The World Needs a Love Revolution
Introducing the concept of Leading with Love, an alternative to the culture of hate and cruelty in which we are drowning.
A Prologue
For the past week or so, I’ve been trying to take the thousand-foot view of the situation in which we—America and the world—now find ourselves. And what I see is that we are existing in an environment awash in hatred and cruelty that is driving us further and further apart. The loudest, most dominant messages, the messaging that gets the most likes, shares, reposts, retweets, requotes, remixes and repeated iterations, is a message telling us over and over and over again to hate.
This message is supported by the American president, his cronies, and other autocratic forces. It is present in broadcast, traditional, and social media. It is pushed by algorithms, reinforced by ratings, and furthered by the not unreasonable fear and anger so many of us feel right now.
Sadly, hate sells.
There is work that needs to be done, but we should not have to do that work with the message of hatred as our orchestrated soundtrack. I believe with all my heart that there needs to be an alternative to the unrelenting messages of hate and cruelty in which we are drowning. This original essay is my contribution.
I. A Wakeup Call
The time has come. I'm calling, America, for the birth of the Love Revolution. The temperature in this country is rapidly rising and we are boiling alive in venomous filth. Whether you are Red or Blue (or neither), or somewhere in between, there can be no denying there are malignant forces in this world with a vested interest in keeping us—the American people—at each other's throats.
I’m asking you to hit pause on the horror movie in which we are living for just one moment. While you do that, I am going to raise the biggest red flag that I can.
**WE ARE GOING TO DESTROY OURSELVES!**
Full stop.
We are immersed daily in an environment awash in hatred, intolerance, physical and verbal abuse, and complete disregard for huge swaths of human life. We are stuck in a cycle of violence begetting violence. Hatred begetting hatred. Suffering begetting suffering. And yet we return, again and again to tribalism, othering, pointing fingers, casting blame, failing to listen to each other, failing to care for each other, allowing hatred and acrimony to fester and boil until they have burst through the surface and we are now drowning in the noxious excrement.
Breathe.
It's time to stop fighting hatred with hatred. Time to stop trying to douse anger with anger. That method only adds more fuel to the engulfing fire.
Yes, there are many things in this country (and this world) that need to change. Some are more urgent than others. And we may not always (or ever) agree on what those things are. So, yes, there will be conflict. But to what ends? If we destroy each other nobody wins, except the forces that seek our demise.
Look at who we have become. Look at what America has become.
We need to do better.
We. Need. To be. Better.
Fortunately, we already know the answer. It has been told to us time and time again. Told by philosophers, poets, prophets, playwrights, pastors, and even preschoolers.
The antidote to hatred is not more hatred. The antidote to hatred is Love. Love is the antithesis of hate. We need to Lead with Love.
II. A Call to Action
How can we bring about the Love Revolution?
You can start by using your senses to come to your senses.
We need to SEE each other as fellow humans, not as demographic blocks, interest groups, and tribes. We are more than we have been reduced to by the social media talking head trolling pundit pollster meme-generating ai-produced thought-diminishing shorthand of our modern (technological) lives.
We are more than just Red and Blue.
Dems or Reps.
Libs and Conservatives.
Coke or Pepsi.
We need to SEE our common, shared humanity.
We need to HEAR each other with open hearts and open minds. We need to listen with good intent. We need to take the risk to reach out to those beyond our safe spaces and affinity groups while actively listening, so we can truly HEAR and understand another person or group's subjective point of view.
We need to FEEL, more than with our outer, physical sense of touch, but also with our inner, emotional selves. We need to FEEL for each other, friend or foe. We need to FEEL not only for those like us, but for those unlike us.
Because no matter how different we all are, we are all still the same.
I believe we have reached the tipping point. I believe now is the moment. Now is the time to make our choice: America—Humanity, who will we be?
Will we continue to listen to the appeals to our worst selves? To the calls of hatred, violence, selfishness, dismissal, and retribution?
Or, will we rise to meet this moment? Will we harness our virtues of understanding, compassion, empathy, and Love and rise to meet our better selves. No, our best selves.
Now is the moment. What will you decide? Will YOU join the Love Revolution?
✌️💛
It's been some 50 years or so since I read Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, but his daily 2 minutes of hate and Hate Week, prescient as they've been, are what you'll be up against. We have a man in the Oval Office who in effect preaches, and governs, via an "All You Need is Hate" message. Fifty-some years ago John Lennon wrote songs that fit into into your interest in getting something positive started, words that confront Hate. "All You Need is Love" and "The Word" fit right in. Strangely, the late 1960s, mostly younger people were much more receptive (and were, of course, pretty trippy on the way). I wish you all the best in getting this going, and I'll of course read you with great interest.
Jeff—this hit hard. In the best, most necessary way.
I felt every word. The honesty. The heartbreak. The urgent, exhausted hope.
“We are boiling alive in venomous filth.”
Yeah. That line stopped me. Because it’s not hyperbole. It’s a diagnosis.
And what you’re offering here—a Love Revolution—isn’t just idealism. It’s rebellion. It’s refusal. It’s the only viable counteroffensive to a cultural economy profiting from outrage and division.
I’ve also found myself increasingly allergic to the noise, the algorithms, the cruelty-as-virtue performance art. And I’ve been asking the same question: Is there another way to lead, to write, to show up in this moment? Your piece reminds me that the answer is still yes.
I'm writing about some of this over at Beyond Platitudes—where I try to replace bumper-sticker wisdom with real conversation, real leadership, and real discomfort. Your piece fits the ethos like a hand in glove. Would you consider joining our tribe - you would fit right in and we've saved a seat for you.
Thank you for saying the quiet truth out loud. Count me in.
✊🏼❤️ Let’s lead with love.
-Matt