the home team. In fact, it looks more and more like the world needs a miracle.
A Template for Miracles?
So, where do we go to find a template for miracles? Well, we can begin with the phenomenon called spontaneous remission. We read about these seemingly anomalous healings all the time, or perhaps we know someone who has had one. One day, the individual is on death’s door with a “fatal illness.” The next day, they are inexplicably symptom free. This kind of miraculous change that cannot be explained through ordinary science is often deemed a Divine intervention, part of the unknowable mystery.
But there might be more to it.
Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona, author of Coyote Medicine, tells us that spontaneous remission is often preceded by “a change of story.” In other words, our feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and the meaning we attribute to our situation may actually change the “field” in such a way that it impacts our physical reality. Can this also be true of our collective story and beliefs, and our collective reality? That’s what my book with Bruce Lipton, Spontaneous Evolution, is all about. As we say in the book:
The spontaneous remission we seek appears to be contingent upon a spontaneous re-missioning of civilization through which we change our mission from one based on survival of the individual to one that encompasses survival of the species.
In other words, we must spontaneously change our mission from dominate-or-be-dominated to thrival of all. Can it be done? We don’t know, but that’s what we’re playing the game to find out.
The World Game or the End-of-the-World Game: The Choice Is Ours
And if you’re wondering what the game is, consider the one proposed by R. Buckminster Fuller nearly 50 years ago. He called his game The World Game, and if played successfully, everyone can win. The challenge:
“To make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone.”
Now, that’s a game! Forget reality TV, folks, we’ve got reality, a once-in-many-lifetimes hero’s journey with the entire species in the hero’s role. Bucky Fuller, who also coined the term “Spaceship Earth,” predicted that the 50-year period beginning in 1975 would be about aligning the planetary resources to insure abundance for all. Now, Bucky was a visionary, but he was also a scientist and mathematician. So he knew it could be done. And he knew his visionary call for mass functionality would be termed “utopian,” which is why he titled one of his other books, Utopia or Oblivion.
“Utopia,” which means “nowhere” is generally seen as the impossible dream, and the way to get there is … oh, that’s right, you can’t get there from here. But if we reframe utopia as health, harmony and sanity, then it becomes a little easier to imagine. We have healthy cells, healthy individuals, and healthy families. We even have some healthy communities and healthy organizations. What is it that creates that field of health? How can we bring more of that to bear on more aspects of our lives? How can we create a healthier world?
Bucky Fuller’s audacious challenge is pointing the way.
There are hundreds of thousands of well-meaning organizations focused on one specific aspect of creating a healthier, happier world. There are tens of millions of humans dedicated to countless causes that promote one or more of these worthy goals.
What has been missing up until now is a movement, a singular focus and mission, an over-arching, under-truthing idea that unites all the ideas, organizations and individuals into a formidable power that creates critical mass and critical momentum.
And that is why we are calling forth individuals, communities, organizations, companies who share this passion for a loving, functional world to gather “under one big intent,” to play a game worth playing. Our children’s children, and our grandparents’ grandparents are rooting for us.
Here, once again, is Buckminster Fuller’s challenge:
“To make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone.”
Are you inspired?
The Bucky starts here.
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Replies
Does anybody have plans for a geodesic no-foam dome?
In all seriousness though, we are gonna need a miracle.
People have talked about taking "baby steps" to a more sustainable way of life ever since I can remember.
In all that time we have only managed to dig ourselves deeper into a hole despite all the "baby steps".
It seems clear to me that baby-stepping our way towards sustainability will never work - it hasn't had any net positive effect in the past so why should we expect that to change in the future?
It's about time we all thought long and hard about what lengths we're willing to go to to change the course of the future - and that means getting off our collective butts, rolling up our sleeves and trying to figure out a way to get out of the box we're in.
Some might even consider denying themselves some of the cheap crap they sell at the big-box stores.
"Save money. Live better." Yeah, right.
Yes I am.
J,
Do you have a source for that quote?
It reminds me of Granny D (Doris Haddock) of NH who walked across the US for campaign finance reform in her 90th year, and then went on to run for US Senate and to live until 100. She remained lucid and perceptive to the end and would often talk about what she learned in her traverse of this nation.
She said the American people aren't divided by liberal and conservative or Democrat and Republican or left and right, but rather by those who are awake and those who are asleep. And it's the responsibility of those of us who are awakened to waken those who yet slumber.
Could it be that Roy is actually Robert's evil twin?
Since the beginning of time, ALL of the world's problems are directly related to people imposing their will upon others. A good start to making the world a better place for all would be to recognize that we are all different and there may be different ways to achieve our goals. Read Romans 12:20.
We've not not only another pseudonymous coward here but a bible thumper as well.
I think you'd better review your history of time, life and the human race. Whether you believe that time began at the Big Bang or at God's creation, imposing human will on others wasn't the problem. In the Garden, it was the disobedience and hubris of the first humans which got them into trouble. And in the Universe Story, it was a heck of a long time before human will appeared.
In evolutionary history, homo erectus to homo sapiens managed just fine for millions of years living within the harmony of nature. It is only since the start of monotheism that humanity began to impose their beliefs and their will on others and on the natural world.
Good response Robert but I doubt seriously that early man lived without conflict.
Roy - actually, the entirety of Roman 12 is a better example.
Not a bible thumper. Just happen to like this particular section of the bible.
Robert,
Here is the source of the Thich Nhat Hahn quote:
Thich Nhat Hahn. Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice. New York: Three Leaves Press, 2005.
The passage is from chapter VI: The Regeneration of Humanity.
The closest approximations I've seen in my area of the communities Thich Nhat Hahn envisioned are a permaculture interest group and a circle of people connected by a wood fired kiln.
"Conflict" is not necessarily about imposing one's will on another, any more than a fox imposes its will on the rabbit it kills and eats. Nature (or God's creation) is based on birth and death, eating and being eaten. That's the natural order or harmony of the Universe - not intentional conflict.
"Primitive" man and all animals occasionally battle over territory or hunting or nesting grounds. Mostly they kill or glean or harvest only what they need to survive.
Willful conflict, or - on the societal scale - warfare, began with civilization, which grew out of sedentary agriculture and food surpluses (wealth) which had to be hoarded and protected and which made some powerful and others slaves, and instigated a rapid increase in population and the necessity for territorial expansion and control.
J,
Thanks for the source. That's old stuff. I think Thich has repudiated all that he once said. Now he just minds his P's and Q's ;-)
I think Romans 13 is the more interesting passage.
"Obey all authority and render unto Caesar a just tribute."
Though Luke said "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's".
And Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker movement, said, "If we rendered unto God what is God's, there'd be precious little left for Caesar".
'
.
.
.
.
.
Robert, I appreciate your insight. You are obviously very well read.
Primarily for Roy's benefit, I'll explain the Romans 12 reference I made yesterday. The point is that people can be and are different. We have different talents, different abilities, and different passions. Our purposes in life may not be the same. The world works better when we harmonize those differences and avoid the temptation to willfully impose our ways on others.