“Inwardly digest the political implications and usage of the latest brain research; and use our core freedom values in daily conversations about government and its moral mission to protect and empower us.” (from the Model Caring Citizens Chapter Constitution)

American character has to do with moral character. Our first responsibility as caring citizens is to remember we are moral beings and that all political worldviews are moral worldviews. Believing something is right or wrong or answering with a yes or a no is a moral undertaking and defines our identity. One does not compromise one’s identity, or one is thought of as untrustworthy.

The imperative to inwardly digest comes from the founder’s religious upbringing and his use of The Book of Common Prayer, of The Episcopal Church of the United States. In it the entire phrase that is used is “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.”

If caring citizens are to make public government’s moral mission to protect and empower its citizens effective, we must inwardly digest the latest insights of the brain and their implications on conversations that matter in the public square.

Words matter.

The original authors of “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” had no knowledge of cognitive science in 1549, or its discovery that all ideas are embodied and do not exist in nature. Nor did they know that 60 percent of our neural pathways are located below our neck. However, religions and philosophers of the world, have known for centuries that the repetition of language affects one’s behavior – orthopraxis leads to orthodoxy – right practice leads to right belief and vice versa. If we don’t talk about how to care for our neighbor, promoting empathy and shared responsibility, more than likely, our care will be sub-par.

Our American Dream of a well-functioning democracy is based on a simple morality: The more caring citizens protect and empower not only people they know, but people they don’t know and will never know, the more our freedoms and human rights expand. Our dream is built on mutual care and mutual trust. In addition to sharing the tasks, we have shared the tools of a free people to make our dream a reality: Public health of clean food, water, and air for each other. Public education for our children. An open and honest financial system in a moral economy, where everyone has opportunities and enough prosperity to make a decent living. A protected system of governance, where our democratic institutions function at peak capacity to empower our freedom and prosperity for a better future. That dream is in jeopardy.

We are currently living the American Nightmare of a well-functioning plutocracy, intentionally undermining democracy, that is based on a simple morality: Empathy and shared responsibility and trust in public government is bad, and our focus should be personal responsibility ONLY. We are free to be on our own and to make as much money as possible. If you’re poor, too bad. You had your chance and weren’t disciplined enough and didn’t obey the rules of profit maximization. If you’re rich, you must be moral. If you’re poor, you must be immoral. This is the conservative moral worldview.

This group started by studying Thinking Points.

The Empathy Surplus Project is for anyone who rejects conservatism, regardless of party. Our goal is to change the narrative of the dialogue of all parties by fostering and encouraging lots of small communities of practice, where caring citizens invest weekly in our 1st Amendment freedom to gather and re-imagine the American Dream. We will respect the admirable and effective way dozens of conservative think tanks have embraced and used the latest brain insights on political discourse.

We will inwardly digest these brain insights and re-frame our American discourse to align once more with the vision of our founders that We the People, individually and together, have a moral claim to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

• We will talk more about strengthening Americans and less about a strengthening the military.
• We will talk more about broadening prosperity and less about responsibility-free-markets.
• We will talk more about investing in a better future and less about lowering taxes, i.e. defunding democracy.
• We will talk more about building trust for an effective public government and less about reducing public government.
• We will talk more about our mutual responsibility and less about our own family values.

You can start by gathering some friends and reading Thinking Points: Communicating American Values and Vision, by Dr. George Lakoff. Another publication available by downloading is The Common Cause Handbook, which at this writing has had more than 1700 downloads.