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A Reflection on the Transformational Power of Kindness to Build a Better and more Fulfilling Life: Be Kind to Yourself, Be Kind to Others. You reconcile all beings in the world: Kindness to Make the World Great Again
‘Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see’-Mark Twain
‘So much of what we value is in fact preserved by kindness and is compatible with it. We can be kind and successful, kind and exciting, kind and wealthy and kind and potent. Kindness is a virtue awaiting our rediscovery and our renewed, un-conflicted appreciation.’- The Book of Life
‘Forget Survival of the Fittest: It Is Kindness That Counts.’
As long as greed and selfishness are stronger than kindness and selflessness, there will always be suffering and pain
One of the greatest gifts of our humanity is kindness, to give it, to share it, and to receive it.
Time is now to answer the call of our humanity and start the mother of all revolutions: The Kindness Revolution
As it has been noted, "Answering the call of our humanity" generally refers to acting with empathy, compassion, caring, and responsibility toward others, particularly in times of need or crisis. It suggests a shared, ethical obligation to recognise our vulnerability and respond with kindness, acting as a "good Samaritan".
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern hugs a mourner at the Kilbirnie mosque in Wellington on 17 March 2019,
after the mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch. Photo: Hagen Hopkins Via The Guardian
A revolution to live a normal life again
‘Revolutions never start at the top. If we dare to dream of a more loving country - kinder, more compassionate, more cooperative, more respectful, more inclusive, more egalitarian, more harmonious, less cynical - there's only one way to start turning that dream into a reality: each of us must live as if this is already that country…’ Hugh Mackay, author, ‘The Kindness Revolution: How we can restore hope, rebuild trust and inspire optimism’
'Man naturally desires, not only to be loved, but to be lovely; or to be that thing which is the natural and proper object of love. He naturally dreads, not only to be hated, but to be hateful.'- Adam Smith, author,The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and Adam Smith and the Pursuit of Happiness
The "Forgetting" of Humanity and Goodness
Despite the fact that millions of people around the world still remember what it means to be good and what it means to be human, ensuring that humanity and goodness endure, tragically, at the same time, this cannot be said about many others, desensitised and indifferent to, as well as intolerant of ‘others’
The Scary Truth About Our Kindness Fatigue
N.B. The rot started in the early 1980s, when the world falling under the spell of Thatcher and Reagan was stupefied with neoliberalism, a false ideology, devoid of any humanity or values, and solely powered by liberalisation, privatisation, deregulation, marketisation and mass sell-offs, over flavored and spiced by other harmful ingredients such as individualism, selfishness, narcissism, greed, gluttony and lust. Then, everything began to fall apart, everything and anything became monetised, devalued and debased, including love, kindness, compassion, empathy, ethics, morality, spirituality, friendship, humanity,..., everything. Everything which we had valued and considered precious and priceless, everything that we had thought were the foundation of our lives, the core of our existence, that had made us human, they all became more and more meaningless. We got to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. More on this later, when and where I will attempt to explain how we may change the neoliberal economics to be good again and thus, empower ourselves to turn the world into a Global Kindness Project.
Wouldn’t the world be a better place with a bit more kindness? Harnessing the Economics of Kindness
These are what I have learned from 45 years of teaching economics
Make Economics ‘Kind’ and Build a Better World
Photo:Flickr/Ron Mader. CC BY-SA 2.0
THIS IS THE WEB OF LIFE: We’re all in this together
And what cements our survival and flourishing is our humanity, compassion, and kindness
How can the world regain its moral and spiritual compass? Don’t give up on kindness
‘Human beings are like parts of a body
Created from the same essence
When one part is hurt and in pain,
The others cannot remain in peace and be quiet.
If the misery of others leaves you indifferent
And with no feelings of sorrow,
You cannot be called a human being.’-Sa’di, the Persian sage and poet
What does it mean to be kind? What is Kindness?
Kindness to Heal the World- Kindness to Make the World Great Again
“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
All said and done, in the wise words of Hafez, the Persian sage, poet, and philosopher of love, we must not despair, but walk on. We must change and dismantle the house of neoliberal economics, and replace it with our compassionate and kind economics in the interest of the greater good. We need to make kindness great again. We need to turn our world into a global kindness project. That is how we fight the current cruel dark forces that like hyenas have amassed all over the world. We fight them with our light of hope and strength of our moral and spiritual character, something that they do not have.
Photo: via amazon
'Revolutions never start at the top. If we dare to dream of a more loving country - kinder, more compassionate, more cooperative, more respectful, more inclusive, more egalitarian, more harmonious, less cynical - there's only one way to start turning that dream into a reality: each of us must live as if this is already that country...'-Continue to read
Image via amazon
'Isn't it time for a kindness revolution? Kindness has the exponential power to renew relationships and transform how we think, feel, and behave in the world. In The Kindness Cure, psychologist Tara Cousineau draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to show how compassion and empathy are hardwired into our DNA and essential to our survival. Readers will also learn how simple practices of kindness-for oneself, for others, and for the world-can dissolve feelings of fear or indifference, and set the stage for profound happiness.'-Continue to read