Kindness as diplomacy
An open letter to Queen Elizabeth II inviting her to become a United Nations Kindness Ambassador in a bid to spread a kindness contagion.
“We are in an unprecedented situation and the normal rules no longer apply. We cannot resort to the usual tools in such unusual times. The creativity of the response must match the unique nature of the crisis — and the magnitude of the response must match its scale.”
António Guterres, UN secretary-general
Madam,
We’re a team of creatives out to help the United Nations spread kindness as an instrument of stability and resilience. Never has the interdependence of our world been more apparent, nor its finite nature. Will fear and selfishness win the day? Or can the infinite nature of our humanity, already shining through the darkness, become the new normal? We aspire to make this one of the many positive legacies of this Great Pause. If wars are stopping, and homelessness is ending, why couldn’t all manner of ‘impossible’ things suddenly become true? We also believe that with your assistance as the first of many Kindness Ambassadors, we can give birth to the world we know in our hearts is possible — one that makes our lives richer, our children happier, and us truly proud.
Why make kindness contagious?
People have long debated whether ‘society’ actually exists. Whether the sum of all human relationships amounts to anything more than economic output, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It might explain the disconnect between the state and the people — and why it is now plain for all to see that social contracts around the world are broken. It took a global pandemic to show us what is truly valuable. It is the one thing we all have in common: each other. Perhaps that is why doomsayers were wrong, and why kindness has spontaneously burst onto the scene: it is the loom upon which we weave our social fabric.
In witnessing the public’s explosion of kindness and renewed sense of social responsibility, even the Prime Minister had to admit ‘there is such a thing as society.’ But now what? How do we mould kindness into an exit strategy?
To evolve the mind is to evolve civilisation
For too long humanity has been obsessed with post-apocalyptic fiction and zombie movies. There is no surer sign of a civilisation nearing a dead end than one obsessed with its own death and decay. Perhaps this Great Pause is the gestation period for the new civilisation we urgently need to birth.
As we traverse this liminal space, it’s sometimes been disheartening to see dogma taking precedence over the needs of the many. Thankfully society has rushed in to fill the gaps. Where there were strangers, there are good neighbours. Where there is distance, there is togetherness. And all this goodness is spreading like wildfire.
Herein lies the hope, backed by science. To witness kindness inspires kindness. Let us pause to appreciate the significance of this global shift from individualism to collectivism. Let us celebrate the spirit of the times shifting from ‘me’ to ‘we’.
As we do so, let us recount the other ways this crisis is stretching our minds. It’s throwing light on ideas of wage slavery, on the disconnect between national curriculums and the real world, and the link between over consumption and a fragile global economy. It’s moving ideas like universal basic income from the fringes into the mainstream, and making us question whether the intrinsic value of humans and human capital could become a new currency. It’s also kindling hope for the healing of the environment, and that our children’s children may get to enjoy the natural inheritance that is their birthright.
We didn’t ask for these tectonic shifts. But they have landed on our doorstep. If we pry our fingers and minds from the shores of the familiar, what horizon comes within reach? We may discover that we stand on the threshold of a new era in human history — a new civilisation, where good citizenship is defined by our duty to ourselves, each other, and the world around us.
Where do we grow from here?
Science also tells us that for kindness to cascade from person to person, and to trigger social conformity as a positive force, it has to be flexible, and allowed to take on different forms. After all, not everyone can show financial largesse. But everyone can embody a spirit that aims towards a better, kinder world.
This is why we’ve come up with 6 creative ways to nudge kindness from a response to crisis, towards a viable and desirable way of life. We ask that you lend your support to these initiatives designed to bed in a heart-centred way of living. There’s no need for a near death experience to see the value in systems, infrastructure, and frameworks that are powered by love. These 6 ideas offer something for everyone — and allow each one of us to become an ambassador for kindness in our own right.
Even better, all of them begin online —meaning all 4 billion people currently on lockdown could feasibly participate. Once the online phase is completed, and lockdown is over, each concept dovetails into projects with real world impact. Together, we can seize this moment as humanity’s finest hour.
“Excellence is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice. We do not act ‘rightly’ because we are ‘excellent’. We achieve ‘excellence’ by acting ‘rightly.”
Plato
- National dictionaries of kindness
To spread kindness we must amplify it, legitimise it, but most of all, understand it. We invite the populace of each country to nominate individuals whose courage, empathy, and thoughtfulness made a difference during this crisis. Each country is invited to create yearly such publications where each entry is a person, featuring their portrait and their story. Entries are chosen by national voting. This way, we can flesh out the many nuances and facets of kindness — and create role models drawn from all echelons of society.
2. The Fountain Challenge
How can we maintain uniqueness of culture in a cohesive world? How do we avoid nationalistic tendencies as a drive for security? This challenge invites culturally unique explorations of abundance by inviting cities around the world to choose their favourite design for abundance in the form of a fountain.
Why a fountain? It represents the overflowing of ideas, art, and human expression so relied upon in this challenging time — and which ultimately will help us imagine what that distant, better shore actually looks like. Post-virus, Phoenix Gardens will be grown in all participating cities. Here, the abundance of nature will be celebrated by teaching urban farming methods, while adapting methodologies for each city’s unique architecture. Providing food security is one of the kindest things municipalities can do for their people. Finally, in keeping with the initial concept of abundance of ideas, each garden will host explorations of kinder social contracts, where a balance is sought between freedom and authority.
3. The Better Humanity Challenge
We argue it is healthy to face facts, reflect on our choices, and to stand at the end of our life’s thread, looking back. How would we like to be remembered? We believe it can make us kinder people — to ourselves, and to others. Yes, this is a challenge to write our own obituary.
It is said that Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Prize after reading his obituary and feeling shock at being labelled a ‘merchant of death’ (he invented dynamite). Mistakenly published though it was, the error altered the course of his life.
Post-virus this dovetails into 2 projects. The Good Life project, a contemporary Plato’s Academy on the Greek island of Aigina where personal purpose is closely interrogated — and its connection with the collective story is constantly sought.
And The Last Resort: an ‘end-of-life / health clinic’ meets holiday resort that restores healing to its Hippocratic roots. Here, we also host medical residencies to cure doctors of the stigma surrounding medical cannabis.
4. The Kind Remix Challenge
The hills may not currently be alive with the sound of music. But they will be again soon. In the meantime, we invite all DJs around the world to spread awareness about important messages relating to the survival of the human species. Why? Our first and foremost duty as human beings is to our own species. DJ Fatboy Slim’s mashup of ‘Right Here, Right Now,’ with Greta Thunberg’s speech to the UN is a great example of kindness in action, through music.
“Only a crisis — actual or perceived — produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.”
Milton Friedman
5. The New Pantheon Challenge
Before Harvey Weinstein, there was Zeus. A cursory glance at the narratives through the ages holds clues for the widespread complacency surrounding sexual assault — and other attitudes prevalent in society. You see, the stories we tell matter. This challenge invites writers and artists to reimagine the Greek Gods as archetypes that are relevant to a kinder, global society. What values and attributes should this new pantheon embody? What aspects of life should we hold dear? Winning entries will initially be exhibited and published online. Post-virus, immersive events, feature films, plays will follow so we can all meet and take these new ideals to heart.
6. We Built a Temple
Think of it as a postcard from the future. A reminder that our gift as homo sapiens, as descendants of Prometheus, entails the responsibility to imagine. This project seeks to crowdsource a beacon of hope in the form of a virtual reality temple to the imagination. With tourism making up 10% of global GDP, We Built a Temple seeks to help those most impacted — and ignite conversations around what a kinder tourism might look like when travel starts up again. Everyone can participate in this initiative by buying a digital brick in the VR temple, and sharing with us their message of hope for the future — which we will encode within. VR visitors to the temple will then be able to explore messages of hope from across the globe.
“It is not a finished utopia that we ought to desire, but a world where imagination and hope are alive and active.”
Bertrand Russell
After the virus, the renaissance
This door of possibility can only open with a key of tolerance. There is so much fighting talk around this virus, one would think we are at war. But as so often happens, we are our own worst enemy. With the help of high profile Kindness Ambassadors such as yourself we can prevent nativist instincts from becoming policy. And discourage scaremongering by promoting caremongering.
In this way, the tantalising future peaking through the covid veil can start to reveal itself. And we can finally take heart that our greatness lies in our future — not in our past. We hope you will help us ignite these fires of homecoming in everyone’s hearts. The world will forever be in your debt.
Yours, from a distance
Mary Valiakas & Co
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