A New Politics:  Join and Build the Empathy Party Movement
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The Empathy Party Movement

I'd like to invite you to join the new Empathy Party Movement and help develop the party platform. The platform of the Empathy Party is to advocate for, and promote policies that foster empathy and connection between all peoples. The vision of the party is to build a worldwide culture of empathy and compassion.

We advocate for values, principles and polices that bring people together, that support and facilitate all people 'standing in each others shoes' and 'looking through each others eyes'.

Trust in the government and social institutions is low. Many Progressives, Conservatives, Libertarians, Liberals, Republicans, Democrats, etc. are  constantly attacking and demeaning each other. This is just like in a conflicted and dysfunctional marriage or relationship.

We need a new political party and movement to transform this dysfunction and disconnection. We can bring all people and parties together. We can contribute by mediating these conflicts.  Instead of working solely within these other movements and parties, we’re starting fresh, from the ground up, to build on the foundational value of empathy. Let’s bring together people who deeply support this value and organize from the ground up to transform society.

Let's start a discussion here about what a culture of empathy and an empathy based platform would look like. As a starting point, it's about transforming hearts and all institutions (education, movement, commerce, justice, health, corporations, media, police, military, etc.) from being cultures of fear, greed, alienation, suffering and violence, to active cultures of empathy and compassion.

Some Questions:
Are you ready to take empathic action and join the Empathy Party?
What would an Empathy Party look like?
What values, principles and policies would we advocate for?
How could we set up empathic mediation and dialog between the different political parties and movements?


 
Empathy Party Platform: Values, Vision, Mission, Principles and Polices

Overview, here are some dialog starting points for the Empathy Party Platform.

• Values

  • The foundational value is empathy. It's the basis of caring, compassion, community, kindness, responsibility, creativity, justice, peace, empathic and collaborative action.  

  • Everyone's values are heard and acknowledged. Empathy is the means by which we see, hear, feel and connect to everyone's core values.

• Principles: What basic principles derive from empathy?

  • Do unto others as you would have them unto you.

  • Every voice is important

  • Listen to everyone to where they feel fully heard, seen and felt.

  • See the common humanity of all

  • Face fears with presence and empathy

  • etc.

• Polices

  • Polices grow out of the empathic connection between people.

  • Foster polices that create social structures that maximize connection.

  • Foster polices that maximize empathy

  • What sort of polices would we advocate for in the areas of: Education, Justice System, Government, Corporations, Media, Health Care, Immigration, Police,  Military, Commerce, Family,

  • etc.

First Steps
Post your comments below, and let's hold an international conference on building a culture of empathy and compassion! We will discuss how to build this party, culture and policies. Here are some areas to start work on.

Education - Empathy should be part of the core curriculum from K-12.  Empathy training starts in Kindergarten and becomes a core part of the curriculum, just like math, science, reading and writing.

Justice - Transform the justice system from a retribution based system to a restorative justice and restorative empathy system.

• Prisons could be empathy and compassion training centers.

• Lawyers are now seen as gladiators that fight it out and somehow justice is created by financial might or cleverness of argument, makes right. Lawyers, need to be retrained to be empathy guides, to mediate conflicts and bring people together.

Government - Many conservative attack government for being bad. We don't support demeaning or putting anyone down, and that includes people that work in the government. The government is not the enemy. Millions of people work in the government and contribute to the wellbeing of society. We support transforming government to being a culture of empathy. One of the foundational qualities of government should be to promote empathy and compassion within society. How could this be done?

 

Corporations - Many Progressives attack Corporations for being bad or evil. We don't support demeaning or putting down anyone. The Corporations are not the enemy. Just like with government, millions of people work in and daily contribute to society by working in Corporations. We support transforming all Corporations to being active cultures of empathy. For years we've been told that corporations are supposed to be selfish, greedy entities and only think of maximizing  their own
profits and self-interest. The attitude is basically saying that corporations should take on the role of being psychopaths.

We aim to transform corporations into cultures of empathy. We need to transform the structures of corporations so they support and encourage empathy at all level. How could this be done?

Media - The media tend to be active parties in the national political disputes, or they act as fight promoters. They often see people as self interested parties with themselves as referees.  We need to transform the media so that they become mediators,  so they help foster connection between all people.   How could this be done?

 

Health Care - What sort of health care system will maximize empathy?   How could this be done?

Immigration - What sort of immigration policy will maximize empathy?   How could this be done?

Police - What sort of policy will maximize empathy within the police?   How could this be done?

Military - What sort of policy will maximize empathy within the military?  
 

Families  -  What sort of policy will maximize empathy within families ?  

 

Others?

Add your feelings, thoughts, ideas, insights, values, needs, hopes and desires!
Here's a Public Version of this Document (add your ideas and edit)

Edwin Rutsch
Director, Center for Building a Culture of Empathy