Page 135 - ECOlogic Book

Epilogue

Buckminster Fuller, the grandfather of the EAC, died in 1983. This April,
2009, Thomas Berry died. Both have left behind a significant legacy.
Fuller, with his consistent preference for “Livingry” over weaponry and his
inventive twang on everything, and Berry, who called himself a “Geologian”,
left us with a treasure chest of ecological wisdom, connecting our deepest
intuitions with the evolution of the cosmos and Planet Earth.

Every issue of ECOlogic carried the lifeblood of our mission, modeled by
these two giants:

Eco: Household, habitat or environment
Logic: The formal principles of a branch of knowledge
ECOlogic:
● the logic of the interrelationship of organisms and their environments
● the logic of a whole systems ethic
● the logic of diversity and the intrinsic value of each life form
● the logic of the human heart
● the logic of the continual renewal of the life cycles
● the logic of natural ecstasy
● the logic of a comprehensive reverence

Toward the end of 2008 the global economy collapsed. Verbal hand-
wringing filled the airwaves as we watched in horror while government
bailouts became the order of the day and individual portfolios took a
nosedive. Massive companies failed, and an epidemic of job-loss swept the
land. The Great Lakes Bioregion, heart of the auto industry, was hit hard, as
the manufacturing base that supported its economy disappeared. The
smoke and mirrors game of unlimited growth was over, and Toto pulled the
curtain away from the man we’d been told to pay no attention to.

The scrambling began. Nurseries sold out of vegetable stock as people
began growing their own food and community gardens sprang up
everywhere. Antique canning jars were recovered from root cellars and put
back in service, along with calls and emails to grandparents asking how you
do this. Car pooling became popular again and Cash for Klunkers was the
most successful government program ever launched.

Some have called this the time of reckoning (or the Great Comeuppance,
depending on your point of view). For many, the surprise is that it didn’t
happen sooner. For the first time in nearly a century, the veneer of
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