Sign the
Neighbors First Pledge
One Minute to Change the
World for Good
WHY NOW
Our technology is evolving faster than our wisdom. Without a shared sense of what is Good and what is True, we become heroes fighting other heroes. Our divided house could eventually fall if we don’t start making different choices.
THE TRUTH
We’re all neighbors in an interconnected world. We’ve always been Neighbors First - we’re just forgetting. The Golden Rule is not sentiment. It’s the key to our survival and thriving.
THE ASK
Please take 60 seconds: read the Pledge, sign if it resonates, and share it with two neighbors.
THE PLEDGE
We're all neighbors in an interconnected world. We’re one human race sharing one planet and one future.
I commit to Neighbors First, beyond all that divides us, and aspire to treat every person as I wish to be treated.
GOAL
100 million signatures. That's the tipping point.
WANT TO UNDERSTAND A "WHY" BEHIND NEIGHBORS FIRST?
The Pledge stands on its own. You can sign now if you'd like. But if you're curious why this moment matters, choose your depth:
Our Signal Above the Noise (~5 min): One perspective on why Neighbors First makes sense.
The Full Vision (~20-30 min): The deeper dive - for when you have time. (link coming with full release)
There are many paths to the same destination.
OUR SIGNAL ABOVE THE NOISE
The Mismatch:
We are stone-age minds living in a space-age world. Our technology evolves faster than our wisdom. We've created an alien world we didn't evolve to inhabit. The pace of change has finally exceeded our ability to adapt.
The Great Forgetting:
We forgot that we're one human race. We've become imprisoned within an illusion of separateness - seeing enemies instead of neighbors.
Our Divided House:
Everyone fights for their version of "Good." But without shared Truth, we become heroes fighting other heroes and co-create our mutual suffering. Our house is being divided by different ideas of what is Good. This could eventually cause our house to fall - unless we start making different choices.
We Are Our Neighbors:
Whether divine will or cosmic accident, none of us chose the body, brain, or country we were born into. We could have been born as any of our neighbors. To love our neighbors as ourselves is simply to acknowledge this Truth.
We are our neighbors.
The One Truth:
We've always been Neighbors First. This Truth we already know is also the Truth that sets us Free.
Truth First:
The Truth sets us Free - but only if we seek it with 100% commitment and 100% non-attachment to what we find. To find True Freedom, we must set the Truth free from what we wish it to be.
But here's the secret:
Truth must be lived, just as oxygen must be breathed, to matter.
We already know the Truth. We just aren't living it enough.
We put Truth First. Always.
The Neighbors First Imperative:
We fulfill our biological purpose to survive and thrive by living our spiritual purpose: treating our neighbors as ourselves. Science and spirituality aren't in opposition - they're complementary.
The Attention Economy:
So why aren't we making much progress on living the Truth we already know?
Because something profits from our forgetting.
The Attention Economy exploits our primal instincts - especially fear. It creates enemies so it can sell us outrage. It divides our house for profit. It doesn't love neighbors. It doesn't even care if we survive.
It misses the mark on both fronts: it undermines our spiritual purpose (to love our neighbors) AND our biological purpose (to survive and thrive).
Like a cancer, it destroys the host it invades.
We need to put an end to the Attention Economy before it puts an end to us.
The Shared Good:
But what IS "Good"? Here's a definition most people can align on:
Good = Humanity's collective survival and thriving.
What's our alternative? Extinction and suffering? This is our shared foundation. It transcends ideology and politics. It's just the most fundamental agreement possible: we want humanity to survive and thrive together.
The Skillful Path Forward:
To achieve this Good, we need a shared sense of reality. We need to align on what is True so we can move toward what is Good - together.
Truth sets us free so that we’re able to find the Good together as neighbors.
The Experiment:
What if we use our technologies, including AI, to help us connect on shared truths - so we can maximize our chances of achieving the Good: our collective survival and thriving?
AI isn't our judge. It's a mirror - reflecting back what we already know if we ask the right questions with curiousity and openness.
The Neighborly Question:
We are to aspire to love our neighbors, not hate them. Hatred is the poison we drink hoping the other person will die. To help overcome it, we can ask ourselves the Neighborly Question:
"How can I disagree with my neighbor and still view and treat them as a Good Person?"
"We're one, but we're not the same. We get to carry each other." - U2
INVITATION
What's Next? We Decide.
Thank you, neighbor!
We've all signed petitions that collect digital dust. This is different.
We've defined the shared Good: humanity's survival and thriving. Now we're asking - what are YOUR ideas to achieve it?
You're invited to join "Our Grand Field Experiment." We're asking humans first (your wisdom) and AI (as a mirror) the same question. In 2-3 weeks, we'll see if what emerges converges. We'll share what we find - our first synthesis. Then we make it better together.
Your voice matters as much as anyone's - whether you're 16 or 60, scraping by or leading a company. No experts. No sides. Just neighbors. John Lennon imagined a world we can actually build.
The future is not just in our hands - it's literally at our fingertips.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
This will take about 5 minutes. Results will be posted here in 2-3 weeks and shared on social media.
JOIN OUR GRAND FIELD EXPERIMENT
WANT TO CONTINUE THE JOURNEY?
You're a participant now, not a follower. We'll be sharing ideas on social media - most in under a minute.
Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | X | Threads | LinkedIn | One Unity Project Website
Neighbors, will you meet me in the Field?
DEDICATION
To my mother, Helen T. Brooks (1939-2002), a public school teacher whose dying wish was for me to "do some good." We launched the Neighbors First Pledge on January 31 - the day she passed away from pancreatic cancer. This one's for you, Mom!
WITH GRATITUDE
To E.O. Wilson, Albert Bartlett, Isaac Asimov, and Eckhart Tolle, for diagnosing our condition. To Rumi, Jesus, Buddha, Hillel, Muhammad, Lao Tzu, Einstein, and Sagan - every finger pointing at the same moon. To Neil Peart and Rush and Bono and U2 - you helped me think big and find what I'm looking for. To the Hard Fork podcast for keeping me both informed and entertained. To the AI systems that have been partners in this exploration. To neighbors at the One Unity Project who made this possible. To my wife and inner circle folks who kept me going. And to every person who gives feedback to make this better.
AI CAN be used for Good. It's our choice. It always has been.
#NeighborsFirst #MeetInTheField #TruthFirst
Truth First. Always.
OneUnityProject.org | @oneunityproject