Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?  Henry David Thoreau

February 7, 2010    Vol 1, Issue 2

Greetings, friends. Here's the second issue of the Newsletter. Hopefully I'll be able to start sending it out every couple weeks or so.

One of my goals is to create a hub of information to keep you informed on recent developments about empathy. I monitor and sort the daily flow of information (articles, books, experts, speakers, videos and events) about empathy and compassion that passes over the Internet. I am actively gathering stories and insights through video interviews from a wide variety of people for a documentary. A couple of us are pulling together a team to organize the next Empathy Cafe event. There's a lot going on, and you're invited to contribute your articles and stories to future editions.

Until now, I've been doing more of an open-ended questing or seeking type of exploration and have collected and organized the material on my website. I find myself thinking more and more about how to actually build a culture of empathy -- What are the actual steps and social structures that can be set up in our personal lives and in society that will support a culture of empathy? I personally still have a lot to learn in this area and will share what I learn in upcoming newsletters.
 

I've got a new t-shirt printed that says, "Tell me about Empathy", so my photo will be changing soon. I find my self thinking less and less about the political labels such as, progressive or conservative and focusing more on the values themselves. I look forward to hearing from you.
 

Warmly,
 

Edwin Rutsch

Carl Rogers

I recently went to Jeremy’s talk in Sonoma, CA on January 24th and videotaped it. The video is about 1 hour and 20 minutes with Q & A. It’s been uploaded to Youtube, but his office asked I hold off making it public until the publisher OKs it. Hope that happens soon. I had a few minutes to talk with Jeremy while I was miking him for audio and later when he was signing my copy of his book. He was quite interested in the empathy documentary project and I'm contacting his staff to see how we can collaborate. He also mentioned that Huffington Post will be doing a month of discussions based on his book. So keep an eye out for that.

I feel this will be a significant book in helping to generate a national dialog about empathy. The book is huge, with over 600 pages. The introduction and first chapter are viewable directly online on his website at EmpathicCivilization.com. Jeremy told me it took him 4 and a half years to put it together. The books covers a lot and pulls together many threads from; history, philosophy, science, child education, psychology, etc. and ties it in with distributed energy and communications trends to boot. The research is amazing; I just started chapter seven and have nine more to go.

Jeremy's work lays a significant corner stone into the foundation of a new Empathic Civilization. Following are some more links to videos, radio interviews and articles you can check out.

Michael Krasny - KQED Radio interview
"European adviser and author Jeremy Rifkin challenges the notion that people are innately selfish and materialistic. In his new book, "The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis," he alleges that our future rests on our ability to function as an empathic society. We talk with Rifkin about his call for a "third Industrial Revolution." January 25, 2010

The Bob Edwards Show - XMradio inteview
"Social thinker and author Jeremy Rifkin’s book The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis looks at emerging scientific studies that show humans are not naturally aggressive and self-interested, but fundamentally empathetic.  Rifkin’s book is a new interpretation of the history of civilization, focusing on the development of human empathy through the present time. " January 31, 2010

For this month's HuffPost Book Club, I have chosen a big book -- both figuratively and literally. Jeremy Rifkin's The Empathic Civilization clocks in at close to 700 pages and sets out to present nothing less than -- as Rifkin puts it -- "a new rendering of human history and the meaning of human existence. ...

Please read The Empathic Civilization and join in our month-long discussion about it. Not only will Jeremy Rifkin be regularly blogging about the issues his book raises, we will also be featuring posts from over 30 of the world's leading scientists, scholars, and public policy intellectuals in a many fields, which will allow us to have a robust and informed discussion on what it will take to create and nurture a truly empathic civilization.

 

The Empathic Civilization: Rethinking Human Nature in the Biosphere Era
		Two spectacular failures, separated by only 18 months, marked the end of the modern era. In July 2008, the price of oil on world markets peaked at $147/ barrel, inflation soared, the price of everything from food to gasoline skyrocketed, and the global economic engine shut off.

The Earthquake That Triggered A Global Empathic Response:
    What The Haitian Crisis Tells Us About Human Nature
Frantic tweets and videos have been seeping out of Haiti, pleading for help from the rest of the human race in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that leveled one of the poorest countries on the planet, spreading destruction and death.

Why Have We Become So Uncivil?
When we talk about civility, we are really talking about empathy: the willingness to listen to another's point of view, to put one's self in another's shoes and to emotionally and cognitively experience what they are feeling and thinking. To civilize is to empathize.