Listen: 26589.wav
0:00

Richard Buckminster Fuller, American architect, speaking to the Women's National Democratic Club. Topics include architecture, economy, and inflation. Following his speech, Fuller answers audience questions.

Fuller was also a systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist.

Read the Text Transcription of the Audio.

I was born in an era when reality was everything you could see smell touch and hear. And say the wireless Rose invented the year, I was born with it. We didn't have a practical SOS until I was 12 years of age. There's one understand everything was everything you can see touching here. And we'll do our one was what we call alloy war and Alloys are meddled with the same weight of metal metal finishes. We had a mild steel the nineteen fifty one fifty thousand pounds tensile. Strength, Brooklyn. Bridge was 70,000 same weight and We got to World War one without using Chrome aluminum steel hundred ten thousand pound strength only same weight of the material. I could have three aluminum rods here in my my hands all exactly the same size one would be 18,000 tensile strength and excellent be double that 36,000 next one be double that again 72,000. They look exactly the same no scientist can see the difference fine Society doesn't understand. This is where we're doing more with less. We've come into complete invisible world where 99.99% everything's going to affect all of our future has been conducted in the Realms of reality non directly contact will by human senses as I new reality in this room are over two million radio programs. We had two million different sets with junit aren't too many different programs. This is this a new reality is really here all the time. We don't see any rate. I became tremendously. And sand and navy World War One learning that we had taken learned everything. We'd ever learn scientifically and we're applying It ultimately how to destroy most expertly and we're still doing the same and I wonder why that happened I found it all went back to 1800 to foul Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. When the British Empire's really established having started. However, the East India Company way back in 1600 by 1800 England was in control of the world lines of supply and the high seas controlling all the great wealth and is so for over a century. They had a great East India Company College, whether it's playing the meant to be scientists economists and so forth to go all around the world. Remember the British Empire was the first we said rather the Sun never set as a first time. We had an Empire. That was a sphere all I'm positive that time in flat going to Infinity went out to to the unknown but with infinite World, there's an infinite number of chances that are things would come out. All right, so really paid to pay that was infinite number chances, you might come out. We have Thomas malthus's E Professor of little economics in East India Company 1800. He wrote two books one 1800 and 1810 is the first human being in the history of humanity to have the total Vital Statistics from rounded closed system spherical world, and he was able to then say in his book quite clearly you Mandy was reproducing himself into geometrical right and producing life support only arithmetica, right? Majority of humanity was quite clearly designed to be a failure. There was General illiteracy the time very few people read this but But it was a power structure really interested in. How do you run the world? And how do you control the greatest wealth paid a great deal of tension 35 years later. We have Darwin from now getting his theory of evolution and was and explain that in the terms of survival only the fittest species and individuals. You said it did not mean any economic influence, but the economist said, obviously that had economic inference. We have Karl Marx sang accepted both Malthus and DOW in a scientist but fundamental information. He said quite clearly the workers if it is to survive because he understands a hundred handle the tools and the seeds and Niche of the animals the other people who said with parasites now, the people said the fact is We on top of the Heap therefore, it must be the fittest. We've finished because we have brighter than these other people that workers right now and and we are daring and and greater Vision so this but two fundamental camps and how you carry on that was something to do with initiative and and something to do with And right since that time all the great ideologies about our planet. Each one is saying you may not like our system personally, but we're convinced we have the fairest most logical most ingenious way of coping with level and that has a rights of oil that because there are those who disagree diametrically on how to cope. It can only be resolved by trial of arms, which is fitted to survive. That's why Russia and I say for the last 30 years spending over 200 billion a year now Six Trillion total to buy the highest capability to apply to how do you destroy most expertly great assistance greatest number of people terrible preoccupation of humanity. But hit me and hit me very hard and World War one being in the Navy was I was luckily. They had a good scientific training was the fact that we were dealing this invisible world and we were suddenly having these Alloys we could do more with the same Amor with less electronics are conceived mothers would have had to have a ship to cross the Atlantic a message. I could send my message across about ready to few pounds of material that can make an inventory of all the different things that I thought mother's I knew that he didn't know anything about to be discovered since I'm going to see there was a possibility right back in 1917 that if we might someday do so much with so little we might be able to take care of everybody. It could be that the mouth through sin and the the darwinian concept might be invalid typically the mouse ocean. 19 I came out of the Navy and white in the building world. I found the building world. Where is always anti priority the military have the high priority all the high performers everything and the any priority was at home front. I found it thousands of years behind the art of Designing of climate control for the Sea of the sky 1927 American Institute of Architects published in the journal single-family dwelling in Illinois, which they said was Optimum for 1927. I took that building its total floor area total cubed. Ali how many windows would had everything it had a high performance and I found it some totally wait a hundred fifty tons including the pipes out of the mains. I took the most advanced aircraft technology of 1927 and design an environment control of the same floor area, same Cuba. Jh4 functions came out three tons against a hundred fifty I said, I've because 52 years ago that is critical moment is introduces a spoke of when this new child was born five years after first child died by the way, and the age of four I committed myself with that time to exploring how to solve problems for all humanity and total planet and in the terms of environment control. I doing applying this doing more or less to the home front of me deal instead of waiting for to be Fallout after the Weaponry became obsolete various levels in the production capability is then applied to the home front just to keep that production going to exploit it. So that's what brought me in as geodesic dome is because this is how do you do more with less and I did find out how to then closed space since that time. There are now over somewhere around 300,000 geodesic domes around the world. They're in all the most difficult place. It went over the South Pole. We were nothing else would do. We have a big races station down there. I have one on top of Mount Fuji so strong they can take all the great hurricanes and and weather snow loads so delicate, let's see microwaves who has a weather radar so light that went up with one helicopter and it holds on Like an Eagle learn nothing else to do it and I my experience in logistics is that time is very very great man. My job actually engineering is very great. Ten years ago during these years. I've kept very accurate curves of all increases capabilities in the various Technologies and chemistries and Metallurgy and so forth Electronics by nine by ten years ago. I was able to say engineering ride by Straight damaged bicycle design. That was now clearly feasible it with a design Revolution taking all the metals were wasting in the all the homicides over could within 10 years would be possible to have all Humanity living the highest and living anybody ever known on a completely sustainable basis crowds during that ten years. We can phase out forever all further use of fossil fuels and atomic energy. We can live entirely and our energy income. I've been able to make that as a public statement. You don't make such a state of not getting checked up. Some possibly many hundreds really are capable people have checked in find these figures are correct. There are over four billion people. What I now know is something you never could have known before because we didn't have the technical capability until down. This is a curve increase tensile strength went from I go back to that figures. I give you a hundred ten thousand tends to the steel in World War One 350,000 for Chrome nickel Steel World War II today during our space programs are doing 600,000 pounds eat at little bicycle pedaling across the channel the other day with materials and 600,000 pounds per square inch tensile strength the doing more with less than continually in these materials, which people can't see if an 99% a man doesn't understand this technology. They don't realize what kind of option I'm now going to tell you and now know we have the option to make it and now The mouse was it wrong. I know it does not have to be you or me. But how do we get him and to know that because this is an invisible reality very difficult. Bring this home to humanity. They tend to think of Technology as sort of an enemy something new. They connect it on Earth weapons Machinery to compete for the jobs. So think they don't want it. So option is is simply to using the technology of universe that is there and use it properly. This is we now know have the option then I became astonished to discover with I published a great deal and I have very I am a Scientist and I do have sorry. I'm speaking of great Authority and to find them that all great government which is built on a series of which how do you cope with not enough? All the great religions are big business would find it absolutely devastating to the activity to have him and his success all predicated on him and Amy fail it. Each one says join our party to take care of little better. Oh, man. I can't really take care all together, but I don't even much better chance outside. I'll get you into have it now and right here. We are then against the greatest Rana impasse of the all the conditioned reflex is how you solve problems under the condition than enough to go around and he's going to be greedy with suffering. Fortunately, we have a young world coming along and he said every I was born and and with the radio misinformation out eight years, I've been told my first eight years is inherently impossible man to fly Wireless. How crazy can you get there said we'd never get the North Pole never got the South Pole as 14 and get the north 416 to get the Southpaw all the things that was brought up could never be done of all happened. So I find then each child being born the president less misinformation is child being born the president's successively more reliable information. So there's coming through developing now beginning really new generation. I want to give you a very critical thing that happened I have such little time but we have answer but logically throughout all history mother carrying a child could not cover as much geography is a male. The male is a hunter and she was a consolidator the gains around the house. The parents were the absolute Authority is to their children about what you can eat and what you can't eat and what the king says you can do and so forth and we have yeah, he was however also because he covered my geography he brought home the news so he not only Authority because the news and that is language would rape or but that's that is its artist or the kids emulated way. He said it so this brought about many dialects in different languages. Suddenly 1927. All the dad is coming home one night and her kids said Daddy come in this the radio man's fly across the Atlantic. That's at what Daddy never brought home the news ever again. You realize that this is an incredibly important changing factor in history because because Dad and Mom were the authority and they saw that kid saw down in mom listening to the man on the radio and running across the street telling the people with a man the radio said quite clearly dad and mom made the people in the radio little more without and they were there for the kids. Now the people got the jobs and the radio guarded by virtue of the commonality of their addiction and pronunciation and the size of vocabulary and they've missed out in using it. So the set of the kids being they now said the authority says it this way. So this change the whole speech pattern America very heart of unless you're my age to realize how the really has changed the average work when I was young at about vocab about a hundred words, 50% Blasphemous and obscene and and that all changed completely like I've been around the world Now 46 sound all around the world people have most beautiful camera. We really can communicate to one another we Mostly blasted and right wrong. The speed of sound is 700 miles an hour speed a radiation 700 million miles an hour sound only works in our atmosphere, but we get from came and television came along 1960 after World War Two. Brought about completed condition where you got million times the information with you with the eyes that you could get with your ears and came right from all around the universe had all the dissenters in 1966 at the University that particular group of made the first news and Berkeley asked me to come speak with them. They were born the year. The television came in the American home. All those kids were saying to me because I'm at I'm now been over 550 universe and colleges around the world as I guess on their own invitation and those kids all were saying to me we know dad and mom loved us to Pieces. We love them to Pieces but they don't know what's going on. They have nothing to do is going on the world is in trouble. I personally was brought up in an era when my mother my father died, very young my mother and my school teacher ever say darling. Never mind Richard think listen. We're trying to teach you is working you something older people. The kids did not have any any real good thinking capability. I was told get oversensitivity life is very top. You've got to have to deprive somebody else. You're going to make a living for your family. As I said son is the Young World sank. The all over the world is in trouble. They have a getting news with the whole world. They're compassionate with people in trouble anywhere around the world, and they were saying Dan mom preoccupied with the shoe stores. Oh, I got to do my own thinking so since 1962. We have a young world is doing it on thinking very idealistic Lee was enormously exploited by by the warring Russia nine states that 200 been in here about 20 million going into cycle. Guerrilla warfare how to break down the other man's economy forget to the war and I explore these kids tremendously. They suddenly found that they're using the heads for a battering ram instead of the thinking's as well use my head for. Thank you. They develop an immunity that show you there is coming along now Young World in which is Jose not missing for him thinking about total world. I found them all of them on the following basis there. They all realize that we have only one spaceship earth. We will as we have a hundred fifty Supreme animals in one ship. We have each one of those animals trying to pretend his stateroom is a ship. We have the starboard side trying to sink the port side other side of successful. We were buddies lost quite clearly. We're in a world where the metals are used to think we're going to use up like enough vegetables began to recirculate. We're now at a point where don't even have to do any more mining the metals come around every 22 years and we keep loading them up with high and high performance every time about them. Huh. Take care more people with very very new point where we have a going to have to get rid of a hundred fifty Nation to probably have to go within the next 10 years of humanity probably won't stay in our planet and that's not gonna be an easy thing to accommodate but that's the kind of thing that women's Democratic Club could really address and begin to accommodate ourselves that thinking and right at Young World understands that a so it relies it 150 Nations represent blood clots in a recirculating of metal surfaces. Everything we have is now recirculating it's going to have to be We're going to have to beat everybody and nobody on a planet very very quickly. I'm going to I've been a student for 52 years. I've been thinking Italian terms of total planet that I took my Navy training when you think about total 3/4 a cup of water and I said, I'm going to be concerned from 1927 on only with total Planet total resources total know how and total and how to how to cope with with it on behalf of all humanity and I saw it would not be political would be in developing environment control versus you and I all 50% water water freeze involvement is very small limits when outside by biosphere rather freeze to death of world right over. What would it re? We don't realize how tremendously control my environment so that valving a round metal artifacts like the geodesic normal really be able to get very deeply into bringing to Bear the high technical advantage to meet Leon the on the home life now, I'd like to in the four minutes now left review something has happened that is in your political world. I was I was see where the great crash and I try and I was 34 years of age. We were very very very rapidly. We have immediately after the American Revolution. We have Alexander Hamilton. Arguing with the Congress that was not the intention of those signed the Declaration that the government so far and we're going to have any Capital capability said wealth is something belongs to private individuals and that's all great great landowners. They had Washington Jefferson were great landowners. So sometimes an argument was became successful we have from that point on concept or wealth or something very mysterious that blocked in certain people hand. There was no it's a poker game where he didn't have to pay any hands down not until we came to the to the great crash in 1929 when people in putting money in the banks of those rich people feel necessary supplies, and it turned out that the the bank's determine using people's deposits. There was no money and we came to normos crash. We're not together economy going again. It meant that we the people had a bounty the MAC Conference when we really socialize the Roosevelt administration realize that America didn't like the word socialism didn't tell you something wrong about that. So that what they did instead of socializing the people versus ocean Isaac Prime contractors were necessary for the National Defense decides to socialize of the steel that electricity whatever it might be and did it by giving them more orders then with orders and they could borrow from the banks Etc and got the thing rolling. But if we this have been his form of hidden socialism much more social life than Russians then right with that we had to have all rent controlled price control. Absolutely. Absolutely freezing and everything Cut Bank interest down to one half percent etcetera. After all, this is over we find the lawyers of Wall Street said you wouldn't be there weren't many lawyers. If you didn't have money. They socialist countries wouldn't have any lawyers. So we really have an unconscious lawyers conspiracy build up to how do we going to break this logjam? They were able to get Eisenhower after World War one and got him as president immediately said to mr. President realize all your you're winning this wall is because great private Enterprise America's private Enterprise. So cut loose all cut. All price controls rent control cut everything. They then range the can take all of the largest corporation in America out of America while they left in the names of people didn't realize what's going on. And I found an 80s year. We also had a codicil it said if there is one of the American corporation passing the country to be helped the money must be spent through that Corporation. So we the people with on foreign aid paid for the moving of the largest corporation in America to build the plants. It's over then they negotiated that in the gold and pull the gold out of them. I think that all the gold out there and tell mr. Nixon cut loose and go from the gala. And so that's all been honest. You know, then right we have What people don't understand in America is that America has been actually robbed of the power that it wants happen? What's y'all realize that something going on trips like this latest energy gasps trouble. We all know that the assembly stop refining when the should have been producing the gas and then why was this because the Rural America paid for the development of atomic power sighing was Franklin Roosevelt his mmm. He put aside 80 billion for the the Manhattan Project around 75 million more got in that somewhere around a hundred fifty billion went into development of atomic power and we have then Eisenhower also and being told this is America is private Enterprise private Enterprise. We must give up all Navy yard's must give up all government operations. This must be turned over to the to the private corporations so that we have big oil knowing it was going to run out of oil some day then only its atomic energy and been counting on atomic energy and things began to go. So messy by the time we energy not only with three mile deal in Pennsylvania, but discovering the weather said They assigned us and not allowed for earthquakes and said never be an earthquake in Maine the Senate we had one within a couple of miles of the platter, Wiscasset, Maine. So everything was going against Atomic power. I'm quite confident. The present energy squeeze is simply to get many people saying we need to have energy let that end. The atomic comes through Assembly say do I know we can live on our energy income and atomic energy is burning up a chef is a capital account for the petroleum is a savings account as Nature's savings account for a very important some time about 10 billion years from now. This is where it's supposed to be a star and as we've been collected here. Anyway, let me say to you as as ladies, I would Democratic world. I have to get Humanity condition for being all or everybody and nobody on a single family world, but you don't have to understand it. What I told you today, which is the terms of the reality of capability where we have money has now been this actually divorced from from the real wealth is a game of money and make money but I say when I take care of all your man to house and then we have 4 billion billionaires and a planet with the probating been cut off of that will but we can realize that but you have a whole lot to really go on technically we can have this we can have it if this young world has its strengths and I think it will I'm getting letters from ten and eight eight and ten-year-old kids. I don't know how they found my name. They were born after man got to the moon and they're saying Humanity can do anything needs to do. Why don't we make this thing work? So there's a one Young World coming through and I understand the Congress had really getting average age younger and younger and I simply hope you will do everything you can to see that what the young people are thinking. It's got to be win one world and not a nobody. Thank you. The hostess is well bring the questions up as soon as you have them written is solar power possible. That is solar power feasible for everyone. I like to answer that very abruptly. I World 200 million square miles 100 million always in the Sun that much fear about 10 miles deep. We have 1 billion cubic miles always in the sun and the other in the in the shadow and the great pressure differential in the sun is all it. And Miss fear expanding and the Shadows are this brings about normos pressure differential brings about all the winds as navy Department says there no source of power on a planet like the wind. This is the first wind is the First Solar battery. Then the wind moves all those waves and 3/4 is covered with water all the waves crashing everywhere. This is SunPower. We have then all the vegetation is all beautiful solar cells during World War 1 12 or to the Grand strategy against Hitler was to cut out his energy. We finally cut off all these petroleum. We cut off all of his Rubber and so the German scientists went to work and start with vegetation and would technology. They brought all the vegetation to Four kinds of alcohol. They then rented the buhner as rubber there's an article to time this week telling saying that we did this here absolute of life was done in Germany and I was in broader economic welfare in the alternate materials on the top committees and then Had all this secret information in America and write the Germans did everything out of out of alcoholism vegetation. They did not get licked on on energy. They got elected by actually overpowering of the of the military force Now in America, we could not take care of both the high-octane gas for all about airplane bombing and are synthetic rubber programs. We had as I'm that 604 to so secretly really very secretly. We took a Cuban sugar. We took the grains and so for made alcohol, all of our rubber was made out of alcohol when the war was over they shut them down just like that but petroleum wasn't allowed to be known during during World War Two as and economic welfare. As I said had mechanical engineer and open Bureau standards three engines if Chevrolet a fort and a Plymouth we ran them for two years and alcohol ran Ranch better than gasoline, very small carburetion discourage these kind of things are not even mildly told Republic and right this is solar power. We have nothing but solar power all these things apart vegetation solar power. Nothing could be more practical to get into these little solar cells is kind of idea big business like that because they can manufacture something they can sound but big government government and big business a anyway, they put meters between you and the Sun.

Funders

Digitization made possible by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission.

This Story Appears in the Following Collections

Views and opinions expressed in the content do not represent the opinions of APMG. APMG is not responsible for objectionable content and language represented on the site. Please use the "Contact Us" button if you'd like to report a piece of content. Thank you.

Transcriptions provided are machine generated, and while APMG makes the best effort for accuracy, mistakes will happen. Please excuse these errors and use the "Contact Us" button if you'd like to report an error. Thank you.

< path d="M23.5-64c0 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.2 -0.1 0.1-0.1 0.1-0.2 0.1 -0.1 0.1-0.1 0.3-0.1 0.4 -0.2 0.1 0 0.2 0 0.3 0 0 0 0.1 0 0.2 0 0.1 0 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.2 0 0.4-0.1 0.5-0.1 0.2 0 0.4 0 0.6-0.1 0.2-0.1 0.1-0.3 0.3-0.5 0.1-0.1 0.3 0 0.4-0.1 0.2-0.1 0.3-0.3 0.4-0.5 0-0.1 0-0.1 0-0.2 0-0.1 0.1-0.2 0.1-0.3 0-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.2 0-0.1 0-0.2 0-0.3 0-0.2 0-0.4-0.1-0.5 -0.4-0.7-1.2-0.9-2-0.8 -0.2 0-0.3 0.1-0.4 0.2 -0.2 0.1-0.1 0.2-0.3 0.2 -0.1 0-0.2 0.1-0.2 0.2C23.5-64 23.5-64.1 23.5-64 23.5-64 23.5-64 23.5-64"/>