Publisher: Lars Muller
Writer: Buckminster Fuller
“Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it.”
Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth is an attempt at the clear rethinking of our role as astronauts on this “Spaceship Earth.” Since it was written in the late 1960s, there is a total lack of green and eco-trend buzzwords. No mention of Al Gore, carbon credits, or Green solutions. This is the passionate, educated plea of a deeply thoughtful man, for mankind to unite and bring order to the global crisis facing us.
Perhaps the most enlightening aspect of this book is the ease with which Fuller treats the unity of mankind. He never stops to explain why he believes we as a race should exist together and solve our problems as a unified body. He simply explains the benefits of global community and the historical reason we’ve long been segregated. To read his account of the “Great Pirates” and their hidden sovereignty over world economics may at first seem a bit paranoid, but listen to the rational process he uses to explain how obvious their reign and fall should have been for us.
There would be no way to peg Operating Manual as a book about economics or conservation, policy or lifestyle, psychology or philosophy. It is something bigger, something more important and not so provincial. In my opinion, that is the definition of a great accomplishment: when it ceases to fit category and genre, and becomes an object floating free in the atmosphere of information. The Bible is very much like that, difficult to pin down, dynamic, and predictive.
Buckminster Fuller cannot easily be called a man of Faith, or a man of God, but he is certainly a man concerned with the condition and livelihood of mankind. Moreover, his perception of reality leads from the obvious belief that there is not only order in the universe, but the presence of a power or force that put it there. His genuine desire to bring dignity and empowerment to every member of mankind is beyond refreshing, and something I think is sorely missing in much of modern discussion on the future of our planet.
Read this book with the knowledge that after finishing it, you may feel compelled to completely change the way you live on this planet. Be prepared to consider God may have put us here not simply to use the resources, but to mold the planet into something better, and stronger. Someday it will all be gone, but until then we stand charged with its care, and that means making it a better, safer, and stronger world.
For more information on Buckminster Fuller and the issues discussed in this book, check HERE.
