How do we change the world? At the Humanity Project, we strongly believe the answer is this: One person at a time. Until individuals are motivated to focus on something greater than their own immediate self-interest, human interactions will remain more or less as they are. People become prisoners of their own egos, of their personal wants and instant gratifications. Far too many of us are far too self-centered, to our detriment and the damage of society. Humanity can only really change one individual at a time. That's what we try to do in our work with both kids and adults. We have good company for that idea too. Here are just two examples from two very fine minds of the past:
“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.” Marie Curie, 1867-1934, Polish chemist and physicist
“If you see that some aspect of your society is bad, and you want to improve it, there is only one way to do so: you have to improve people. And in order to improve people, you begin with only ONE thing: you can become better yourself.” Leo Tolstoy, 1828-1910, Russian author
Many folks think that simply getting more people to agree on the need for individual change has no meaningful effect on the world, as if humanity first needs to work out all the particulars about how we’ll do things differently. It’s naive, they say, to believe that merely a desire for new attitudes in daily life can bring about good results: Just wanting change won’t make it happen. We disagree. To us, that’s rather like an author who refuses to begin a new book until every plot point and character detail is settled in advance. Writers don’t work that way. The initial step involves recognizing a strong desire to create the book, with most specifics determined during the writing.
Nothing happens until individuals are motivated. That’s why we feel the Humanity Project “Pledge For Humanity” is so valuable. When someone signs their name to a pledge, they tend to take it seriously. Not always, of course, and to varying degrees depending on the person. But if the pledge is signed freely and in good faith, the words usually have some effect on the signer’s psyche. Afterall, even the President of the United States only pledges to uphold the Constitution — nothing else compels him (or her) to do so.
We hope you’ll sign our pledge, which you can do quickly and easily at this link: Check out our Pledge For Humanity. Meanwhile, we continue to deliver our programs that promote equality and respect-for-all … and to explain our ideas in panel discussions and presentations, on social media and here on our website. Please join our campaign and become a member of the Humanity Project at no cost by signing our Pledge For Humanity. Let’s change the world, one person at a time.
