Is There Enough To Go Around? with R. Buckminster Fuller

MP3 Download

The essence of one of the most comprehensive and imaginative thinkers of the twentieth century is captured here, as he gives an extraordinary overview of the state of the planet and human history. Asked whether there are enough resources to support our growing population the late Buckminster Fuller, age 85 when this was recorded, responds with a tour-de-force capsule of history of Western civilization - a refutation of the economics of scarcity first propounded by Thomas Malthus. His answer, spanning politics, religion, geodesic domes, the arms race and more, tickles and challenges our thinking about every topic in his path, as he describes the advent of a new world where selfishness is no longer necessary. Says Fuller, "We are on the threshold of a new wave." Following this interview Bucky privately confided to Michael, "I got the telling of the history of civilization down to less than an hour, just for you, Michael." (hosted by Michael Toms)

Bio

Buckminster Fuller (July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983), affectionately called “Bucky”, was an engineer, author, designer, inventor, and futurist. He published more than 30 books, inventing and popularizing terms such as "Spaceship Earth" and synergetics. He is best known for his invention of the geodesic dome. The carbon molecules buckminsterfullerenes, so named because they resemble geodesic domes, are also known by scientists as “buckyballs.”

He is the author of many books including:

• Utopia or Oblivion: The Prospects for Humanity (Bantam 1971)
• Critical Path (St. Martin's 1981)

To learn more about the work of R. Buckminster Fuller go to www.bfi.org.

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• What was the highly developed geometry of the Babylonians
• Why there are sixty minutes in an hour
• Why churches fought progressive cosmology
• How geometry as taught today still reinforces the "flat Earth" concept
• What were the fundamental beliefs behind the rise of Marxism
• How invisible realities have changed our world
• What is the humanitarian potential of technology and industry
• Why "we can no longer rationalize selfishness"
• How invisible realities are changing the dynamics of history
• What outer-space exploration taught us about human needs
• What "the little individual" can do to help humanity and the planet

Host: Michael Toms      Interview Date: 5/10/1983      Program Number: 1570

Music Included

From Album: Equinoxe
Artist: Jean-Michel Jarré
Polydor #PD-1-6175
Tracks - Equinoxe, Part I, Equinoxe, Part III, Equinoxe, Part IV

From Album: Starbright
Artist: Pat Martino
Warner Bros. #B-52921
Track - Starbright