About

Our Worldview

Introduction

A perpetual work-in-progress, this website promotes the development of activist communities whose members: 

  • Embrace a holistic, systemic worldview that counters the dominant culture’s reduction of human beings and the natural world into objects to be exploited for selfish gain.

  • Affirm the long-term transformation of America into a compassionate community rooted in co-equal partnerships dedicated to serving humanity, the environment, and life itself.

  • Focus on short-term achievable goals, including new public policies, that move in this direction. 

  • Commit to undoing oppressive dominate-or-submit social conditioning. 

  • Set aside time regularly to support each other with this self-reform. 

The need for this kind of community is clear. Nevertheless, so far as we know, no such community exists. If you know of a community that meets these criteria, please let us know (you can use the Comment form below). If and when we learn of such a community, we’ll list it under Systemic/Activists. In the meantime, this website will continue to promote the many promising seeds that are being planted. 

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Barack Obama said: “In all of us, there’s a longing to do what is right, in all of us there’s a willingness to love all people and extend to them their God-given rights to dignity and respect. So many of us lose that sense. It’s taught out of us. We start feeling as if, in fact, we can’t afford to extend kindness or decency to other people, that we’re better off if we’re above other people and looking down on them. And so often that’s encouraged in our culture.” He’s also referred to oppressive actions as efforts to “claim status.”

Alicia Garza reported, "A woman said I don't control the channel changer in my house.… I've got to change conditions in my house, I've got to change conditions in my neighborhood, I've got to change conditions where I work." 

Valarie Kaur affirms: “We are reclaiming love as a force for justice. Grieving together is revolutionary love. Holding each other in our rage is revolutionary love. Listening to each other is revolutionary love. Reimagining the country together is revolutionary love. As well as the big acts of policy demands, all of that is part of an ecosystem of a vibrant movement espousing the ethic of love…. But many young activists are dying early or taking their lives or getting sick or opting out. We’re not building enough spaces to help each other love ourselves. How many of us are tempted to mirror the kind of vitriol we are fighting.”

In his campaign for President, to a degree unusual for a presidential candidate, Joe Biden frequently referred to America’s belief that everyone is created equal and should be treated with respect throughout their life. After his inauguration, during a virtual swearing-in ceremony for hundreds of new government employees, Biden made it clear he’s concerned about more than the political arena. He’s also concerned, for instance, about the workplace. He told these new workers, “I'm not joking when I say this: If you're ever working with me and I hear you treat another with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot.… We have to restore the soul of this country, and I'm counting on all of you to be part of that.” 

Also encouraging is the response to Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old who presented the inaugural poem and affirmed the importance of compassionate mutual support for self-development throughout society. She declared: 

We lay down our arms
So we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew,
That even as we hurt, we hoped,
That even as we tired, we tried,
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious…
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
In every known nook of our nation.

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However, contrary to these ideals, power struggles are common. Even routine decisions, like which path to take on a walk, are a bone of contention. Individuals climb social ladders, seek more power or money, and try to dominate, or they submit and become resentful or worship those with more power. Individuals seek status and a sense of superiority — like when they give unsolicited advice. Team members become selfish, which hurts the team’s performance. 

Dogmas and ideologies rationalize unjustified concentrations of power. Corporations and pop psychology gurus get people to conform to established power, put on a happy face, and suppress negative feelings — to the point they lose touch with what’s real. The natural desire for a sense of competence becomes distorted into selfish ambition and cold competition. 

People claim status over those they consider inferior based on skin color or other arbitrary traits. Activists become judgmental and scapegoat “enemies.” Activist organizations compete with each other, neglect the formation of alliances, become frozen in ideology, and manipulate members by selectively distributing appreciations, awards, certificates, and other rewards. 

Many people still believe Father Knows Best. Teachers focus on the one-way transmission of information, teach to the test, and neglect peer learning. Oppressive parents try to shape their children in their own image. Bosses treat workers like disposable cogs in a machine. Wealthy elites seek more money as a way to keep score. Politicians are most concerned about winning the next election. The dominant society defines leadership as the ability to get others to do what the leader wants, domestically and in foreign affairs. Community organizations train members to train others to do what the leadership wants. 

Individuals become isolated. Conversations are a series of monologues. Mutual dialog and active listening are rare. Society teaches children they can be whatever they want to be and what’s most important is to get ahead. People believe they must take care of themselves before they care for others. Self-centeredness prevails. A constant question is: What’s in it for me? 

Society becomes fragmented, which undermines the development of strong, united, transformative grassroots movements. The Americans for Humanity website aims to counter this fragmentation and nurture the unity that’s needed to advance cooperation and transform our self-perpetuating social system.

The failure to cultivate healthy, holistic communities has contributed to the debilitating fragmentation that afflicts society. Arrogant assumptions of superiority and attempts to establish “power over” undermine the unity that’s needed to build massive, united, grassroots movements. Overcoming divisive dominate-or-submit tendencies with supportive, democratic communities is critical. This personal and social transformation can contribute to the transformation of our social system — holistic and systemic transformation.

To move in this direction, we must overcome arrogant, divisive, domineering tendencies. This growth requires mutual support. It’s not sufficient to rely on spontaneity and natural human support. Intentional commitment and lasting organized structures are also necessary. With strong, supportive communities, compassionate individuals can nurture respect, democracy, equality, and justice in every sector of society, including but not limited to the political sector. 

Activists grounded in these principles can build the political power needed to persuade elected officials to respect the will of We the People and adopt compassionate laws and regulations. Regardless of the political party in power, popular pressure is needed to achieve substantial, lasting progress. 

When activists encounter dogmatic opponents unwilling to compromise, they can confront the opposition fiercely and nonviolently — while trying to understand adversaries and remaining open to compromise and reconciliation, following acknowledgment of and apology for ethical violations as appropriate. They need not demonize their opponents. They can hate the sin but not the sinner.

Transforming our society will require a simultaneous, synergistic integration of multiple realities — an integration that results in balance. The personal and the political. The inner and the outer. The self and the other. Loving ourselves as we love others. Taking care of yourself as you take care of others. Materialism and spirituality. Body and soul. The abstract and the concrete. The symbolic and the literal. Chaos and order. The individual and community. Freedom and limits. The head and the gut. Fast thinking and slow thinking. The short-term and the long-term. Pragmatism and idealism. Both/and. Win-win. Competition and cooperation. Equality and diversity. Demands and compromise. Opposing oppressive domination and affirming justified domination. Opposing top-down hierarchies and affirming bottom-up hierarchies. Progress and constancy. “Liberal” and “conservative”. Nationalism and globalism. Exclusion and inclusion. Particular identities and universal, human identity. 

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Our social system consists of our institutions, our culture, and ourselves as individuals. This system — the System — conditions everyone to climb social ladders and look down on and dominate those below (and the natural world) — or submit to those above for selfish gain. This drive is the System’s primary mission, which affects every aspect of society. 

As discussed in Systemic/Problems and throughout the site, the System integrates society’s many systems into a single, self-perpetuating system. It poisons relationships and weakens organizations. The quest for oppressive domination is embedded throughout society and within individuals.

The solution requires setting aside selfishness and self-centeredness and learning how to respect others and share power. Individuals are not separate. We’re interwoven and interdependent. Compassionate, democratic communities are essential. 

Human beings are innately torn between fear that leads to hate and trust that leads to love. The System inflames fear and hate. Americans for Humanity nurtures trust and love.

The personal and the social are equally important. Neither one comes first.  They are interwoven. Merely trying to change the world can be liberating personally. Deep personal change nurtures deep social change. Dealing with the oppression of others requires dealing with our own desire to dominate. The more we change the world, the more we change ourselves. The more we change ourselves, the more we change the world. 

Humanity can meet the threats we face if we unite to promote respect, understanding, democratic equality, justice, economic security, co-equal partnerships, and collaborative leadership. A lasting transformation will be both systemic and holistic.

Systemic transformation will involve personal, social, institutional, environmental, and cultural change — deep improvements in how we, the people, treat each other and how we treat ourselves and the planet. This transformation involves structural reform — how we organize our activities throughout society.

Holistic transformation will affect the whole society and the whole person — who we are deep down, our spiritual health, how we live our daily lives. It requires individuals and communities to unlearn and undo divisive and domineering habits — and control the instinct to dominate or submit that the System inflames. It will cultivate holistic democracy throughout society.

This holistic worldview affirms the value of non-material, invisible, spiritual realities such as love, truth, justice, and beauty that are interwoven with material, visible, bodily realities. The spirit is necessarily enfleshed and the flesh is necessarily enspirited. Cultures and behavior are spiritual. Body and soul are one.

This spiritual dimension within our physical body is what makes humans unique, though different faiths interpret and express this reality in their own way. These differences can be complementary if individuals seek mutual understanding, see the potential of others, and pursue a common purpose.

Superficial points of attraction are a matter of taste. Factors like skin color, height, and weight perceived by our physical senses have nothing to do with character — though some people artificially connect them through myth or superstition. Differences can be complementary and synergistic if individuals seek mutual understanding.

Awareness of root causes can nurture unity and corrective action. The more Americans see clearly that they have in common the same root problem, a social system — the System — that divides and oppresses them, the more they can unite to address this problem, support each other with their self-development (focused on goals defined by each member), move in the same direction, connect with each other, form rich mutual relationships, attract others with contagious positive energy, and mobilize massive, effective, coordinated, sustained popular pressure for fundamental social change. 

If they adopt a new, collaborative definition of leadership, change how they treat each other and how they treat themselves, they can nurture caring communities and inspire others to participate in this transformation. While they focus on particular concerns, activists can also affirm deep transformation rooted in mutual support for self-development. 

A massive, united, nonviolent grassroots movement, perhaps called a holistic democracy movement, can help transform this nation into a compassionate community dedicated to humanity, the environment, and life itself. With a strong community foundation, activists can nurture respect and democratic equality throughout society and persuade elected officials to adopt new, compassionate laws and regulations. 

This shift is not complicated. Activists merely need to expand their mission to affirm comprehensive systemic change and set aside time regularly to support each other with their efforts to undo their dominate-or-submit social conditioning.

Divisive, self-seeking power struggles tear apart the social fabric — at home, at work, in the community, in the government, and between governments. This top-down dynamic produces widespread preventable death, needless suffering, and environmental destruction.

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Transforming the System requires establishing a new mission. Based on a certain set of principles, the Americans for Humanity Declaration proposes this mission: a commitment to “serve humanity, the environment, and life itself”. The other elements in the Declaration are goals that function as methods to help achieve this goal. Each Section of the site (see left sidebar) includes an Actions page that presents concrete steps that can be taken to help achieve these goals.  

Compassionate projects that focus on a specific goal can contribute to general transformation — even if the practitioners don’t affirm the general goal. Such projects can relieve suffering and improve living conditions. For this reason, this website includes information about such narrowly focused, single-issue projects and supports these efforts.

At the same time, we encourage these efforts to expand their goals by affirming fundamental goals like those expressed in Americans for Humanity: A Declaration. By placing their work within the context of a long-term, larger commitment, projects that are narrowly focused can cultivate a broad sense of community, help educate the general public, lay a foundation for lasting growth, and inspire some of those who are inactive with a “big vision”. 

Unfortunately, however, even in many well-intentioned projects, the desire to dominate and the willingness to submit are deeply embedded. Power trips proliferate. Co-equal partnerships and democratic communities are few and far between. Most Americans get stuck in a narrow focus, such as: What’s in it for me, my family, my people, my organization, or my nation? Or how can my tribe defeat the enemy? 

Activist organizations focus on trying to impact the outer world and neglect the inner world. Their members become too invested in exclusive identities,  a narrow perspective, and assume moral superiority. They don’t clearly encourage their members to support each other in efforts to examine their personal weaknesses, undo problematic conditioning, and learn to respect everyone’s equal intrinsic worth - though doing so would not have to be terribly time-consuming. In this way, they fail to promote holistic and systemic transformation. 

At the same time, personal growth and spiritual communities neglect or de-emphasize the need to impact the outer world. They reinforce myths such as “I have to change myself before I can change the world” or “I’m the only person I can change”. They forget that your effort to change the world changes you and human beings change each other. They don’t invite their members to provide mutual support for self-development with a commitment to undoing problematic conditioning and engaging in political action to impact public policy. Nor do they encourage the growth of such communities elsewhere.

Americans For Humanity, however, integrates the personal and the political. We encourage political projects to embrace the personal, and we encourage personal projects to embrace the political. We aim to help transform the entire society. This effort requires a conscious effort to undo social conditioning.

The following steps could cultivate the unity that’s needed to grow compassionate communities and advance fundamental transformation. Like-minded individuals could:

  • Adopt a statement that affirms systemic transformation, compassion, democratic equality, mutual support for self-development, and undoing oppressive conditioning.

  • Collect endorsements for this statement.

  • Open their meetings with a “check-in” during which individuals report on their recent self-development efforts.

  • Form a  loose-knit network of endorsers to promote these principles

  • Gather regularly to celebrate efforts to promote partnerships.

  • Push Congress to adopt measures that are endorsed by a strong majority of Americans. 

Americans for Humanity: A Declaration is offered as an example of the kind of statement that could focus a project like this. Others are encouraged to take this declaration, use it, modify it, or start from scratch to compose a new statement of goals that could help organize a holistic, activist project. 

In the meantime, we encourage readers to use the Comment Form to sign Americans for Humanity: A Declaration. Soon we’ll invite all signers to communicate with each other to explore possible horizontal collaboration.

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As conceived here, the transformation envisioned by this Declaration will involve holistic and systemic transformation. This website presents resources — goals, methods, ideas, and information — that can contribute to this transformation.

In the left sidebar, “Goals” includes content that elaborates on the site’s goals and the methods proposed to achieve them. 

“Front Matter” presents the Preface and Introduction.

Under “Sections” are links to resources that address all sectors of society. The Systemic Section addresses how issues are systemically interrelated. The Multi-sector Section presents resources that focus more or less equally on more than one issue. Resources that focus primarily on one issue are included in one of the next six Sections. 

The “Index” in the right sidebar presents the issues that the site addresses.

The first page of each Section includes an Overview that defines the section’s content. At the bottom, there’s a NEXT link to the Problems page that addresses issues associated with the section. At the bottom of the Problems page is a NEXT link to the Solutions page, which includes a NEXT link to the Overview for the following Section. Clicking on NEXT at the bottom of each page moves the reader through each Section in a sequence that provides a summary of the site’s worldview.

Below the NEXT link is a list of the Section’s subsections: Problems, Solutions, Actions, and Resources. The Actions page presents concrete steps, including Adaptive Actions, individuals and organizations can take to relieve suffering, nurture self-improvement, and/or reform social conditions. The Resources page presents ideas and information that readers can use and/or share to improve understanding of issues. These resources include one or more of the following:

  • Activists

  • Advocates/Services

  • Articles/Essays/Op-ed

  • Books 

  • Film

  • Video

  • Podcasts

  • Quotes

The wedsite’s top horizontal navbar includes:

  • Actions — another path to the same actions linked in each Section.

  • What’s New — information about significant recent additions to the site.

  • Subscribe — a form to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

  • Dialog — interactions with readers.

  • About — information about the staff and advisors.

  • Contact — a form to send the staff a message.

  • Search — a form to search the site for specific content.

Your suggestions for changes or additions to the site and your words of support via a Comment Form at the bottom of each page or the Contact link would be greatly appreciated. If we pull together in the same direction, progress and eventual transformation are possible.