Sometimes it makes sense for one person to have power over another. Think about a parent stopping their child from running into a busy street, or everyone following traffic lights to prevent crashes. These are examples of helpful control that keeps people safe.
 

But power becomes harmful when people use it just to benefit themselves instead of helping others. This shows up in many ways:

• A boss who puts people down with disrespect to feel important

• Someone who won't listen to others and does most of the talking

• Using rules and paperwork to make others jump through hoops

• Politicians who make promises they don't plan to keep to get votes

• Taking advantage of people who can't fight back
   

On the flip side, some people give up their power when they shouldn't. This might look like:

• Worrying too much about what everyone thinks of you

• Going along with the crowd even when you know it's wrong

• Letting others make you feel bad about yourself

• Not standing up for what's right because you're afraid of getting in trouble
   

This website aims to help people recognize both problems. This website aims to help people recognize both issues. With the help of my team and an AI assistant called Claude, we aim to encourage people to stand up against the harmful use of power, stop giving away their power unnecessarily, and contribute to building a movement that changes existing systems and creates new ones where people can support one another's success.
 

We've organized our ideas into six chapters that affect everyone's daily life: Social, Personal, Cultural, Economic, Environmental, and Political. We also have a chapter called Systemic that shows how all these areas connect to create what we call the "Top-Down Machine" - a system where power flows from the top down and regular people have little say.
 

Each chapter starts with an explanation of the problems in that area, followed by real examples of people and groups who are working to make things better. These include community organizers, activists, teachers, business owners, workers and everyday citizens who care about treating others fairly and reducing suffering. Together, they form what we call the "compassionate humanity community."
 

The problem is that these good-hearted people often don't know about each other. They're scattered across different causes and locations. Many also struggle with self-doubt or fear, which weakens their ability to create change.
 

We believe these people could be much more effective if they worked together. They could support each other's efforts and agree on some basic principles about fairness and respect.
 

My team and I search for the best resources and most effective activists to feature in our Knowledge Base. While I make the final choices about our "top ten" lists, I welcome your suggestions for people or organizations to add or remove.
 

Our goal is to help build what we call a "Bottom-Up Community" - a network of people who support each other in creating positive change from the ground up. This community can serve as a counterweight to the Top-Down Machine, helping to spread power more fairly throughout society.