GOOD TROUBLE

Common Ground
Finding Common Ground in a Divided World

In a world marked by diversity—of cultures, beliefs, languages, and lifestyles—it is easy to focus on what sets us apart. Headlines often highlight conflict and division, feeding the illusion that we are irreconcilably different. But beneath these surface distinctions lies a truth that is both simple and profound: we are more alike than we are different. Our shared humanity, the common threads that bind us all, has the power to transcend borders, bridge gaps, and heal divides.

Feeling Human
Bill Bennett: Upside Down World

Feeling Human
Gov Pritzker: Kindness is Intelligence
Lady Gaga: Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Bruce Springsteen: Streets Of Minneapolis

Worth the Struggle

"We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny. I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be."
-Martin Luther King Jr

"Diversity in the modern world is more than just skin color. It's gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, social background, and, most important of all, as far as I'm concerned, is diversity of thought."

-Idris Elba, Addressing UK Parliament, 2016

The Common Threads of Human Experience

At the core of every person is a desire for meaning, connection, safety, and love. Whether we are born in a bustling city or a quiet village, whether we speak English, Arabic, Swahili, or Mandarin, we all experience joy, sorrow, fear, and hope. We all begin life in vulnerability and rely on others to nurture and protect us. As we grow, we seek companionship, understanding, and a sense of purpose. We celebrate milestones, mourn losses, and dream of a future where life is a little better—not just for ourselves, but for those we care about.

This shared emotional landscape is not bound by geography or culture. A parent in Tokyo worries about their child’s future just as a parent in Nairobi or São Paulo does. A young person in Toronto may struggle with self-doubt in the same way a young person in Baghdad does. These emotions, needs, and aspirations are universal.

What Truly Matters

In the end, what matters most in life isn’t wealth, fame, or power. What endures are the relationships we build, the kindness we show, and the difference we make in each other’s lives. When people look back at their lives, they rarely cherish the material possessions they acquired. They remember the people who stood by them in difficult times, the moments of laughter shared with loved ones, and the acts of compassion that reminded them they weren’t alone.

Purpose and fulfillment often come not from what we accumulate, but from what we give. Listening deeply, helping someone in need, creating something beautiful, or simply being present—these are the moments that give life richness and meaning.

A Real Winner

Hey, Mister Rogers!

James Talarico: Why I Am a Democrat

Sen Elissa Slotkin: Don't Tune Out

Dance Diversity: Favorite Dance Moves

This is What Respect Looks Like

Andrea Gibson: Reading Her Poetry

"Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others."
-John F. Kennedy

How We Can Get Along

If we are to thrive as a global community, we must learn to see the humanity in one another. This begins with empathy—the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Empathy softens judgment and builds bridges of compassion. It allows us to look at a refugee not as a threat, but as a person seeking safety. It helps us see that someone who disagrees with us politically may still love their children, care about their community, and want the best for the world.

Getting along does not require uniformity of thought or belief. It requires respect, open-mindedness, and a willingness to listen. It requires us to replace fear with curiosity, to ask questions rather than assume answers, and to focus on what unites us rather than what divides us.

Education, storytelling, and cultural exchange can all play vital roles in this process. The more we learn about one another, the more we realize how much we share. Literature, music, film, and art allow us to step into others’ shoes and see the world through different eyes. These are not just tools of entertainment, but of understanding and connection.

Your Life Does Not Suck

James Talarico: Love is Not Weak

Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
Kids Talk About Differences
Seeking Understanding: Rejecting MAGA
Steve Hofstetter: Left vs Right

Happy People Dancing Around the World

Meryl Streep: Critique of Trump
People With True Integrity Use These Phrases

The War on Empathy is Dystopian and Delusional
America: Not the Greatest Country in the World

Dear Evan Hanson: You Will Be Found

"For 250 years, America promoted freedom and equality abroad, even when it failed to live up to those ideals itself. Not anymore."
-Anne Applebaum, the Atlantic, The Beacon of Democracy Goes Dark

"Our world is not divided by race, color, gender, or religion. Our world is divided into wise people and fools. And fools divide themselves by race, color, gender, or religion."
-Nelson Mandela

“Western culture has evolved to the point where millions of us—and not just Republicans and Trump supporters—have been left unable to make basic moral judgments. How is it that half of America looks at Donald Trump and doesn’t find him morally repellent? He lies, cheats, steals, betrays, and behaves cruelly and corruptly, and more than 70 million Americans find him, at the very least, morally acceptable. Some even see him as heroic, admirable, and wonderful. What has brought us to this state of moral numbness?”
-David Brooks, The Atlantic

Train Passengers Sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow
How to Have Compassion for Others No Matter What They Do
Compassionate Communication
TED Talk: The Selfish Goal of Compassion

Happy People Dancing Around the World 2006

America Has Already Lost the War

Citizens are abandoning human empathy and discarding critical thinking...

As I watched scores of panic-stricken fathers in Iran, bloodying their hands, desperately tearing through the hulking rubble entombing their children, I grieved deeply.

I mourned over their valiant but futile efforts to extricate life from beneath the crushing carnage surrounding them. I mourned the senseless destruction of dozens of radiant young lives eradicated in the span of a heartbeat by a nameless, faceless terror from the sky.

I mourned for a beautiful people whose unprovoked trauma and undeserved suffering mean nothing to a substantial portion of my country, who simply do not care for brown-skinned, foreign human beings. And I mourned the fact that no matter what happens in the coming hours and days, America has already lost the real wars, long before this moment.

We have lost the war to prevent tens of millions of our parents, siblings, lifelong friends, and neighbors from abandoning human empathy, discarding critical thinking, and falling into a thick, inpenetrable cultic stupor from which facts, data, or the obliterated bodies of Iranian schoolchildren cannot retrieve them.

Hate is a Public Health Emergency and the Epidemic We Keep Ignoring

Astronaut Christina Koch: We Are a Crew

Pete Buttigieg: Reassurance
America Has Already Lost the War in Iran

Drive-By Compliments: You Look Great!

"Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself."
-Robert Green Ingersoll

We have lost the war to prevent people we love and once respected from becoming morally-addled by a whitewashed myth of national exceptionalism that has rendered them with little value for those beyond the tightly-closed, fiercely-guarded borders of their calloused hearts.

We have lost the war to ensure that we did not place our nation’s fate into the bruised and jittery hands of a classless, bottom-feeding, race-baiting, empty husk of a human being, whose eight decades on this planet have not yielded one noble impulse or benevolent act.

We have lost the war to collectively choose wisely between an intelligent, experienced woman of color and a narcissistic, convicted felon and court-adjudicated white male rapist, and now find ourselves teetering precariously on the edge of authoritarianism.

We have lost the war to keep the people we live and work, study and worship alongside from being swallowed up by a blind tribal allegiance to party and country that runs solely on stoked fears and curated prejudices.

We have lost the war to live in a nation that believes human beings thousands of miles away are as sacred and as worthy of defense as those within arm’s reach.

Consequences of War

On the Right Side of History

Jon Ossoff: Vision for America

Current Situation is Scary

Horrible People Have Always Been Here

"For as long as the power of America's diversity is diminished by acts of discrimination and violence against people just because they are black, Hispanic, Asian, Jewish, Muslim or gay, we still must overcome."
-Ron Kind

We have lost the war to keep from normalizing the prolific atrocities of an untethered madman and his cadre of emboldened bigots, whose inhumanity is unabated.

We have lost the war to create a nation where mass murders, protected pedophiles, and masked mercenaries are alarming and not commonplace.

Bring the World Together

Faces From Around the World

Celebrate Diversity

Something Wrong in the Village

Declaration of Human Rights

We have lost the war to live in a nation where all people recognize when a sitting president launches a brutal act of lawless military aggression simply to avoid legal accountability for his sexual crimes against girls and women, and the political reckoning of a free and fair election.

The unconstitutional, illegal, unethical, and immoral bombing of the Iranian people is not a war; it is the latest deadly symptom of a diseased Republic whose leaders feel no obligation to the Laws of our nation or to the higher laws governing decent human beings.

It is yet another manifestation of the collective heart sickness afflicting tens of millions of people who call this place home, a moral cancer that chokes out compassion and metastasizes cruelty.

Our bleeding, barely breathing two-hundred-and-fifty-year experiment in democracy is now lying beneath the crushing rubble of billions of tiny compromises, turned heads, shared sins, allowed injustices, and avoided confrontations.

I wonder if we can still win the war to emancipate it.

[Source: John Pavlovitz, February 2026]

What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding - Nick Lowe
Immigrants and Mountainish Inhumanity: Ian McKellen Reciting Shakespeare

President Obama: Warning Against Cynicism and Division

Heather Cox Richardson: Patriotism
James Talarico: Love of Neighbor

John Cena: Love and Patriotism

TED Talk: Mattering

Are We Losing Our Shared Humanity?

America's Strength: Diversity

Honesty: What Makes an Honest Person?

“We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God’s family.”
-Desmond Tutu

Fundamental Connections and Universal Experiences

Focus on Community, Commonalty, and Compassion...

"Our shared humanity" refers to the fundamental connections, universal experiences, values, and basic needs that unite all people, transcending individual differences and cultural backgrounds. Recognizing our shared humanity fosters compassion, empathy, and understanding, encouraging collective responsibility for building resilient and equitable communities by acknowledging our common struggles and aspirations, like the innate desire for connection, love, and belonging.

Universal Experiences: All humans experience core life events, including loss, stress, fear, joy, and the search for meaning and connection.

Common Needs: Everyone has fundamental needs for love, belonging, safety, respect, and purpose, regardless of their background.
Genetic Similarity: Scientifically, humans are remarkably alike, with approximately 99.9% of their DNA being the same, highlighting our deep biological connection despite visible differences.

Emotional and Psychological Similarities: People share similar hopes, dreams, and feelings, which form the basis for empathy and connection.

Jay Shetty: Trust in a Relationship
Trevor Noah: Comedy Diffuses Tension

What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding
Honoring Difference: You Are a Masterpiece

Jordan Peterson: How to Stay Sane in an Insane World

"Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it's nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy."
-Thomas Merton

Why Recognizing Shared Humanity Matters

Fosters Compassion and Empathy: Understanding that others experience similar struggles, fears, and losses helps to build compassion and connect with others on a deeper level.

Promotes Community and Connection: It challenges us to see people not as strangers but as fellow humans living on the same planet, inspiring unity rather than division.

Drives Collective Action: Recognizing our interconnectedness is crucial for addressing complex global challenges, as individual actions impact the wider community.

Encourages Healing and Restoration: Acknowledging shared struggles and providing mutual support is key to navigating crises and fostering resilience in communities.

Mariann Edgar Budde: Fundamental Call of Our Humanity

Can Democracy Survive?

Kids Meet a Former Member of the Westboro Baptist Church
King Charles: UK and US Shared Principles

I Think You’re Beautiful: Social Experiment

"We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion."
-Max de Pree

How to Cultivate a Sense of Shared Humanity

Practice Empathy: Actively listen to others' stories and try to understand their perspectives and experiences.

Focus on Commonalities: Seek out shared interests, values, and goals to build bridges between different groups and communities.

Embrace Curiosity: Learn about different traditions, backgrounds, and stories to appreciate both the differences and similarities among people.

Act with Kindness and Respect: Make a conscious effort to treat everyone with love and respect, looking past social status, class, and background.

Lady Gaga: Won’t You Be My Neighbor (Studio)

Halle Berry: Your Worth and Value

George Clooney: Defending Freedom
Proud to Be a Liberal

What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding - Lucy Laplanski

"Remember: There is nothing natural or inevitable about extreme inequality; it’s the result of an economic system that values wealth and power over human dignity and justice. It doesn't have to be this way. Collectively, we have the power to change it."
-Robert Reich

Being Honest in a Dishonest World

Is dishonesty the new normal?

Are getting indifferent and desensitized to the existence of lying in our society? After all, honesty has seen its market value tumble over the years with countless reports of plagiarism, factual carelessness, and blatant fabrication. But as troubling as such prevarication may be from the media, it’s far more disheartening when it becomes the norm among our political leaders.

The sad truth is that we expect our politicians to lie. But the brazenness with which they conjure up easily verifiable falsehoods grows ever more astonishing. Once integrity disappears, the only motive not to lie is fear of not getting away with it — and in a society that has grown indifferent to lying, there are rarely consequences for even the most brazen lies. And that has consequences for all of us. But there is something we can do.

Joseph Welch Stands Up to Joe McCarthy
America's Strength: Diversity

John Stweart on Daily Show: One Too Many

Happy People Dancing Around the World 2012

Greg Harden: How To Stay Sane in an Insane World

Here are ways we can prevent the erosion of our own integrity:

Don’t exaggerate - “I could have died” ... “I’ve said it a million times” ... “You never listen when I talk to you." These may seem harmless, but every exaggeration makes us a little less sensitive to honesty and authenticity. Disciplining ourselves to speak accurately reinforces respect for the truth, both in ourselves and in those who hear us.

Don’t embellish - How many popular motion pictures “based on” or “inspired by” true stories are guilty of wild embellishments that distort fact into Hollywood fiction? How often do we ourselves add details to make a good story “better?” But consider what it says about us — and what it teaches our children — when the truth isn’t good enough.

Don’t look for loopholes - When we use truth as a means of deception, it becomes an even more perverse form of falsehood. Like the employee in Isaac Asimov’s short story “Truth to Tell,” who swore that he did not steal either “the cash or the bonds” when in fact he had stolen the cash and the bonds. And will we ever forget the presidential defense of perjury that rested on “what the definition of is is”? The letter of the law becomes irrelevant when we no longer respect the spirit of the law.

"This world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another."
-Ellen Page

"We should indeed keep calm in the face of difference, and live our lives in a state of inclusion and wonder at the diversity of humanity."
-George Takei

Sara Bareilles and Carole King: Beautiful/Brave

Steve Hofstetter: Left vs Right

Horrible People Have Always Been Here

Immigrants and Mountainish Inhumanity: Ian McKellen Reciting Shakespeare

It Takes a Lot of Courage to Be Your True Self

Know your facts - If you don’t know — or can’t remember — the details of a story, don’t make them up. Again, it might seem irrelevant; it might even be irrelevant. But a commitment to Truth is never irrelevant. If a story isn’t worth telling without details you don’t have, don’t bother telling it at all. Presenting uncertainty as fact only adds fuel to the spreading wildfire of moral confusion.

Be a skeptic - Have you heard some interesting news? What’s the source? A forwarded email? Conservative talk radio? MSNBC? Fox News? NPR? Most outlets have some bias or agenda. And some are outright fraudulent. Before repeating a story, do your homework and make sure it’s credible. Over time, it’s possible to determine which publications and which reporters can be trusted. And always keep in mind that there are two sides to almost every story.

Admit ignorance - It’s okay not to know something. But to claim knowledge when you know you don’t know is irresponsible — and usually comes back to bite you. There’s no shame in admitting a lack of knowledge, especially when followed up with a sincere promise to do some research and fill in the gaps.

"All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential."
-Harvey Milk

"It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.”

-Bhagavad Gita

"I like you as you are. Exactly and precisely. I think you turned out nicely. And I like you as you are."
-Fred Rogers

Bernie Sanders: Support Free Speech and Condemn Violence

Pete Buttigieg Explains the Purpose of DEI

Global Dancing: Favorite Dance Moves

Truths About Empowering People

Bruce Springsteen: Streets Of Minneapolis

Admit guilt - We all make mistakes. Acknowledging error promptly and attempting to correct damage swiftly is one of the surest signs of integrity. How many personal and political crises blossomed out of momentary lapses that grew into scandalous cover-ups? When we admit guilt, we teach character and responsibility. We also help our own cause: by acknowledging guilt when we are guilty, we earn others’ trust when we declare our innocence.

Avoid liars - Behavior is contagious. The more we associate with people who don’t care about the truth, the more likely we are to stop caring about it ourselves. Do not give in to their toxic gaslighting.

Look for the good - Honesty doesn’t require us to say everything we know or anything we think. Sometimes, honesty is definitely the wrong policy, as in the case of malicious gossip or hurtful, personal remarks. However, with a little creativity, we can avoid conflicts between truth and etiquette. If we exercise bit more caution with our own words, we might be less suspicious about those stories of little miracles and inspirational irony that make our eyes sparkle and our hearts swell.

And if a more profound commitment to honesty helps us become less cynical and more easily inspired, think how much good that will do for ourselves and the people who share our lives.

[Source: Yonason Goldson, BizCatalyst 360]

George W Bush on Immigration

What it Means to Love Your Country

What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding

Barack Obama: Reflections

Everybody Wants to Be Loved by Ingrid Michaelson

"Freedom means nothing, unless it means the freedom to be different."

-Marty Rubin

Aspects of Compassion

Suffering together...

Compassion is the feeling of deep concern and sympathy for another's suffering, coupled with a strong desire to help them. It's an active emotion, distinguished from empathy by the accompanying urge to take action to alleviate the suffering. The word itself originates from Latin, meaning "to suffer together".

--Empathy plus action: While empathy is understanding another's feelings, compassion takes it a step further by prompting a desire to act and help.
--Desire to alleviate suffering: A central component of compassion is the motivational drive to reduce the pain, sorrow, or misfortune of others.
--Sensitivity to suffering: Compassion involves being sensitive to the emotional aspects of another person's pain.
--Universal application: You can feel compassion for people you know, as well as strangers.
--Part of human nature: For most people, compassion comes naturally, although it can also be nurtured and developed.

How compassion differs from related terms...

--Empathy: Feeling what another person is feeling.
--Sympathy: A feeling of pity or sorrow for someone else's misfortune, but not necessarily with a desire to act.
--Altruism: Disinterested or selfless concern for the well-being of others, often involving actions to help.

How To Tell Whether You Are Living In Integrity Or Not

Steve Hofstetter: Left vs Right

Around the World: Favorite Dance Moves

What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love

People With True Integrity Use These Phrases

NATIONAL CRISIS | SOCIAL JUSTICE | SHARED HUMANITY

CHURCH AND STATE | PATRIOTIC LESSONS | POPULAR CULTURE