As Buckminster Fuller so poignantly said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
So close your eyes, breathe deeply and relax. Now start to imagine the ideal world you’d like to live in. Here are some things I’d like to see:
– Forest gardens everywhere: no industrial agri farming with toxic sprays and fertilizers. The world could be literally covered in food producing forests since we know it’s possible to regreen the deserts.
– Ecovillages built with sustainable, natural building materials: We believe that community is an essential building block for creating a cooperative and sustainable world. The structures and wisdom of community are both a means and an end to meeting the needs of all people and the planet, and must be available, understood, appreciated, and developed. We envision cooperative communities of all kinds working together to meet these needs.
– Sustainable energy: Technologies that promote sustainable energy include renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, wave power, geothermal energy, bioenergy, tidal power and also technologies designed to improve energy efficiency.
– Local self governance: Decentralisation of powers is a pre-requisite of a democratic society. Local self-government implies the decentralisation of powers so that the elected bodies may function independently with authority and resources to bring about economic development and social justice. For sure, I do not want to see a top down, one world government as some are proposing.
These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg. Our Natural Building Blog profiles hundreds of projects and innovative methods to improve the world.
Owen, this quote has been on my mind and heart for a long time. i’me gonna contact the BFI–Buckminster Fuller Institute to find out where the quoteis included in his essays/talks/etc.
the other world is already obsolete.
give a listen to Toby Hemenway’s Liberation Permaculture on Permaculture Voices website.
PVP125
https://www.bing.com/search?q=toby+hemenway+pvp125&pc=MOZI&form=MOZSBR
he discusses some really awesome points in Commons History. how we shared and were cared for.
Cooperative living where we care and share.
here is a quote from Toby about this talk.
“My presentation, “Permaculture for Liberation” from the Permaculture Voices 2 conference is available (audio only) at the link below. I talk about the natural links between permaculture , anarchism, and socialism; how the state fosters extreme hierarchy, and how permaculture allows us to be “legal but illegible,” that is, acting within the law but not producing easily measurable and taxable outputs. A horticultural society has far less need for the machinery of the state than an agricultural one. The fact that permaculture is not easily measurable turns out to be a good thing. I’ve only given this talk once, and I am looking for opportunities to do it again, but it’s a little more controversial and unsettling than many venues are ready for.”
The current system is already extremely shaky. How can you have a normal functioning economy when you’re $20 trillion in debt plus have $100-$200 trillion in unfunded liabilities? It’s all beyond crazy and doomed to collapse eventually. At some point we’ll have to switch to something more sustainable.
Strangely my comment disappeared. I was saying how someone could appear to be ‘poor’ (low income) yet have a high quality of life (family, friends, spending time in nature, exercise, gardening, helping others, reading, etc.). Simplify your life and focus on what really matters most to you.
Very good. I enjoyed Toby’s talk very much. This is what the world needs.
A gift economy, where no money is needed and used to exploit, enslave, and impoverish the masses.