2024 and counting.
It's time to rescue our humanity.
Welcome!
May we pour you a cup of tea? For this is an oasis with a mission, custom-made for we the people to consider, with neighbors old and new, how best to solve our humanitarian and planetary challenges.
To plant our investigations on the fertile soil of open hearts and curious minds, we have selected three hundred of humanity’s most inspiring voices -- ancient and current -- to guide us in re-imagining our roles as change-maker for community, country, or planet.
To begin, we offer insight on our most crucial challenges: ending war, solving climate change, and saving democracy. From there, we shine a light on thirty of the world’s most respected non-profits and their compelling opportunities to participate in positive change.
Not least, we include our archive (begun in 1989) of empowering Commencement Speeches, as well as our initial blueprint for Peace Gatherings, designed to radically expand the understanding that ending war is not only necessary but also utterly possible.
May the insights and inspirations throughout this town meeting for the planet -- presented on the wings of essays, images, speeches, artwork, film, literature, poetry, and music -- move you to help fan the aspirational breezes of our shared humanity into winds of change we so urgently need.
We're glad you’re here. Let us together orchestrate a future that works for all sentient beings, that empowers succeeding generations with kindness, understanding, love, and deep respect for the enthralling and necessary variety of life on Earth.
~ Team Humanity
(Conrad, Jacqueline, Kylie and Tony -- fellow riders on Earth from three continents, building this grassroots revolution of good intent.)
Exploring humanity’s quest for lasting peace
War has shaped our history, but what if we could rewrite that narrative? We invite you to step beyond battlefields and explore the intricate threads of peacebuilding.
We the people! Not I the dictator.
“We think too much. We feel too little. More than machines, we need humanity!”
Would that each and every politician across the planet might well absorb Charlie Chaplin’s powerful exhortation to defend democracy as she or he seeks to parse truth from falsehood, to put principle over personal gain, we the people over I the dictator.
Climate-change insights from science, the arts, and policy
Earth’s climate is in flux. As global temperatures rise, weather patterns shift, and ecosystems respond, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment. We invite you to explore the science, impact, and urgency of climate change.
A Life on Our Planet
“We must re-wild the planet,” implores Sir David Attenborough.
The world is fortunate for the wise and heartfelt voice of this now 98-year-old naturalist, broadcaster and humanist. He not only clarifies Earth’s climate crisis; he also delineates clear solutions, as in his must-see film, A Life on the Planet.
He calls it his “witness statement," this sobering, necessary, yet hopeful investigation of the actions to which all of us now must commit minds and hearts in full measure.
Democracy awakened: navigating challenges, igniting change
In a world where democratic norms face unprecedented trials, we invite you to peel back the layers, revealing the intricate tapestry of governance, participation, and accountability.
What exactly is democracy?
"If you think democracy is some kind of inevitable, default setting for the world, then you aren't going to have it for very long." Yale University historian Timothy Snyder, in the first ten minutes of this TED talk, describes what a dynamic thing democracy is and how hard it is to hold on to.
He urges that we consider democracy as a verb, not a noun. He describes how it exists inside us. And he mentions the dangers of “procedures.”
From World War I to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Snyder also dives into the structures that uplift and tear down political systems, offering historical perspective on the current state of democracy throughout the world as well as discussing patterns of thought that lead to tyranny. Not least, he introduces a new approach to democracy that could help create and protect a future of freedom.