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I’m determined to persist with this project full-time pro bono. The unique Compassionate Humanity Community website fills a void and could help overcome widespread fragmentation and improve our society fundamentally and thoroughly. Toward this end, I’ll continue to share discoveries on Resources, Daily Reflections, and What’s New.

Over the years, many people have assisted with this work in progress. If you want to help improve the website or enhance this project in another way, let's discuss possibilities. Regardless, your feedback is always welcome.

“The Essential Skills for Being Human”

The most encouraging recent cultural moment is the release of David Brooks’ book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. On October 19, he previewed it with an extended essay in The New York Times titled “The Essential Skills for Being Human.” Brooks presents many methods for enriching conversations. I shared his essay with several individuals, and the response was robust. When my monthly spiritual support group discussed it, the dialog was rich. The book is a Times bestseller, moving up the Amazon Charts. Months ago, during a discussion of his book Why Can't We Be Good? Jakob Needleman said a “listening movement” could usher in major social change. An emerging cultural revolution may be realizing his dream. [Read his essay here]

“Justice By Means of Democracy: A Review” 

In her magnificent magnum opus, Justice by Means of Democracy, Danielle Allen affirms egalitarianism and criticizes domination. She proposes a “power-sharing liberalism” rooted in “difference without domination” and applies her analysis to politics, the economy, and the rest of society. Nevertheless, her analysis fails to address the need to undo oppressive social conditioning.

Allen affirms the development of 

citizens’ ability to adopt habits of non-domination in their ordinary interactions with one another.… This would permit us to establish a virtuous cycle linking political, social, and economic domains in support of the kind of human flourishing that rests on autonomy, both private and public.

It’s rare for a political scientist to pay attention to interpersonal relationships as an element in integrative social change, as does Allen. 

[You can read my constructive criticisms and comment on the post here.]

“The Willingness to Submit”

For some time, I’ve focused on how society fosters the “willingness to submit” (as it inflames the “desire to dominate.”) The mainstream media, talking heads, and activist organizations rarely address this issue, so I recently decided to try to articulate a clear, accessible understanding of it. After weeks of research and writing drafts, I think I cracked the nut and composed an important treatise. You can read it and comment here.



New Homepage

As I constantly reconsider and modify my thinking, I occasionally edit the homepage. At the top left, I recently placed:

Our Mission: 

• Reform the Top-Down System into a Bottom-Up System.
• Serve humanity, the environment, and life itself.
• Undo oppressive domination and blind submission.

This formulation reflects my decision that we need not transform the System entirely into something totally new. Instead, we can reform our Top-Down System into a Bottom-Up System.

At the top right, I’ve placed:

Our Methods:

• Support each other with self-development and political action.
• Address the whole person and the whole society.
• Promote synergistic, mutually reinforcing change throughout society.

This formulation explains “holistic and systemic change,” the site’s tagline.

The top also includes the beautiful globe image Sara Colm created for us, and below that content are the two “The Problem” and “The Solution” diagrams that Bernhard Possert created and I edited. They visualize the project’s systemic analysis.

Job Title/Description

Thanks to some recent generous donations and one $200 monthly pledge, I’m planning to hire someone to help with the website and asked ChatGPT, “I want to compose a Job Title and Job Description for a part-time assistant who will help me with data entry and data cleanup on the Resources listed on our website. Can you help me compose this title and description?” My edit of their extensive response is here. Feel free to apply if you can work in person with me in San Francisco. Also, please spread the word.

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