Join Us.
Science-Based Communication Education Collective
We are committed to protecting and empowering strong, diverse communities of nurturing families who care for each other’s rights and freedoms.
Democracy makes no sense if we care for no one but ourselves and our own families.
Our Mission: Make empathy central to constant public discourse on human rights issues, especially in state general assemblies and local city councils.
Welcome. We care about you. Here’s how.
We want to know what matters to our members and their organizations in building a caring society because those matters are moral and political. No one tells their conversation partner, “What matters most to me in building a caring society is pure evil because I’m bad.” We’re all trying to be the best version of ourselves. Whether it’s in the realm of a healthy family, religion, building a business, government/legal, education, arts and media, or journalism, we want to empower you to frame it from our mutual duty to care for humanity’s rights and freedoms.
Join our science-based communication education collective of human rights advocates.
- Individual membership application
- Organizational membership application
- Scholarship membership application
What is science-based communication?
Science-based communication education equips us to apply Dr. George Lakoff’s and others’ cognitive science and linguistics to frame our individual passions and organizational missions around a shared progressive vision, strengthening our progressive biases. We seek lifelong partnerships to centralize empathy in public discourse on human rights issues.
Our approach is based on the phenomenon of biconceptualism: People with healthy human brains are morally complex and have an unconscious, cognitive bias between two nations as family metaphors and moralities – nurturing parents versus strict father – care versus cruelty – democracy versus autocracy. Biconceptualism confirms the ancient lore of two internal wolves battling for the human soul – a caring wolf and a cruel wolf – the winner being the caring wolf we consciously feed.
In some parts of our lives, we unconsciously apply the core values of non-hierarchical nurturing parent-family progressivism, a strong commitment to govern relationships with empathy for and responsibility to humanity. In other parts, we unconsciously apply the core values of hierarchical strict father-family conservatism, obedience to the strict father’s interpretation of authority, and cruel punishment for disobedience. Our membership collective helps each other expand our duty to care and apply the values of strong, diverse communities of nurturing families caring for each other’s freedoms.
Our duty to care for each other’s freedom requires empathy, the soul of democracy and human rights.
The duty to care for each other’s freedom has been a legal concept in English law since 1760. Conservatism has limited the duty to care, and fascism has ignored care altogether since their terms were coined. The United Nations defeated fascism when World War II ended in 1945. Take 1-minute to listen to former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who chaired the international committee of the United Nations from 1945 to 1948 that defined human rights. She is reading the Proclamation from the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Notice how it obliges “every individual and every organ of society” to learn about the UDHR and teach others about it using “progressive measures.” That requires a commitment to the legal concept of the duty to care. You can read the entire Preamble and all 30 of the UDHR at this link.
Individuals join membership-driven Empathy Surplus for $10/month.
Since all ideas are physical, they can be changed through language and experience. Diverse, nurturing communities can strengthen their promotion of progressivism – the duty to care. Membership dues of $10/mo are NOT tax-deductible. The benefits of membership include:
- Voting rights for board trustees
- Entrance to Empathy Surplus Zoom Forums (required of board trustees)
- Voting rights to determine Empathy Surplus Zoom Forum study material
- @empathysurplus.com email and access to our Google Workspace
- An extension number to the Empathy Surplus phone number 833-672-8487
- Find more benefits on our education webpage
Organizational members enjoy a discount for four individuals – $9/month.
Organizational membership begins at $36/mo, allowing them to recruit four stakeholders to join Empathy Surplus at a discount. Organizational logos can be displayed on this website and our branded pocketbook version of the Illustrated Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
C.A.R.E. Education Team Volunteers
Want to help centralize empathy in constant public discourse without a financial commitment? Consider joining the C.A.R.E. Education Team. Volunteers engage their state representatives and senators to encourage them to require students in K-12 to [a] learn how to cultivate empathy and [b] learn about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Dues-paying members are also encouraged to volunteer. Volunteer benefits include:
- @empathysurplus.com email and access to our Google Workspace
- An extension number to the Empathy Surplus phone number 833-672-8487
Just want to make a tax-deductible donation?
Go to https://proempathy.us/recurring
Caring Thought Leaders Core Values
Empathy
the soul of democracy
Responsibility
both personal and social
Commitment
to govern with empathy and responsibility
Free Compassionate USA Micro-Course Partner Since 2022
George Lakoff's Resources
The basic idea is this: Dr. Lakoff's resources are free and open to all. He will provide framing suggestions regularly over social media, and whoever receives them can decide how to use them, and whether to share them or retweet them. Dr. Lakoff's process is bottom-up.
Dr. Lakoff also offers this framing service to activist organizations, media folks, and elected officials and their staff.
Pro-Empathy Pledge to the People of the World
(Recited while holding a neighbor's hand. People from other countries may insert the name of their country.)
I pledge my care to the people of the world
and to my neighbors in the United States of America
and to our human rights, which I defend and promote,
one world governed with empathy and responsibility,
with liberty and justice for all.
Empathy Surplus Network USA is a 501c3 local human rights empathy education community of practice that applies the latest brain insights of George Lakoff to moral and political discourse to protect human rights with the rule of law. To reverse our national empathy deficit, we invite you to join our culture diplomacy initiative to make empathy, the soul of democracy and ethical business, the center of public and private debate. Donations are exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(a) and described in section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.
UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL compact resources
Pro-Empathy Freedom Declaration
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