The “Alpha” strategy has played the long game for forty years. They didn’t just win elections; they built an infrastructure of dominance. They traded compromise for control, and they traded empathy for an appetite for power.

We’ve spent those same decades playing “Charlie Brown”, hoping the football wouldn’t be yanked away at the last second (again). We naively believed that if we were just reasonable enough, or right enough, the “Strongman” instinct would vanish from the conservatives across the aisle.

It’s time we admit that it won’t.

Dominance is a cage that traps everyone inside it. To break out, we don’t need a louder Alpha; we need a Contrast Society. We don’t need a throne; we need a Common Floor.

The Price of Admission (Read This First)

Before you sign on to what I’m saying, you need to know that there is a cost. Attempting to build a Contrast Society is not a “feel-good” movement. It takes hard work and patience. You might be thinking, “Of course. I’m fine with that,” but the fact is that most people aren’t fine with it because we’ve been trained, for years, to want instant gratification.

When you’re building a Contrast Society, you will lose the dopamine hit of outrage. You’ll need to trade the instant satisfaction of “owning the MAGAts” for the slow work of building trust.

You will likely feel “Ethical Vertigo,” which is the feeling of disorienting, visceral discomfort and confusion that often happens when we’re facing profound moral dilemmas where traditional rules no longer apply. You will have to stand in solidarity with people who don’t share your 100% purity. At times, it will feel like you are losing, even when you are building something stronger.

You will face moral gray zones. You will have to decide, in real time, whether you are holding your values or hiding from conflict. This requires judgment, not just conviction.

You will be attacked by your own side. When you choose cooperation over conflict, the loudest voices in your circle will call you “complicit.”

If you aren’t willing to be uncomfortable (and occasionally uncertain), then you aren’t playing the Progressive Long Game.

The Five Mantras of the Contrast Society

Cooperation: Common Floor, Not Common Ground.

The Shift: Stop looking for a soulmate when it comes to politics. Build a floor of safety with anyone willing to lay a brick.
The Practice: Choose one moment this week to prioritize the relationship over “winning” the policy argument. (This is not surrender, it’s strategic restraint when alignment is possible.)

Empathy: Proximity is Power.

The Shift: Dehumanization fuels the Strongman’s fire. Empathy is the water that puts out that fire.
The Practice: Move toward the person you are tempted to “other.” And be honest about the fact that all of us so-called “bleeding heart liberals” tend to “other” the racist, xenophobic, ignorant MAGAts we come across. (See what I did there?) The key is to listen long enough to understand what is at stake for them, even if you still disagree.

Integrity: Face Like Flint, Not Loud Like Thunder.

The Shift: Resilience isn’t volume; it’s consistency.
The Practice: Refuse to use the language of dehumanization or dominance, even when it would be easier. Speak the truth clearly, calmly, and repeatedly. Don’t trade insult for insult, no matter how tempting it might be.

Fairness: Build a Foundation, Not a Throne.

The Shift: Status is a virus. We win the Progressive Long Game by distributing power, not hoarding it.
The Practice: Deflect credit. Share decision-making. Pull the invisible contributor into the light. (This is excellent for strengthening the coalition we’re building.)

Curiosity: An Opened Ear is a Safety Valve.

The Shift: Certainty is a cage. Curiosity keeps us adaptable and prevents us from becoming what we oppose.
The Practice: Ask three genuine questions of someone you’re tempted to dismiss… not to trap them, but to understand the structure of their thinking. (Pro tip: Curiosity + Empathy = Contrast Society Superpower!)

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The Guardrails: How We Protect the Floor

We do not enforce ideological purity, but we do withdraw alignment from behaviors that break the floor. Remember: We’re not looking for common ground, we’re building a common floor!

If a group or individual consistently practices any of these behaviors, they are no longer part of our Progressive Long Game:

• Dehumanization: Treating any person or group as less than human.

• Dominance: Establishing hierarchies that silence or diminish others.

• Manipulation: Using bad-faith disinformation or deception to achieve a goal.

• Purity Tests: Requiring 100% agreement as a condition of belonging.

• Enabling Harm: Refusing accountability or passively allowing harm to continue in the name of comfort, access, or “keeping the peace.”

When these lines are crossed, we respond in sequence:

• Clarify the misalignment

• Offer a path to realignment

• Withdraw alignment if behavior does not change

This is not punishment. It is protection of the Common Floor.

The Roadmap: Your First 24 Hours

A manifesto is useless if it doesn’t start changing you from Day 1. With that in mind, here are four (4) steps to start building a Contrast Society right away:

1. Identify the “Alpha Instinct”
Thought: Where are you trying to dominate, dismiss, or “win” today?
Action: Pause. Shift from “Above” to “Beside.”

2. Audit Your Allies
Thought: Who have you pushed away because they weren’t “pure” enough?
Action: Reach out. Find one shared goal. Lay one brick in the Common Floor.

3. Enter the Contrast Society
Thought: Acknowledge that you don’t find the Contrast Society; you create it by how you handle your next disagreement.
Action: If the other person feels seen, even if you still disagree, the Contrast Society has begun! (Not every interaction will be reciprocal. Offer the standard anyway. That’s how all of this spreads.)

4. Recalibrate
Thought: The Progressive Long Game is a marathon. Without a ritual, you will drift back into outrage, certainty, and speed.
Action: The Weekly Compass is your calibration tool. Use it weekly to realign your actions with your values, so your “face is like flint” for the road ahead.

The Final Line in the Sand

The Strongman builds a throne out of the people he steps on.

We build a community out of the people we stand beside.

One of these requires constant force to survive. The other gets stronger every time someone chooses to stand on the same floor.

One of these eventually crumbles. The other is how we out-live the regime.

As I said in the beginning, none of this is exciting. No dopamine hits. No instant gratification. And it’ll be a long time before we can step back and say with satisfaction, “Look at what we built!” In fact, it might be hard to see the progress on most days along the way.

We need to build a Contrast Society anyway.

That’s our Progressive Long Game, and it’s a game we can win if we’re consistently focused on building and maintaining our Common Floor. So, bookmark this Manifesto for a Contrast Society and review it monthly to make sure you’re still on track.

We can step back a year from now and admire what we’ve accomplished; but between know and then, we’ve got a lot of work to do.

There’s something deeply human about wanting a protector. When things feel unstable, we don’t just want solutions. When the economy is shaky, when culture feels like it’s shifting under our feet, when the future feels uncertain, we want someone strong. Someone confident. Someone who looks at the chaos and says, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” That instinct isn’t a flaw; it’s part of how we’re wired. For most of human history, survival depended on finding the right people to follow when things got dangerous.

And that’s exactly why the metaphor in John 10 is so powerful. The idea of a shepherd—someone who enters through the gate, who is known, who is trusted, who leads rather than forces—speaks to that instinct in a healthy way. But the story doesn’t stop there. It also warns us about the other kind of figure. The one who doesn’t come through the gate. The one who climbs over, bypasses the system, and still claims to be the protector. The one who sounds like a shepherd… but behaves like something else entirely.

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: the same instinct that helps us find good leadership can also make us vulnerable to the wrong kind of leadership. And in today’s world, where fear and frustration are easy to amplify, that line between protector and predator gets very blurry very fast.

So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts!

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to believe we’re “good people” as long as we’re not the ones directly causing harm? But what if the real test isn’t what we avoid doing, but what we allow, what we tolerate, and how we respond when things get uncomfortable or unfair?

Welcome to Mythologizing the Bible, where we’ll be taking a look at three readings from the Christian Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.”

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As we reflect on the readings for the 4th Sunday of Easter, we’ll explore what it really means to take responsibility for our impact, to hold onto our values under pressure, and to recognize the difference between leadership that controls and leadership that helps people flourish.

In this episode, we’re asking a tough question: Are we actually living with integrity or just reacting to the world around us? Because it’s one thing to believe in fairness, empathy, and truth… and something very different to live those values when it costs us something.

Let me start in a place that probably doesn’t sound philosophical at all: my knees, my back, and my feet. Because when we talk about work, or purpose, or even ethics, we tend to keep it in our heads. We talk about ideas. We talk about values. But the reality is, your body keeps score whether you want it to or not. And when I went from working effectively at home for five years to driving, riding a train, and walking a half mile on concrete for an hour and forty-five minutes each way, every day, my body noticed. It didn’t give a shit about policy changes or leadership priorities. It just knew something was wrong.

But here’s where it gets deeper than just physical strain. What I was experiencing (and what a lot of people experience in situations like this) is something called moral injury. That’s not just stress. It’s not just burnout. Moral injury happens when you are forced to participate in, or stand by while witnessing, actions that violate your core sense of right and wrong. It’s what happens when the work you once believed in is stripped of its meaning, and you’re still expected to show up like nothing has changed.

And this is where that idea from our main episode—the idea of “perishable” versus “imperishable” assets—hits differently. Because in modern life, your most valuable assets aren’t your salary or your title. Your most valuable assets are your time and your health. And when a system starts demanding that you trade those things away for a mission that has been hollowed out… the math changes. What used to feel like dedication can start to look a lot like self-destruction.

So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts!

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to drift through life focused on what’s right in front of you—your job, your goals, your comfort—without really asking what any of it adds up to? We spend so much time trying to secure our own footing that we rarely stop to ask whether we’re actually building something that matters beyond ourselves.

Welcome to Mythologizing the Bible, where we’ll be taking a look at three readings from the Christian Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.”

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As we reflect on the readings for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, we’ll explore what it means to live a life defined not by accumulation or survival, but by integrity, accountability, and the kind of connection that turns ordinary moments into something meaningful.

In this episode, we’re asking a simple question: Being that our time is limited, what are we actually doing with it, and who are we becoming in the process? Are we building a life that reflects what we say we value, or just one that feels comfortable in the moment?

Over the past few posts on the main CODA Project site, we’ve been working through a simple but uncomfortable idea: progressives have been playing the wrong game.

For decades, we’ve focused on winning arguments, calling out hypocrisy, and reacting to the latest outrage. Meanwhile, a very different strategy has been unfolding—one that prioritizes long-term influence over short-term victories, infrastructure over headlines, and discipline over emotional release.

The rise of MAGA was made possible by what’s been done by ultra-conservative operatives and think tanks, as well as large corporations and the investment class. Even though MAGA is unlikely to be a lasting phenomenon, the inequitable groundwork these “Alpha” conservatives have laid will make it easier for another rightwing movement to take its place.

If progressives and people of good will are serious about building something that lasts, we have to shift our approach. That doesn’t mean abandoning our values. It means learning how to apply them strategically, consistently, and at scale.

The four posts in this series weren’t just me doing my typical navel-gazing. They were my attempt to translate four of our foundational human values—cooperation, empathy, fairness, and curiosity—into something more durable. Something that can hold under pressure. Something that can actually compete with the opposition’s long-game strategy that’s built on dominance and control.

But before we move into the next phase, let’s take a moment to reset and reconnect with the core ideas.

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1. Cooperation is a Clandestine Operation

If the Alpha strategy thrives on division, then cooperation becomes quietly subversive.

This post challenged the idea that we need perfect alignment before we can work together. Instead of searching for “common ground” built on shared beliefs, we focus on a common floor… basic conditions of safety, dignity, and mutual interest that allow people to collaborate without agreeing on everything.

The key shift is this: cooperation is not weakness. It’s discipline. It requires restraint, patience, and a willingness to build something alongside people who don’t see the world exactly the way you do.

READ: Part 1 of the Long Game: Cooperation over Competition

2. Empathy as a Subversive Act

Empathy has been framed as soft, passive, or even naïve. In reality, it’s one of the most disruptive forces available to us.

This post reframed empathy as proximity with purpose… a deliberate choice to move toward people who are being “othered,” and to understand what is at stake for them. It’s not about agreeing or offering excuses. It’s simply about removing the distance that makes dehumanization possible.

The takeaway is simple but powerful: the systems we’re pushing against rely on separation. Empathy closes that gap and, in doing so, it undermines the entire structure.

READ: Part 2 of the Long Game: Empathy as Subversion

3. Fairness vs. The Throne

Dominance systems depend on hierarchy. They depend on the idea that some people should have more power, more voice, or more worth than others.

This post contrasted that mindset with a fairness-based approach that focuses on building foundations instead of thrones. Rather than competing for position or control, the goal is to distribute power, share responsibility, and create systems that are stable because they are just.

Fairness, in this sense, is not about optics or outcomes alone. It’s about how power is structured, and whether it serves the whole or concentrates at the top.

READ: Part 3 of the Long Game: Fairness as the Foundation

4. The “Opened Ear” is Curiosity Over Dogma

Certainty feels strong, but it often locks us into rigid thinking. Curiosity, on the other hand, keeps us adaptable.

This post positioned curiosity as a discipline, not a personality trait. It is the willingness to ask better questions, to examine assumptions (including our own), and to stay open long enough to actually understand what’s in front of us.

Dogma creates cages, sometimes even when we believe we’re on the “right” side. Curiosity keeps those cages from forming in the first place.

READ: Part 4 of the Long Game: Curiosity over Dogma

What Comes Next

This series has been about shifting how we think. The next phase is about how we act.

Because values, on their own, don’t build anything. They need structure. They need discipline. And they need to show up in real decisions, real conversations, and real communities.

So we’re going to start practicing.

Each week, we’ll take one piece of the Long Game and turn it into something concrete—something you can try in a real conversation, a real relationship, or a real moment of tension. At the same time, we’ll pair that with simple, practical actions you can take right now, such as calls, emails, and small moves that push back on the issues that matter most.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s repetition. We need to start building the kind of habits that hold under pressure.

If the Long Game makes sense to you, the next step is simple:

Let’s start putting it into practice.

We’ve talked about cooperation, empathy, and fairness. But there is a silent killer of movements that we have to address: The need to be right.

In a regime of Alphas, “certainty” is the ultimate currency. The Strongman never admits a mistake. He never changes his mind. He treats curiosity like a confession of weakness.

But for the Humanist, curiosity is a superpower.

In our reading from Isaiah, the speaker talks about having an “opened ear.” Not a loud mouth, not a clenched fist, but an opened ear. This is the fourth tool of the Long Game: the radical, subversive act of staying curious in a world that demands you pick a side and stay there.

The “Dogma Trap”

We’ve all seen it in the Progressive movement. We get so locked into our own “dogma,” our specific way of seeing the world, our specific vocabulary, our specific list of enemies, that we stop listening. We become a mirror image of the Alpha we’re fighting: rigid, reactive, and ultimately, fragile.

Certainty is a cage. When you “know” everything, you can’t learn anything. And if you can’t learn, you can’t adapt.

The Alpha regime wants us to be dogmatic. They want us to be so certain of our own righteousness that we can’t see the humanity in our neighbors or the wisdom in our allies. They want us to be predictable.

Curiosity as Resistance

Curiosity is the “face like flint” in action. It is the steady, unshakeable resolve to keep seeking the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable.

• Curiosity asks “Why?”: Instead of judging an ally’s “wrong” opinion, it asks, “What experience led you to that conclusion?”

• Curiosity admits “I don’t know”: This is the ultimate “self-emptying” (Philippians 2). It’s setting aside the ego’s need to be the smartest person in the room so you can actually hear the “well-trained tongue” in someone else.

• Curiosity builds the “Common Floor”: It’s the tool that allows us to find the compromise we discussed in Post 1. It helps us see the 80% we agree on instead of the 20% that divides us.

The “Opened Ear” in a Shouting Match

The Alpha wins by turning every conversation into a battlefield. But you can’t have a battlefield if one side refuses to pick up the sword.

When you respond to hostility with Curiosity, you change the chemistry of the room. You aren’t “submitting”; you are investigating. You are looking for the vulnerability behind the Alpha’s mask. You are looking for the common humanity that the regime is trying to hide.

The Power of the “Questioning Mind”

A community of curious people is impossible to lead by a Strongman. Why? Because curious people ask too many questions. They don’t fall for simple slogans. They don’t accept “othering” at face value.

Curiosity is the intellectual infrastructure of a free society.

Your Challenge: The “Reverse Interview”

This week, find someone you deeply disagree with, either an “Alpha-wannabe” in your life or an ally who is pushing your buttons.

Ask them three genuine, open-ended questions about their perspective.

Don’t ask “trap” questions. Don’t wait for your turn to “rebut.” Just listen. Empty yourself of the need to “win” the debate and instead, try to understand the logic of their world. See if that “opened ear” doesn’t create a crack in the wall between you.

Afterwards, spend some time reflecting:

Is your “ear opened” or is it a “clenched fist”? Can we be curious enough to win the Long Game together?

This is the fifth in a series of posts that are my attempt to translate core human values—cooperation, empathy, fairness, and curiosity—into something more durable. Something that can hold under pressure and help us compete with a long-game strategy built on dominance and control.

In case you missed any of them, here are links to the other articles in the series:

The Alpha Myth: Why Dominance is a Cage (and How to Break Out)

Part 1 of the Long Game: Cooperation over Competition

Part 2 of the Long Game: Empathy as Subversion

Part 3 of the Long Game: Fairness as the Foundation

Part 4 of the Long Game: Curiosity over Dogma

Imagine if your church, or your community, or even just your friend group decided that no one among you would go without. Not in some vague, “thoughts and prayers” kind of way, but in a very real, very practical sense. Rent gets covered. Groceries get shared. Medical bills don’t spiral people into debt because the group steps in. Not charity but shared responsibility.

Now ask yourself honestly: does that sound inspiring… or does it sound impossible?

The tension we’re facing is that we love the idea of community… right up until it costs us something. We’ll show up for the potluck, volunteer for an hour, and post about caring for others. But when it comes to our time, our money, our resources… or actually restructuring how we live… suddenly things get complicated. And yet, if you go back to one of the most quoted sections of the Bible, you’ll find a community that didn’t just talk about caring for each other. They reorganized their entire lives around it.

So the question isn’t whether this idea exists. It’s right there in the text. The question is why all of these self-proclaimed followers of Christ have quietly decided it doesn’t really apply anymore. What does that say about the way we all choose comfort over consistency?

So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts!

We’ve all seen it. A group starts with the best intentions, fighting for justice, standing up to a bully, or organizing for change. But then, slowly, a “mini-Alpha” emerges. Someone decides their voice matters more. Someone starts stepping on others to get to the front of the line.

The “Throne” is a highly contagious virus. And if we aren’t careful, we end up building a movement that looks exactly like the regime we’re trying to replace.

That’s why Fairness is the third essential tool in the Long Game. In a secular humanist framework, fairness isn’t just about “being nice,” it’s the structural integrity of the Common Floor.

The Alpha’s Currency: Favoritism and Fear

The Strongman’s world is built on a hierarchy of “Insiders” and “Outsiders.” He rewards loyalty, punishes dissent, and creates a system where some people are simply worth more than others. He builds a throne by stepping on the very people who follow him.

Fairness is the antidote to the throne.

When we commit to fairness, we are declaring that status has no rank here. We are deciding that the “lowest” person in the room has the same inherent right to dignity, safety, and a voice as the person at the microphone. This is the radical “descending” we saw in Philippians 2… emptying ourselves of the need to be “above” so we can stand “beside.”

The “Circular Firing Squad” is a Fairness Failure

Why do Progressive movements fall apart? Usually, it’s because someone feels unheard or pushed aside. When a movement stops being fair to its own members, it creates a vacuum that the Alpha’s “divide and conquer” strategy loves to exploit.

If we want to be unshakeable, we have to be obsessed with fairness within our own ranks.

• Fairness means sharing the labor: No “superstars” who do all the talking while others do all the work.

• Fairness means shared credit: The Alpha hoards glory; the Humanist distributes it.

• Fairness means consistent standards: We hold our allies to the same ethical bar we set for our enemies.

Building a “Contrast Society”

The goal isn’t just to “defeat” the Trump regime; it’s to build a Contrast Society. We want to create a community that functions so differently, so much more fairly, that the Strongman’s brand of cruelty looks primitive and exhausting by comparison.

When we practice fairness, we are proving that dominance is not the only way to get things done. We are showing the “Alpha-wannabes” that there is a more stable, more resilient way to live.

The “Fairness Stress-Test”

The hardest part of fairness is being fair to the people who irritate us. It’s making sure the person who disagrees with us still gets a seat at the table. It’s ensuring that the “Common Floor” is level, even for the people we’d rather step over.

But remember: A floor that isn’t level for everyone eventually trips up everyone.

Your Challenge: The “Credit Check”

This week, find a situation where you or your group achieved a “win,” whether at work, in an organizing meeting, or even in a family project.

Purposefully deflect the credit.

Identify someone whose contribution was invisible or undervalued and publicly pull them into the light. Practice the “power of descent” by refusing to stand on a pedestal, and instead, help level the floor for someone else. See how it changes the trust in the room.

Afterwards, spend some time reflecting:

Does “Fairness” feel like a constraint or a superpower to you? Can we build a movement where nobody wants a throne?

This is the fourth in a series of posts that are my attempt to translate core human values—cooperation, empathy, fairness, and curiosity—into something more durable. Something that can hold under pressure and help us compete with a long-game strategy built on dominance and control.

To learn more, start with Part 4 of the Long Game:

Have you ever noticed how often doubt gets framed as a problem to fix instead of a signal to pay attention? We’re told that belief, especially confident, unquestioning belief, is a virtue. And if you hesitate, if you ask for evidence, if you say, “I’m not sure I buy this”… suddenly you’re the difficult one. The outsider. The one who “just needs more faith.”

But let’s be honest: if someone today made an extraordinary claim and told you to just trust them without proof, would you do it? Or would you ask a few questions first? Because in every other part of life, that’s exactly what we’re taught to do. We teach our kids to think critically, to verify information, to be cautious about what they accept as true. And yet, when it comes to certain beliefs, that same instinct is treated like a flaw instead of a strength.

Maybe the real question isn’t why Thomas doubted. Maybe the better question is this: Why didn’t everyone else?

So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts!

We live in a culture that treats empathy like a weakness. To the “Alpha,” empathy is a “bleeding heart” distraction. It’s seen as something soft, passive, or even gullible.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

In a regime built on dominance and “othering,” empathy is one of the most dangerous tools we have. It isn’t about being “nice.” It’s about Radical Proximity. It is the bolt-cutter for the chains of dehumanization that every strongman relies on to stay in power.

The “Othering” Engine

The Alpha myth survives by creating an “Other.” It needs a villain, a scapegoat, or a “weak” group to step on to build its throne. This is the “Barabbas” moment we see in the old texts. The crowd is whipped into a frenzy to choose a criminal over an innocent man because they’ve been taught that “those people” don’t matter.

Empathy breaks the engine.

When you practice empathy, you refuse to accept the regime’s labels. You look at the person they are trying to crush and you say, “I see you. Your weight is my weight.” This is the “self-emptying” we talked about from Philippians… emptying yourself of your own comfort and status to stand in the gap for someone else.

Empathy is a Tactical Choice

Most people think empathy is an emotion that just “happens” to you. But in the Long Game, empathy is a choice.

• It’s the choice to listen to the “weary” (Isaiah 50) when the world tells you to ignore them.

• It’s the choice to stay grounded in the humanity of your opponent, even when they are trying to bait you into a shouting match.

• It’s the choice to provide a support system for the person the Alpha is trying to isolate.

When you do this, you aren’t just being “kind.” You are actively sabotaging the Strongman’s ability to divide us.

Moving Toward the “Crushed”

If the Alpha builds a throne by stepping up, the Humanist builds power by stepping in.

This is the power of Proximity. When you move toward the people the regime is trying to marginalize… the immigrant, the poor, the “othered” colleague… you create a network of human value that the state cannot track or control. You make their brand of cruelty irrelevant because you’ve already decided that the person next to you is worth more than the status the regime is offering.

The “Empathy Stress-Test”

The hardest part of this isn’t having empathy for the people we already like. It’s having empathy for the people we’ve been told to hate, including the “Alpha-wannabes” themselves.

Wait, what? Yes.

When we see the “Alpha” as a person trapped in a cage of their own insecurity, we stop being afraid of them. We see how fragile they are. We see their desperation. And once you see the fragility of a Strongman, he loses his power over you.

Your Challenge: The “Proximity Pivot”

This week, find one person in your life, either someone the current political climate tells you to “other,” or someone who is currently being sidelined in your workplace or social circle.

Don’t just “feel” for them. Move toward them.

Spend fifteen minutes listening to their story without trying to “fix” it or “debate” it. Empty yourself of the need to be the expert. Just be the witness. See how that act of proximity changes the power dynamic in the room.

Afterwards, spend some time reflecting:

Does “Empathy as Subversion” change the way you look at your daily interactions? Can we be “soft” enough to feel, but “flint-like” enough to stay?

This is the third in a series of posts that are my attempt to translate core human values—cooperation, empathy, fairness, and curiosity—into something more durable. Something that can hold under pressure and help us compete with a long-game strategy built on dominance and control.

To learn more, start with Part 3 of the Long Game:

Have you ever noticed how much pressure there is to “just believe”, to accept things as they’re handed to you, to push past your doubts, to stay comfortable… even when something doesn’t quite add up? And at the same time, we’re told to tough it out on our own, to power through struggle, to take care of ourselves first, while the people around us are quietly falling through the cracks.

Welcome to Mythologizing the Bible, where we’ll be taking a look at three readings from the Christian Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.”

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As we reflect on the readings for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, we’ll explore what it actually means to live with integrity, questioning what doesn’t make sense, growing through what challenges us, and showing up for each other in ways that go beyond words.

In this episode, we’re asking an honest question: What if the path to a meaningful life isn’t about certainty or comfort at all, but about having the courage to question, the strength to endure, and the willingness to take responsibility for one another?

We’ve all heard that “cooperation” is a nice, Sunday-school virtue. We’re told it’s about getting along, being polite, and finding a middle ground where everyone walks away smiling. It’s the sort of thing that parents want their kids to hear, even though they know it’ll never happen in real life.

Forget that.

In a world dominated by Alphas and strongmen, cooperation isn’t a personality trait and it’s certainly not a pie-in-the-sky aspiration. It’s a tactical discipline. It is a high-stakes, clandestine operation designed to keep the floor from collapsing under all of us.

The “Common Floor” vs. the “Common Ground”

We often get stuck trying to find “Common Ground,” that magical place where we all agree on every priority and use the same vocabulary. But in the Progressive movement, searching for common ground usually leads to a circular firing squad. We spend so much time arguing over the color of the curtains that we don’t notice the house is on fire.

Instead, we need a Common Floor.

The Common Floor isn’t about liking each other. It’s the absolute minimum set of values and actions required to survive the current regime. It’s the agreement that says: “I don’t agree with your 20-year plan, but I’ll stand with you today to make sure we both have a tomorrow.”

Why the Alpha Wants You to Be “Principled”

The Strongman loves a “principled” Progressive. Why? Because a person who refuses to cooperate with anyone who isn’t 100% pure is a person who is isolated. And an isolated person is easy to crush.

The Alpha regime relies on our inability to compromise. They want us to stay in our silos, nursing our grievances against our allies, while they march right up the middle.

Cooperation is the only way to block their path.

The Tactical Shift: “Proximity” over “Purity”

When we prioritize Cooperation, we shift our focus from Purity (being right) to Proximity (being there).

• It means showing up for a cause that isn’t your “top priority” because you know your allies need you.

• It means biting your tongue when an ally uses the “wrong” word, because the goal is the win, not the edit.

• It means building a network of trust that is so dense and so reliable that the Alpha’s brand of cruelty simply has no market value.

The Discipline of the “Small Win”

Cooperation doesn’t happen through grand manifestos. It happens in the small, boring work of the long game. It’s the “well-trained tongue” from our Isaiah reading. It’s using our communication to sustain the weary rather than to score points against our friends.

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Your Challenge: The “Ally Audit”

This week, perform an Ally Audit. Look at someone in your circle, whether that’s a coworker, a neighbor, or a fellow activist, who you’ve been avoiding or arguing with because they aren’t “aligned” enough for you.

Identify one thing you both want to protect.

Then, reach out and offer one small, concrete act of cooperation toward that goal. No strings attached. No “I told you so.” Just a brick in the floor we’re all standing on.

Afterwards, spend some time reflecting:

How does “Tactical Cooperation” feel to you? Is it harder to work with an imperfect ally than to fight a clear enemy?

This is the second in a series of posts that are my attempt to translate core human values—cooperation, empathy, fairness, and curiosity—into something more durable. Something that can hold under pressure and help us compete with a long-game strategy built on dominance and control.

To learn more, start with Part 2 of the Long Game:

Most people aren’t trying to be “Alpha males.” They’re just trying to feel safe. They want to be respected, and they want to feel secure.

But the Alpha myth sells a dangerously simple equation: Dominance = Safety

It tells you that if you can just get enough control, enough status, enough leverage… then you’ll finally be okay. But look at the chaos swirling around the current regime in America. Everyone playing that game is trapped. It’s competitive, it’s isolating, and it’s deeply insecure because there’s always someone more ruthless waiting to take your place.

It’s not a ladder. It’s a cage.

The Power of Proximity

If dominance is the cage, Proximity is the key. Instead of trying to rise above people, we need to move toward them. We need to build networks of trust. We need to show up for each other in tangible ways.

When we do this, we stop needing an Alpha or a “Strongman” because the community itself becomes the support system.

This is the fact we all need to remember: We don’t need to defeat the Alpha. We need to simply make the Alpha irrelevant by building a world where his brand of cruelty simply has no market value.

The Progressive Problem: Purity vs. Survival

But the hard truth is that we can’t make the Alpha irrelevant if we can’t figure out how to stand together in solidarity. And right now, the Progressive movement has a major solidarity problem.

We often get so hung up on Integrity (or at least our version of it) that we turn it into a weapon against our own allies. We demand 100% ideological purity. If someone doesn’t share our exact vocabulary or our exact hierarchy of priorities, we treat them like the enemy.

Purity is a luxury we can no longer afford. While we’re busy having a circular firing squad over who is the “most principled,” the Alphas are winning because they don’t care about being right. They care about being in charge.

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The Tools of the Long Game

To move forward, we have to ground ourselves in a different kind of power. This isn’t about being loud; it’s about being consistent.

• Cooperation over Competition: Solidarity isn’t a feeling; it’s a tactical discipline. It’s the decision to put your “personal must-haves” on the shelf for five minutes so we can build a floor that doesn’t collapse under all of us.

• Empathy as Subversion: The Alpha myth survives by “othering” people. Radical empathy, the act of truly standing with the vulnerable, breaks that spell.

• Fairness as the Foundation: We don’t need to be identical to be unshakeable. We just need to agree on a “Common Floor” of human dignity that we all defend.

• Curiosity over Dogma: We have to be curious enough to listen to an ally we disagree with. That’s how we find the path to compromise without losing our values.

The “Throne” vs. The “Community”

The Strongman builds a throne out of the people he steps on. The Humanist builds a community out of the people he stands beside. History is very clear about which one eventually crumbles.

The question isn’t whether you have power. The question is what kind of power you’re choosing to build. We need to build power based on solidarity, not dominance. And that’s what we’ll be exploring more deeply in future posts. We need to figure out how to destroy the Alpha myth, which means we need to learn to play the long game.

And that means taking this one step at a time.

Your Challenge: Lose an Argument on Purpose

Identify one power struggle or argument you’re currently having with someone who should be your ally. This week, lose that argument on purpose.

Empty yourself of the need to have the last word. Instead, find one concrete way to support that person’s dignity instead of striving for their defeat. Stop building your own platform for a moment, and help reinforce the floor we all have to stand on.

This is the first in a series of posts that are my attempt to translate core human values—cooperation, empathy, fairness, and curiosity—into something more durable. Something that can hold under pressure and help us compete with a long-game strategy built on dominance and control.

To learn more, start with Part 1 of the Long Game:

You are biologically wired to divide the world into “us” and “them.” Not because you’re a bad person. Not because you’re closed-minded. But because, at one point in human evolution, that instinct kept you alive. If you trusted the wrong group, you didn’t just lose an argument, you might not survive the week.

And here’s the problem: your brain hasn’t updated the software.

We’re walking around with survival instincts designed for small bands of maybe 100 people… and we’re using those survival instincts to navigate a world of 8 billion people. And that mismatch? That’s not just interesting, it’s dangerous. Because the same instinct that once protected us is now driving polarization, extremism, inequality… and a whole lot of really bad decisions.

So, we’re going to take a hard look at the “tribe”… where it comes from, why it feels so good, why it’s causing so much damage… and what it actually takes to move beyond it without losing what makes us human.

So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts!

Have you ever noticed how often we inherit beliefs, loyalties, and assumptions without ever stopping to ask whether they’re actually true or whether they’re just comfortable? And how quickly those habits can shape who we trust, what we accept, and even how we treat other people?

Welcome to Mythologizing the Bible, where we’ll be taking a look at three readings from the Christian Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.”

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As we reflect on the readings for Easter Sunday, we’ll explore what it means to move beyond tribal thinking, to build communities grounded in integrity, and to face life’s biggest questions with curiosity instead of assumption.

In this episode, we’re asking an honest question: What would change if we stopped relying on inherited beliefs and started actively seeking what is true, what is good, and what actually helps people flourish, even when it challenges our habits or our sense of belonging?

Why are we so obsessed with dominance?

Scroll through social media for five minutes. You’ll see it everywhere. The cars, the watches, not a “mindset” but a “grindset,” the constant chest-thumping about winning, crushing, dominating. The message is always the same: if you’re not on top, you’re nothing. If you’re not feared, you’re weak. If you’re not in total control, you’re obviously losing.

And here’s what’s fascinating (and a little disturbing):

A lot of the same people pushing that message are also the ones claiming to follow a guy who (as the story goes) washed feet, stood with the marginalized, and willingly gave up power rather than cling to it. (You know… Jesus.)

That’s not a small contradiction. That’s a complete reversal of the story.

So in this episode, I want to dig into that tension. Not to call out the loudest “Alpha” voices because they’re easy to spot. I’m more interested in everyone else. The people who are quietly absorbing the ridiculous “Alpha” message. The ones wondering, “Is this what strength is supposed to look like?”

What if we’ve been sold the wrong definition entirely?

What if real power doesn’t come from climbing higher… but from choosing to step down?

So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts!

Have you ever noticed how often the people we celebrate as “strong” are the ones who dominate, control, and rise above everyone else, while the people who quietly hold onto their values, even when it costs them something, tend to get overlooked or dismissed as weak? And yet, when you really pay attention, those quieter voices often carry far more weight.

Welcome to Mythologizing the Bible, where we’ll be taking a look at three readings from the Christian Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.”

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As we reflect on the readings for Palm Sunday, we’ll explore what it really means to have strength. Not as power or status, but as the discipline to stay open, let go of ego, and hold onto your integrity when the pressure is on.

In this episode, we’re asking an honest question: What if real strength isn’t about rising above others but about staying grounded in your values when the crowd turns, the system fails, or it would be easier to just go along with it?

In our Afterthoughts episode on The “Social Death” Pandemic, we explored the haunting concept of “Social Death,” which is the reality of being biologically alive but socially invisible. I live in Michigan, so we looked at the “dry bones” of our Michigan suburbs and the “tombs” of isolation that 41% of our neighbors find themselves in.

But what if the “cure” for this pandemic doesn’t come in a pill bottle, but in a prescription for a community garden, an art class, or helping as a volunteer?

This isn’t a humanist fantasy; it’s a growing medical movement called Social Prescribing. Here in Michigan, innovative pilot programs are already working to “unbind” our neighbors from isolation.

The Rise of “ArtsRx” and “NatureRx” at U-M

The University of Michigan Arts Initiative recently launched ArtsRx, a pilot program specifically designed to combat the 60% loneliness rate reported by students. Instead of traditional clinical referrals alone, health providers at University Health & Counseling can now “prescribe” tailored arts experiences, from museum tours to theater performances, to students who screen positive for social isolation.

Similarly, the NatureRx program leverages the Ann Arbor campus’s 100+ “nature break” spots, encouraging students to reconnect with the physical world as a foundational pillar of mental health. The program even offers a NatureRx app that uses maps and location data to help users find relaxing outdoor locations around the UofM Ann Arbor campus.

Rural Reanimation: The Pharmacy Connection

In St. Clair County, a groundbreaking pharmacy-based pilot called ImproveHealth has shown that the “breath” of life often comes from the most accessible health professionals: our local pharmacists. This program trained pharmacists to screen older adults for social isolation and loneliness (SIL) and connect them directly to senior centers and programs like Meals on Wheels.

In one powerful case, a pharmacist identified a withdrawn patient and referred her to a senior center dining program. The result? The patient didn’t just eat better, she was “reanimated” by new friendships and a restored sense of belonging.

This is what can happen when we help reconnect those who are lonely with the people and the community all around them.

Community-Led “Social Prescriptions”

But let me be clear: You don’t need a medical degree to issue a social prescription. Across Michigan, community-led “conversation circles” and gathering spaces are acting as secular “unbinding” stations:

• Petoskey: The Soul Song Circle offers a space for participants to foster connection through simple, shared songs… no experience required.

• Muskegon: Peer-led spaces like The Love Café provide nonjudgmental conversation circles aimed at building community through honest, shared experience.

The Soul Song Circle is hosted at a local church but led by a local “healing arts community minister.” The Love Café is a nonprofit, pay-what-you-can restaurant with a job skills training program. It is also associated with a Christian organization, yet they claim to believe that all people deserve to dine with dignity.

Human Library events in Michigan, often hosted by public libraries and community centers, allow attendees to “borrow” Human Books (volunteers sharing their life experiences) for conversations to challenge prejudices and build understanding. The core goal is to break down stereotypes through personal conversation. Attendees can ask questions to these “Human Books” in a safe space, often covering subjects like mental health, religion, cultural differences, or even personal trauma.

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Why This Matters for Us

Many humanists understand that “spirit” is the vitality we find through reason, empathy, and connection. To use some of the metaphors we found in Scripture, when we support social prescribing, we are doing the work of “unbinding” our community from the burial cloths of modern suburban isolation.

Whether it’s the U-M Institute for Social Prescribing researching statewide scaling or a local library hosting a “Human Library” event, the goal is the same: to ensure no one in Michigan is left as a “dry bone” in a valley of pavement.

Your Challenge This Week:

Identify one “Social Prescription” you can write for yourself or a neighbor. Is there a local park, a community art class, or a volunteer group you’ve been ignoring? Don’t wait for a miracle. Walk across the driveway. Be the breath of life for a neighbor trapped in the loneliness of isolation.

Social death is what happens when someone is still alive, still breathing, still going through the motions of daily life… but they’re no longer really seen, known, or connected to anyone in a meaningful way.

One of the main problems though is that this sort of loneliness doesn’t always look dramatic. It doesn’t announce itself. It’s quiet and very subtle. It looks like routine. It looks like independence. It looks like “I’m fine.”

Until we’re not “fine.”

If we truly care about strengthening our communities, then we need to explore a question that sits right at the heart of what it means to be human:

If people can slowly fade out of connection while they’re still alive… what does it actually take to bring them back?

Not with miracles or even grand gestures, but with something far more ordinary—and far more powerful.

So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts!