LET US SWIM IN A SEA OF COMPASSION AND JUSTICE
The conflict raging everywhere is a conflict of values and ideals. But we don’t have to despair. Every day we can make a choice – to look inside ourselves and decide what truly matters.
Conflict. It’s normal to see this as a state of play between opposing forces: corrupt governments and the people, warmongers and peace-seekers, workers and bosses.
But we have to recognise that this external conflict stems from one even more fundamental that rages in all of us. It’s a conflict about who we want to be. About what humanity wants to be. About the world we want to live in.
South Africa is at the frontline of this conflict. We wrestled ourselves out of apartheid only to be clawed back into a state of division and inequity.
Corruption, power cuts, complicity in the war being waged by Russia on Ukraine: this is not the image of South Africa I dreamt of and fought for.
Which is why, in 2014, I left party politics. I realised that to create conditions for equity, justice and peace we had to nurture, grow and champion those ideals among our citizens.
ReimagineSA was to help South Africans choose a future that reflected their ideals, needs, hopes and aspirations.
Such work is not relevant only to South Africa. We are not alone in our suffering. Inequality is increasing for 70% of the world’s population. The percentage of people living in poverty grew between 2019 and 2020. One in three women are subjected to domestic abuse.
Humanity faces a choice – a choice about how we live together. Exploitation starts when we see a fellow human being as a competitor or resource. Inequality grows when we value our own rights above those of our neighbour. The climate crisis deepens when we see our health and wellbeing as divorced from nature.
We can end poverty, prevent injustice and stop climate breakdown only when we shift mindsets, cultures and beliefs.
This is why I have joined the board of the newly formed Global Compassion Coalition. This movement works to spread compassionate thinking, feeling and action. This may sound ambitious, but we have this on our side: the mindset we are trying to generate is present in all of us.
Research shows human beings are wired for compassion. Without compassion we couldn’t have survived for so long as a species or thrived in complexity.
It’s something most of us try to practise every day: when we offer care, help a neighbour, support a friend or look after a child.
None of this will surprise those familiar with the philosophy of ubuntu, handed down to us by our common ancient ancestors, emphasising shared fates, common humanity and oneness. The challenge is to rekindle connections to one another and return to our compassion – to ubuntu.
Our approach is built on a three-step process: connect, cultivate and change. We will provide a space for all – including South Africans – who research, practise or believe in compassionate values.
We will offer training, host debates and organise workshops on compassion and justice and give people a chance to engage in global conversations about the creation of a world based on compassionate values .
We will establish community groups for the championing of compassion in the places people live and work.
We are working to engage international leaders, challenging them to support change and governance of the commons to usher in global equity for a healthy planet.
We don’t have to despair. Every day we can make a choice – to look inside ourselves and decide what truly matters.
Every one of our daily actions has repercussions: they are like droplets that converge to form an ocean. Let’s swim in a sea of compassion and justice.