Fuller's folding/unfolding global data displayWhat I like about our plastic money system (Visa etc.) is it provides a shared currency without making anyone salute another system's presidents, queens or whatever. You can be as pro-queen as the Queen herself, use a Visa card, and still feel like a sovereign.
People may imagine clusters of skyscrapers, when they think of some core management, but as Dee Hock explains, Visa is really chaordic. Like, my gunch.net home page has linked to the Chaordic Commons for years now (check archive.org).
Likewise, my philosophy of education is about increasing our inventory of memetic amplification tools, the stuff of PR firms: multi-track editing machines, cheap and usable computers. You're not buying into a monolithic imperialism here, but a way to make waves while rooting in your own tradition as deeply as you feel led.
Are you a wannabe orthodox something-or-other? Go for it. Be a hard-liner. Strut your stuff. We'll try to tune you in over the incoherent noise some kick up, with their inferior outward weaponry.
And so I think Buckminster Fuller was interested in tossing out (as in sharing) some great toyz, but not in being too control freaky about how we might use them. A nationless map would be a good thing to have in inventory, certainly, especially in light of its high tech hexapent flavor.
But he wasn't imposing that toy on all of us, saying "thou shalt not play the game of nations at war". No, he was leaving it up to some subcultures to so command and control themselves. For these semi-autonomous subcultures, a nationless map might prove eye-opening, a way of clearing away the clutter to really focus on the behind-the-scenes networking.
That game with the flags was always a bit of a shell game anyway, superseded or at least conjoined by games with corporate logos (e.g. Visa). Strategy: use symbols that command loyalty, in ways that get people motivated to fight on your side.
I do it too, gnu math recruiter that I am (somewhat unorthodox). My favorite brands resonate with subliminal messages for an attainable Kingdom, a Promised Land. We compete effectively with many other siren song singers, all prophesying alternative ways ahead.
Yes, the positive futurism we craft is supposed to be tempting. We're good at PR. Now, help yourself to the goodies.
