Our Worldview
Holistic and Systemic Transformation
Our institutions, communities, families, cultures, social structures, and ourselves as individuals are woven together into a single self-perpetuating system — the System. This system permeates every aspect of our lives. Society teaches individuals, groups, organizations, and nations to seek status, wealth, and power to dominate and exploit the less powerful — and submit to the more powerful — for selfish gain. Economic insecurity pushes people to be self-centered. The pressure to conform is immense. Many are forced to submit.
If people feel more secure, they’re more inclined to be compassionate. They care for themselves so they can better care for others. They balance being self-centered and other-centered. They avoid both selfishness and self-sacrifice. They care about others and the environment and want to do what’s right. They want to improve themselves and their lives — and maybe move up into better-paying jobs. With economic and physical security, they’re better able to live good, comfortable, meaningful, and ethical lives.
Given widespread insecurity or hopelessness, however, some inflame fears and manipulate others. Compassion is suppressed, and people become heavily self-centered. Social conditioning buttresses oppressive hierarchy, domination, and submission. We learn to measure success by wealth, status, and power and view those lower on the social scale as inferior. We win; others lose. Our success depends on their failure. Society encourages us to win, gain more power for personal gain, and be dominant.
It's time to break free from this toxic cycle and transform the System, ourselves included. We can stop perpetuating a system that thrives on extreme inequality, oppressive domination, and blind submission. We can boost other-centeredness and recognize we're all interconnected. Our fates are intertwined, and we're all responsible for shaping our world.
We need to reject oppressive social hierarchies and cultivate compassionate cooperation throughout society. We need to set aside the idea that some are superior and others are inferior — and recognize the inherent worth and dignity of every human being.
So let's speak up, stand up, and take action. Let's challenge the System wherever we encounter it, whether it's in our institutions, our cultures, or within ourselves. Let's be agents of change and work towards a world that gives everyone access to necessities, dismantles oppression, and replaces unjustified submission with mutual empowerment. Let's be the change we want to see in the world and strive toward a better future together.