Radical Love

The purpose of this thesis is to spread the concept of Radical Love. Radical Love consists of multiple elements, all of which connect to the obligation of respect and empathy for humanity. This thesis concentrates on all elements but specifically highlights education which helps us better understand how our own minds work, our history, and how we are impacted by outside forces. The element of education enables us to perform radical self-love, self-reflection which encourages reckoning with our own mental processes and biases, activating perceptions of our environment and working to better ourselves. Radical self-love gives us the confidence to share this knowledge with our peers, engage in new ways, and spread the message of Radical Love while actively working towards community building, the final element. Community building calls people in, encourages open dialogue and conversation, resisting hierarchical thinking in favor of perspective-taking and empathy. We are all human beings who are worthy of having their stories told and perspectives shared. Today I will be arguing that this concept of humanity was lost before the founding of America and has not been found despite the scientific findings that continue to reaffirm its very existence. The start of Radical Love personally is education. I think that our society would benefit from incorporating empathy in the classroom and shift to a more collectivist, collaborative space to encourage future generations to see themselves as part of a greater community rather than a solitary vessel. My goal is to share my own findings with the public so they can gain an awareness of themselves and the American cultural climate, recognizing our own shortcomings and imperfections.