A Moral Humanity Manifesto (6/30/22 Draft)
By Wade Lee Hudson
NOTE: This manifesto is a work in progress. Please use the Comment Form below to suggest improvements.
Scattered pockets of positive change are transforming society into a compassionate community. Seeds are planted. Awareness of basic realities increases. Good people relieve others’ suffering — and correct the root causes of preventable suffering. Efforts to improve public policy persist. The moral humanity movement unites these fragments and reverses humanity’s downward spiral.
Enrichment of our shared culture creates a moral foundation for systemic improvements in our major social institutions.
These structural improvements nurture personal and spiritual growth rooted in mutual support that helps individuals undo divisive, selfish, competitive, domineering socialization and form partnerships.
Increased ability to cooperate enhances emergence of a sustained, massive, united, nonviolent, grassroots moral humanity movement that persuades Washington to respect the people's will while respecting minority rights.
Mutually reinforcing nonviolent efforts are based on Gandhi’s principle: “Be the change you seek.” They liberate inherited instincts that modern societies suppress. They strengthen positive capabilities and correct weaknesses. They affirm the equal value of every individual and awaken moral commitment to compassionate action. They set aside self-centered domination and blind submission.
Countless individuals and organizations contribute to the moral humanity movement — including those who don’t yet identify as members. The challenge is to deepen, strengthen, expand, connect, and unify these innovations. This proclamation moves in this direction.
Embrace Core Values
MISSION: The moral humanity movement serves humanity, the environment, and life itself.
We, the members of this movement:
Advance justice and compassion.
Improve ourselves and support each other.
Undo oppressive social conditioning.
Honor spiritual growth.
Respect each person’s equal worth.
Set aside the desire to dominate for personal gain.
Cultivate bottom-up hierarchies.
Nurture co-equal partnerships throughout society.
Support grassroots, broad-based, unified, independent, activist campaigns.
Ensure that everyone can meet their basic needs, participate fully in society, and fulfill their potential.
Oppose discrimination based on identity.
Create new structures and organizations to solidify these improvements.
Form Small Teams
The moral humanity movement’s foundation is a network of small teams whose members affirm the movement’s core values and support each other.
Informal teams already exist. They spring naturally from relationships with friends, relatives, colleagues, or memberships in the same organization or group. They support the moral humanity movement ‘s core values, commit energy to achieving its goals, and support each other. Meetings are ad-hoc. Communication is in person or through phone or online connections.
Formal teams will deepen, strengthen, and expand the movement. Team members meet at least once a month to share reports on this question: In what way have I worked on becoming a better human being? These check-ins may be brief at the outset of regular meetings — with follow-up happening later informally between members — or they may lead to discussion. This ritual provides members with a concrete common experience that nurtures a sense of community.
Some formal teams are unaffiliated teams whose members belong to various organizations (or no organization) and choose to meet regularly to conduct self-awareness check-ins and advance the moral humanity movement.
Other formal teams are affiliated teams who belong to an organization that affirms and promotes the movement’s values. These organizations retain their primary focus while contributing to the broader vision.
Teams are supportive learning communities — laboratories that facilitate peer learning, self-reform, collaborative teamwork, political action, and mutual support. Teams form with individuals who trust each other. They’re undertaking a challenging journey. Trust overcomes barriers.
Members become better listeners and speak honestly. They ask each other: Can we help you with anything? What’s on your mind? How are you feeling emotionally? They help with childcare and tutor children. They deepen spiritual growth and improve their ability to work collaboratively, as each member defines their own personal-growth goals. They help each other undo racist tendencies and other oppressive gut reactions such as the desire to dominate and the willingness to submit. They support each other with political education and activism, counter disinformation and dogmatic thinking, and introduce to each other ideas and information from outside their issue silos. They attend political demonstrations or meet with elected officials or representatives. They support consumer boycotts and back subscriber-based media as alternatives to ad-based media. They enrich children’s schooling, empower workers at their workplace, or otherwise advance transformation. Many share meals, listen to music, sing, or engage in joy-filled experiences together.
They learn to practice what they preach. They increase awareness of systemic realities, how issues are connected and interwoven. They push institutions to live up to their ideals. They cultivate organizations that serve as positive models.
Individuals undo their internalized oppression with personal efforts: reading, reflection, prayer, and meditation. Talking about these efforts is also important; even essential. Gathering regularly with a small group of trusted allies solidifies learning. Acknowledging weaknesses to others helps avoid repeating mistakes.
Peer learning counters fragmentation and excessive competition and nurtures the unity needed to sustain independent, democratic campaigns that implement lasting structural change. They build communal solidarity and advance the moral humanity movement.
As the moral humanity movement develops, team members meet with representatives from other teams to share activities and explore methods to advance their efforts. When open to the public, these events spread awareness of the movement. Each team elects representatives to the network’s next higher decision-making team, consistent with the movement’s commitment to bottom-up democracy. Each team is autonomous and makes decisions about how to advance the movement.
Support Pragmatic Idealism
The moral humanity movement is diverse and pragmatic. We’re not ideological. We dislike idolizing certain words and insisting others use them. We shy away from absolutes such as “always” and “everyone.” We question labels that confine people to boxes. We refrain from reinforcing stereotypes. We embrace polarities: life and death; positive and negative; chaos and order; male and female; rest and activity. We incorporate the best of each. We’re committed to moving forward step-by-step, focused on achievable goals within a framework of transformation.
Human beings deal with interdependent pairs: fear vs trust, anger vs. love, family vs. self-determination, community vs. the individual, tradition vs. innovation, making money vs. social responsibility, competition vs. cooperation, self-care vs. caring for others, listening vs. talking, inspiring others vs. being inspired, teaching vs. learning, centralized power vs. delegated authority, domination vs. partnership, short-term vs. long-term. Handling these tensions requires balance, flexibility, and integration.
Balance between self-care and caring for others enables us to better care for others and correct root causes of suffering without allowing self-care to become a full-time habit that neglects others. Balance is key.
This ever-changing mix of tensions creates countless combinations. Individuals, families, communities, and nations lean first toward one polarity and then the other. They’re first characterized by one combination of traits and then by another and hold a particular combination at a particular time. Few individuals hold the same traits in the same way at the same time.
This fluidity makes it difficult to label others, or for individuals to rigidly identify with only one tribe. Everyone is a unique member of the human family with multiple identities.
“Liberals” hold many “conservative” views, and vice versa. The left-right ideological spectrum simplifies and distorts reality, confines individuals in boxes, and aggravates tension. Describing each reality clearly is less divisive.
In an address to students in Cape Town, South Africa in 1966. Senator Robert F. Kennedy affirmed the value of pragmatic idealism:
The second danger is that of expediency; of those who say that hopes and beliefs must bend before immediate necessities. Of course, if we must act effectively, we must deal with the world as it is. We must get things done. But if there was one thing that President Kennedy stood for that touched the most profound feeling of young people across the world, it was the belief that idealism, high aspiration, and deep convictions are not incompatible with the most practical and efficient of programs – that there is no basic inconsistency between ideals and realistic possibilities – no separation between the deepest desires of heart and of mind and the rational application of human effort to human problems. It is not realistic or hard-headed to solve problems and take action unguided by ultimate moral aims and values, although we all know some who claim that it is so. In my judgment, it is thoughtless folly. For it ignores the realities of human faith and of passion and of belief; forces ultimately more powerful than all the calculations of our economists or of our generals. Of course, to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes great courage and takes self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly ever achieve greatly.
Kennedy’s approach affirms both “radical” outsiders who advocate for fundamental reform and “liberal” insiders who implement incremental reforms. These roles complement each other. When one side demonizes the other, they undermine prospects for cooperation.
Simone Weil wrote:
It is for the intelligence to conceive the idea of need and to discern, discriminate, and enumerate, with all the accuracy of which it is capable, the earthly needs of the soul and the body… Each need entails a corresponding obligation.
The needs of a human being are sacred. Their satisfaction cannot be subordinated either to reasons of state, or to any consideration of money, nationality, race, or color, or the moral or other value attributed to the human being in question, or any consideration whatsoever.
There is no legitimate limit to the satisfaction of the needs of a human being except as imposed by necessity and by the needs of other human beings. The limit is only legitimate if the needs of all human beings receive an equal degree of attention… The needs in question are earthly, for those are the only ones that man can satisfy. They are needs of the soul as well as of the body…
Developing co-equal partnerships is not easy. Alicia Garza reports, “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?
A wide array of organizations advance the moral humanity movement: religious and spiritual organizations from many traditions; cultural centers and organizations; civic organizations; public education, advocacy, and activist organizations. The more they acknowledge their commonality and publicly identify with the movement, the more they advance the movement’s core values.
Cultivate Collaborative Leadership
With intentional commitment, mutual support, and listening carefully to others and our own conscience, we learn to control personal divisive instincts such as racist bias. With collaborative leadership, we avoid ego-driven competition that aggravates social fragmentation. We build the unity that’s needed to sustain lasting and deep personal, social, and political change. We establish personal and economic security and overcome fear and hate, which insecurity inflames.
This approach is placed within a moral framework. Moral humanity movement members rely on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Six Principles of Nonviolence:
Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is active nonviolent resistance to evil.
Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. The result of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation.
Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. Nonviolence recognizes that evildoers are also victims.
Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform. Nonviolence willingly accepts the consequences to its acts.
Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. Nonviolence resists violence to the spirit as well as the body. Nonviolence love is active, not passive. Nonviolence love does not sink to the level of the hater. Love restores community and resists injustice. Nonviolence recognizes the fact that all life is interrelated.
Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice. The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win.
In our activism, we channel our anger into action by relying on Dr. King’s Six Steps of Nonviolent Social Change:
Information Gathering. To understand and articulate an issue, problem or injustice facing a person, community, or institution you must do research. You must investigate and gather all vital information from all sides of the argument or issue to increase your understanding of the problem. You must become an expert on your opponent’s position
Education. It is essential to inform others, including opposition, about your issue. This minimizes misunderstandings and gains support and sympathy.
Personal Commitment. Daily check and affirm your faith in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence. Eliminate hidden motives and prepare yourself to accept suffering, if necessary, in your work for justice.
Negotiation. Using grace, humor, and intelligence, confront the other party with a list of injustices and a plan for addressing and resolving these injustices. Look for what is positive in every action and statement the opposition makes. Do not seek to humiliate the opponent but to call forth the good in the opponent.
Direct Action. These are actions taken when the opponent is unwilling to enter, or remain in, discussion/negotiation. These actions impose a “creative tension” into the conflict, supplying moral pressure on your opponent to work with you in resolving the injustice.
Reconciliation. Nonviolence seeks friendship and understanding with the opponent. Nonviolence does not seek to defeat the opponent. Nonviolence is directed against evil systems, forces, oppressive policies, unjust acts, but not against persons. Through reasoned compromise, both sides resolve the injustice with a plan of action. Each act of reconciliation is one step closer to the “Beloved Community.’”
These principles apply to international conflict. As the moral humanity movement grows, nations criticize violations of international law without demonizing the violator. Making judgments without being judgmental is key. Efforts are made to fully understand opponents. Justifiable use of force to stop the abuse of human rights is limited by the constraints of the law. Every effort is made to negotiate compromise. Humility leads nations to avoid declaring innocence or moral superiority. They no longer claim the right to impose their own beliefs concerning how other countries should govern themselves.
Ever more nations support the rule of law, which according to the United Nations:
refers to a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced, and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards. It requires, as well, measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency.
Ever more nations support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, therefore, the General Assembly,
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction…
If people have a foundation of security and fairness, they want the right to vote, free speech, the freedom of nonviolent protest, and other democratic ideals. But if they lack security, they may submit to authoritarianism.
As Albert Camus wrote in 1946:
Modern nations are driven by powerful forces along the roads of power and domination... What if these forces wind up in a dead end? There is no reason why some of us should not take on the job of keeping alive through the apocalyptic historical vista that stretches before us, a modest thoughtfulness which, without pretending to solve everything, will constantly be prepared to give some human meaning to everyday life. He who gives up in the face of circumstances is a coward.
Pursue Compassionate Action
The moral humanity movement is inspired by the Charter for Compassion (affirmed by millions):
The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical, and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity, and respect.
It is necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.
We therefore call upon all men and women to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion — to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate — to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures — to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity — to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings — even those regarded as enemies.
We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous, and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological, and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.
Compassionate instincts are deep, powerful parts of human nature. Native Americans initially welcomed European invaders with warmth and generosity. Hunter-gatherers living in small bands were egalitarian and compassionate. When mass murderers open fire, adults lie on top of children. When hurricanes wreak devastation, volunteers enter fragile houses at great risk to rescue trapped individuals. Parents endanger themselves to protect their children. Anti-war activists act out of horror at the brutality inflicted on others. During pandemics, wealthy countries send vaccines abroad because they feel obligated to do so. Even when odds for success are poor and action involves personal risk or sacrifice, compassionate individuals do what they can to relieve suffering — and correct the root causes of avoidable suffering.
Moral humanity movement members learn, grow, and become better and more effective human beings. We engage in self-examination, work on self-improvement, acknowledge mistakes and resolve not to repeat them. We’re willing to be vulnerable, fail, and pay the price required for personal and social growth. We recognize when our actions offend others and apologize. We acknowledge implicit biases, or negative gut reactions, and work to prevent them from influencing our words and behavior. We accept responsibility for reinforcing the status quo with our daily actions.
We don’t get stuck with our tribe in silos, echo chambers, and rigid doctrines. Though we have primary identities, we identify as members of the human family, acknowledge that individuals hold multiple identities, and don’t base our identities on how well we’ve climbed social ladders.
We value the non-material, spiritual world and the life force that energizes and structures life on Earth. We avoid obsession with the past or the future, stay in the moment, and contribute to a better world. We don’t obsess on ideas, abstractions, ideologies, or dogmas.
We care about what’s best for the nation, the planet, and humanity. We respect ourselves and don’t feel we have to prove anything to deserve respect.
We don’t exploit others or the environment for personal gain. We oppose unfair discrimination and fight for justice for all. We avoid demeaning “the other” or demonizing “the enemy.” We avoid looking down on individuals who have less education or income or lower social standing. Rather than merely building our organization, we form alliances with like-minded organizations.
Key to moving forward is balancing the individual and the community. Strong individuals nurture strong communities, and strong communities nurture strong individuals. Individual rights are compatible with collective rights. Healthy families, schools, religious institutions, informal associations, and local and national governments provide security, spread shared values, help meet basic needs, and cultivate solidarity. They counter hyper-individualism, hyper-competitiveness, and judgmental assumptions of moral superiority — characteristics common in Western countries. This foundation facilitates self-development, creativity, productivity, and a sense of meaning.
We challenge top-down structures — even when this leads to conflict, frustration, or punishment. We care about public policy and engage in political action. The mere attempt to improve the world nurtures personal, social, and cultural growth, even if it “fails.” As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared,
Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.
As we promote justice, we avoid rhetoric that alienates people. We don’t lecture. We listen more than we talk. We prefer dialog to monologue. Rather than giving in to anger, we channel it productively. We affirm rationality, nurture emotional intelligence, and integrate emotions and ideas. To the best of our ability, thinking together with others, and examining ourselves honestly, we answer the question: What’s true and just? What’s the right thing to do? We determine the best version of truth by considering available information, intuitions, and emotions. We negotiate and compromise.
We’re honest, avoid hypocrisy, and aren’t mean to others. We agree to disagree and still communicate fruitfully. When criticizing others, rather than name-calling, hurling generalizations, labels, and personal attacks, or putting people in boxes, we focus on their actions and the impact of those actions. We empathize with others and acknowledge that if we were raised in similar ways or lived in similar situations, we might act similarly.
We’re reforming our nation and the world — our cultures, communities, institutions, and ourselves. Self-reform advances social transformation and social transformation advances self-reform.
Promote Holistic and Systemic Transformation
This moment calls for a massive, independent social movement similar to yet more potent than the union, civil rights, and women’s movements. These movements were single-issue, self-interested, self-centered, and focused on material gains for their members. These gains primarily benefited the most advantaged, upwardly mobile members, especially leaders who were co-opted and settled for incremental reforms as their movements withered. The need now is for a multi-issue, other-centered, spiritual movement rooted in universal moral values committed to gains for all humanity, the environment, and life itself as well as meeting the pressing material needs of particular populations. With this approach, this movement can sustain itself over the long haul with strong, caring communities whose members help each other undo the desire to dominate or submit for personal gain.
Changes promoted by the moral humanity movement synergistically reinforce each other. They nurture transformation of the System, which consists of our major institutions, our dominant culture, and ourselves as individuals who reinforce the System with our daily actions. This social system encourages individuals to climb socially, gain wealth, power, and status for themselves, and look down on and exploit those below. The System is self-perpetuating. The players change but the game remains the same.
A holistic, systemic worldview avoids placing total blame on a particular individual or group — scapegoating that leads to harsh personal attacks and cruel punishment. We hold individuals and corporations accountable for criminal or ethical violations, but no one person or organization is totally to blame for the preventable suffering we witness. Everyone is oppressed and everyone is an oppressor. No individual or group controls our social system. The System is responsible.
This approach involves a paradigm shift from ego-consciousness to eco-consciousness — a shift from focus on self-interest to commitment to the Earth Community. It enables institutions to pursue their highest ideals and serve the common good. It facilitates peer learning and mutual support and empowers clients in social-service organizations to help shape, or even run, their programs. So long as others don’t violate others’ rights, we accept their efforts to pursue their own path.
We nurture cooperation and partnership. We enable others to meet their basic needs — including economic and personal security, democratic equality, dignity, and respect, and having voice in affairs that affect them. We promote the right to be free from discrimination based on religious, ethnic, or sexual identity.
With healthy patriotism, we love and improve our nation. We join with people worldwide in the global moral humanity movement. We cultivate moral re-awakening and build a global foundation on which people of goodwill can stand — as we strengthen deep, innate, and positive instincts.
The moral humanity movement includes multiple, independent campaigns that conduct lobbying, phone calls, office visits, rallies, nonviolent civil disobedience, consumer boycotts of corporations that refuse to support the legislation, and work boycotts. The movement is building a deep unity that enables broad-based alliances to achieve more together than they can alone.
Focusing on achievable demands, the movement reconciles multiple tensions: security and liberty; individual and community; change and order; competition and cooperation; public goods and private goods; humility and pride; national patriotism and global collaboration; compassionate judgments without being harshly judgmental; progress and stability; caring for yourself and caring for others; humane accountability without cruel punishment; respecting legitimate authority and questioning arbitrary power; having a voice and respecting the wisdom of crowds.
Reconciliations contribute to holistic and systemic transformation, which takes place within individuals, communities, corporations, and nations, and with how countries interact with each other. Reforming one element helps to reform the others. Reforming each simultaneously is key. This transformation is holistic because it involves the whole person and the whole society, and it is systemic because it involves major structural changes.
As people awake to the need for deep change, inspire each other, and help each other improve social practices, we’re nurturing profound change and building a moral humanity movement that advances comprehensive transformation. As these changes ripple through society, they’re forming a compelling vision on the horizon: a society that looks, feels and is NEW!
Find Your Way Forward
The moral humanity movement path is summarized here:
Embrace the movement’s core values.
Form or join a small team.
Support pragmatic idealism.
Cultivate collaborative leadership.
Pursue compassionate action:
Undo social conditioning.
Break down oppressive hierarchies.
Form compassionate partnerships.
Promote holistic and systemic transformation.
Encourage system change in every nation.
Build massive, unified grassroots campaigns.
Persist with transformation.