Declaration FAQs
The Declaration sets forward one vital insight:
We are One World, in this together.
We share responsibility for our actions and interactions and
for healing ourselves, each other and the planet.
What is The Declaration of Responsibility and Interdependence?
The Declaration is an evolving 21st-century mission statement for the planet and the cosmos. In crafting this document, we have worked to put love at its heart, and intellect as its rationale.
It sets forth a model for hope, love and unity, within a mindset that recognizes our capacity to grow and evolve using our inherent human capacities for reason and diplomacy.
The Declaration represents the realization that we all have a responsibility to each other, the planet and, as humanity ventures star-ward, the cosmos of which we all are a part.
Living in harmony with the Earth and all that inhabit it is ancient wisdom that was commonly understood and followed by our ancestors. It has long been held by native peoples around the globe: that by living in accord with the Laws of Nature and each other, we engage in a fine balancing act within a complex ecosystem.
Today, humanity’s hubris that is tugging that system out-of-balance.
As Carl Sagan famously observed, “We are all stardust.” These self-same elements that make up the Universe, also form our essence; if we are not aware of the web that weaves us all together, our world is in danger of dissolution.
We are stronger together.
Who is this Declaration for?
As our opening states, we have created this new mission statement to help guide “We the Peoples of the Planet Earth.”
We share this document freely for the benefit of any and all who wish to see humanity come together with the recognition that we can intentionally co-create a world, not of scarcity and lack, but abundance and generosity. Where we open our minds and hearts to the wisdom of the ages. Where we stand up against forces determined to foment hatred, separation, violence and aggression, turning person against person to stand for reason, compassion, unity and peace.
Where love wins.
Our goal: to reach and inspire one million people this year to read, sign and share the Declaration; to strive to live in to its principles.
We invite everyone so inspired to share the document with friends, families, colleagues and influencers in its totality and without distorting its principles and intentions to promote the idea that we are all in this together, and that working towards unity requires we all take responsibility for our actions and interactions.
We trust in the God-given goodness and generosity in the heart of each-and-every human on the planet (or soaring star-ward) now, and in future generations, to accept this covenant, without exception.
How is the message of the Declaration different?
It is neither political, nor religious. Adhering to the Declaration requires no doctrine or creed. Its intention is to:
- Create a vision for humanity around the recognition that we share common wants, hopes and dreams,
- See, listen to and know each other through the ties that bind us all: safety, security and freedom from want and need, for ourselves, our families and our communities,
- Strive to overcome differences—and understand those forces that would divide us as not serving the common good,
- Work together to repair the physical, emotional and moral harm that has resulted from not seeing each other and our world as interconnected,
- Accept that each of us is responsible for our own actions, and contributing to the good of ourselves, our families, and our society,
- Create momentum around what we share as a common vision to survive, and to thrive.
Why do we need a document like this now?
Humanity today is faced with the reality that our greed and aggression is decimating the only home mankind has ever known, pillaging resources and ignoring the ecosystem that is so finely tuned for our co-existence on the planet.
Launched on January 1, 2020, we saw an opportunity to appeal to the “better angels of our nature,” as U.S. President Abraham Lincoln so famously conjured in his First Inaugural Address.i
In so doing, we invite We the People to open our hearts and reflect on ways our words and actions influence the course of human events—and to realize we all have a part to play to advance a healthier, more secure, and interdependent future for our children, grandchildren and generations yet to come.
Who are the Framers of this new-and-ancient Declaration?
A group of concerned citizens participated together in a four-day retreat around the idea that we have the capacities and potentials to envision a greater, more harmonious future, aligned with the Laws of Nature and steeped in the wisdom of those who came before.
Well aware that humanity has been gone off course with our practice of sowing division, anger, and ill will among and between us, we wanted to create a pathway to pull us off this path of self- and planetary destruction.
We became determined to find a new way to inspire a more compassionate, heart-centered and interconnected world. On the heels of that inspiration, we undertook an exercise to list and clarify those values we would want to bring forth, while our globe is facing some very existential threats.
Through a deep dive into history of ancient spiritual traditions, native wisdom and the scientific and technological advances spawned through the Western enlightenment, discussions and conversations with family, friends and advisors, we birthed the Declaration of Responsibility and Interdependence.
As a writer, and student of history, chief author and co-creator Robin Payes returned to America’s founding document, The Declaration of Independencei, for guidance. Thomas Jefferson constructed that declaration using language and following a rhetorical style familiarii to 18th-century citizens: building an argument with reason, so that none can take issue with the rationale, then asserting a new big idea that grows out of this discourse.
But reason alone is not the solution; humans are swayed by emotion, by moral argument, and by love as equal to intellect.
Indeed, this unification of “head and heart” or, if you will, “science and compassion” is an argument for oneness with which Jefferson himself would have been familiariii. He equated the heart with emotion, justice, friendship and morals, and the heart with intellect, science and reason. The man who was Jefferson could not easily reconcile the two.
In the Declaration of Independence, the new idea was that, “All men are created equal.” In our Declaration of Responsibility of Interdependence, we assert, further, that we are in this together: “All life is one.”
We hope, in co-creating this new Mission Statement for the Planet, to inspire our fellow citizens and leaders in every realm, who envision a future where humanity thrives, builds new knowledge, expands our technological prowess for the benefit of all, and finds their hearts afire with the possibility to see our interconnections as strength—the superpower that ensures our rights of safety, security, equality, freedom and the pursuit of joy.
How can I get involved?
Our goal for this year is to inspire 1 million people across the planet with this new-and-ancient message.
We invite you to “live into” the messages of the Declaration. We will be rolling out ways to spark conversations, share stories and inspire interaction, in both real and virtual spaces, in our communities, and around the world, and through engagement online, through social media, and in the news.
Most urgently, we want to get out the good word. To reach our goal, we encourage you to:
And as a Concerned Citizen, we look forward to your inspiration: send us ways you would like to take the message out in your world.
- How can you begin to make a difference?
- What differences are you seeing—in yourself or in others—as a result of thinking, acting, and engaging with the Declaration in mind?
- How can we all become better off for its messages?
Where can I find out more?