On the subject of wealth

In my mid twenties, I discovered the work of R.Buckminster Fuller. His work became the map on which I have written my life. He writes,

“There’s a built-in resistance to letting humanity be a success. Each one claims that their system is the best one for coping with inadequacy. We have to make them all obsolete. We need to find within technology that there is something we can do which is capable of taking care of everybody, and to demonstrate that this is so. That’s what geodesic domes are about, and that’s what my whole life has been about.” R Buckminster Fuller

If we want to live in a world that enables humanity and life to thrive, then we need to change the cultural assumptions about some of our common words, such as wealth and success, and what they mean. For we know that the person with the most toys and money is rarely wealthy in their heart..or their health… or their relationships.

And I know that I feel incredibly wealthy, rich in so much, lacking in little, when many would judge me as otherwise.

The definition of wealth and success by using a comparison to money, accumulation, or the freedom to buy stuff, is so deeply limited, and in its very act removes our ability to see the enormous value that is all around us.

Imagine a company or enterprise that had as its core principle the commitment to wealth arriving at zero cost to you or yours, or the animals…anyone, anywhere…

Is that not what so many of us imagined as a child?

For those of you who consider this as real a conversation as one about the existence of Unicorns, Bucky also said…Dare to be naive. Or, our current model of wealth is terminally broken. Monetary wealth for a very small minority comes at the price of lack of monetary wealth and well-being for the majority.

There is enough to go around.

Photo credit: Elf-8 via Compfight