Bucky Was Right . . . Vonnegut Too
Our leaders have stopped inspiring our future
Mycellium of the Cosmos
It’s time for our leaders, of every party, to look to the future and to take BIG SWINGS.
Dictators and fascists can only be countered with an idealistic, optimistic, assertive, and enthusiastic democracy.
To appropriate a quote from a New Hampshire hero and an Abenaki icon, General John Stark “Live Free or Die” to which I would add - Choose One.’
"Recently, at the No Kings Rally in Littleton, NH, I was chatting with a fellow protester who remarked on the scarcity of young people in attendance. That conversation has haunted me since then as I have continued to think about the challenges before us. In short it seems that the commitment of young people to democracy is at an all time low.
A recent Harvard University Poll found the following:
More than 4 in 10 young Americans under 30 say they're "barely getting by" financially, while just 16% report doing well or very well;
Fewer than half feel a sense of community, with only 17% reporting deep social connection;
Just 15% believe the country is heading in the right direction, and fewer than one-third approve of President Trump or either party in Congress;
Traditional life goals are shifting, with only 48% of young Americans saying having children is important;
Young people who became socially isolated during COVID report higher rates of depression, especially those who were entering high school or college during the pandemic;
Support for U.S. involvement abroad remains low—and sharply divided by party;
Only 19% trust the federal government to do the right thing most or all the time.
Together, these findings paint a picture of a generation that feels disconnected from institutions, uncertain about the future, and skeptical that current leadership works in their interest.
For those who jump to the age-old question “What’s wrong with our young people?” Let me state emphatically: It’s not their fault - it’s ours.
For decades we have nourished an environment that has led to a new generation gap of cynical, short-sighted, cravenly opportunistic young people without hope for the future; and, as if to bring balance to the equation, a generation of older cravenly opportunistic plutocrats used the opportunity to transfer the wealth of the younger generations to their own accounts.
Let’s start with the Zombie Party - formerly known as Republicans.
It used to be that you could always find elected members of both parties who were unafraid to speak out, even if it put their seats at risk.
It used to be that there were elected and up-and-coming Republicans who put forth bold ideas for tackling difficult challenges. Teddy Roosevelt - for all his personal failings (and I could say this about any elected leader - including myself) turned around a country plunging into Plutocracy by taking on the Monopolists and Trusts. He virtually launched the American Conservation movement. You name the national park and chances are that TR was involved; but he - and Gifford Pinchot - also came out of retirement, more than 10 years later, to help save the National Forest movement, The Weeks Act”, the environmental movement that spoke directly to the working class and responsible forestry practices, just when it was on the brink of failure.
Richard Nixon (see above!) Gave us the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act, and came within a few votes of passing a law that created a Universal Basic Income. . . and that just scratches the surface of Nixon’s accomplishments.
Think of Jack Kemp who worked tirelessly to advocate for ways to economically empower poor and working-class Americans. Mark Hatfield of Oregon remains a household name in his beloved state, decades after his service, when people recall that he spoke for the common man and woman, both as Governor and US Senator.
So on to the Democrats: so afraid to say something wrong that they choose to say nothing at all.
These two parties together form the vanguard of the Walking Dead Carnival of Clowns.
The MAGA Republicans continue to eat the Democrats who calmly march into their arms.
They have - together - created what I call “the Carlinization of political thought”. That’s right. Named after one of the most beloved and reviled comedians of the 20th Century, George Carlin.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am firmly in the camp of those who loved George Carlin. He got it right far more often than he got it wrong when it came to social commentary. His commentary on religion, free speech, and the hypocrisy of various political figures, as well as the absurd euphemisms employed to soften the blow of traumatic conditions and events was usually right on point.
But Carlin held out very little hope for overcoming the problems that he joked about.
It makes for great comedy, but the cynicism borders on pathological.
Short of a competing narrative, it becomes an event horizon for a black hole of pessimism. A black hole where far too many of us are victims, with no personal responsibility for enlightenment and self-correction.
For whatever reason, perhaps because they fear being seen as “spaceshots” They just don’t seem to dream of a better future.
Back when I was first getting involved in politics, in college, both Republicans and Democrats referred to Governor Jerry Brown by the pejorative “Governor Moonbeam”. Four decades of experience have proven him right on almost every cause he championed.
Our leaders have ceased trying to inspiring our future.
As a young man, R. Buckminster Fuller and Kurt Vonnegut were among my cultural heroes. Even now, they inspire and give me reason to hope. Though their voices seem hollow echoes from the past.
For as long as I can remember, Vonnegut had a bee in his bonnet about how and why our leaders had stopped dreaming. He spent much of the last years of his life talking about the need for a “Secretary of the Future” in the Cabinet. Vonnegut wanted a voice in the cabinet that would be thinking about the ramifications of today’s decisions with respect to the dynamic world in which we live.
I had an opportunity to speak with Vonnegut about this when I was fortunate enough to sit with him at his table the year he received the Roger Baldwin award for Free Speech from the Massachusetts Civil Liberties Union. That evening, I felt my Alice squeeze my hand as he spoke of leaders who had inspired him in his life, who had used the possibilities of the future as a rallying point for bringing people of diverse interests and opinions together. She knew he was singing my song.
One of those leaders was R. Buckminster Fuller.
Fuller was among history’s greatest thinkers and contrarians; expelled twice from Harvard, essentially for not being properly deferential to professors and administrators - Bucky didn’t suffer fools quietly.
Inventor of the Geodesic Dome and the Diaxion home; coiner of terms like “Spaceship Earth”, and author of “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, “Bucky” marched to his own drummer throughout his life. He was among the most brilliant architects, systems theorists, writers, designers, inventors, philosophers, and futurists of the 20th Century.
For many, his was one of the greatest minds and most admired intellects of his time. He was the first intellectual “rock star” of his time. It seems almost comical that many folks referred to him as “Bucky” especially those who most adored him.
Now, think back on the greatest leaders of the past fifty years who lived with both feet planted on firm ground but reached for the stars and urged us to do likewise:
John Kennedy unilaterally declared a Nuclear Test ban and challenged the Soviet Union to do the same. He then set us on a ten-year path to the moon.
Against all advice, his brother Bobby, who had travelled to the hate-filled country of South Africa to condemn Apartheid, asked all of us to take action that would create “Ripples of Hope” to sweep down the walls of oppression”;
On the day of MLK’s assassination, at a long-scheduled campaign stop in a largely African-American community in Indianapolis, RFK (SENIOR) haltingly and sadly informed them of the murder of Dr. King. To the large crowd of voters Bobby summoned up so much empathy and love that Indianapolis was one of the few major cities that did not burn that night.
Ronald Reagan - at a time we thought it impossible - challenged Mr. Gorbachev to “Tear Down this wall”. and George HW Bush helped to finally make it happen - peacefully and without malice - when the moment could have been ugly.
Bush Sr. later asked us to create a “Thousand Points of Light” to light a future where Americans reached out to one another and built communities and institutions that lifted us all up.
Years before, one of the very first female Episcopal priest, Pauli Murray, civil rights activist, advocate, legal scholar and theorist, and author influenced the civil rights movement and expanded legal protection for gender equality.
Marion Wright Edelman led Bobby Kennedy into the impoverished backwaters of Appalachia and established the Children’s Defense Fund;
Shirley Chisholm ran for President because “someone needed to be first so that others would feel empowered to follow.”
On the musical side of our lives Harry Chapin was declaring that “every day was world hunger day”, donating the proceeds of 1 of every 3 concerts he did to world hunger relief, always reminding us that hunger was a political problem not an issue of real scarcity.
In the “Hawk and the Eagle”, John Denver reverently brought a Lakota story to light when he sang
“Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Sail o'er the canyons and up to the stars
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
And all that we can be and not what we are.”
Sly stone was singing “We’ve got to live together” in his song “Every Day People.”
So now, circling back to Bucky Fuller. Ezra Klein’s new book “Abundance” can find the roots of it’s ideas and philosophy in the philosophy of R. Buckminster Fuller who devoted much of his work to maximizing design, comfort and affordability while minimizing the resource use required.
Fuller said: “If you take all the machinery and technology in the world and dump it in the ocean, within months more than half of all humanity will die and within another six months they'd almost all be gone; if you took all the politicians in the world, put them in a rocket, and sent them to the moon, everyone would get along fine.” R. Buckminster Fuller.
“ It’s time for our leaders, of every party, to look to the future and to take BIG SWINGS.
Dictators and fascists can only be countered with an idealistic, optimistic, assertive, and enthusiastic democracy.
To appropriate a quote from a New Hampshire hero and icon, General John Stark “Live Free or Die” to which I would add - Choose One.’ "
Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller
Harvard Youth Poll
https://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/50th-edition-spring-2025
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