Essential Background
The ideas and vision that shaped the Global Compassion Coalition — available to read, watch, and share.
By Rick Hanson
Restoring Healthy Human Politics
October 2022
This essay explores:
- How the survival advantages of empathy and kindness shaped the evolution of our brain
- The “caring and sharing” that has been the basis of living together for most of the past 300,000 years that humans have walked this earth
- What we need to do today to reestablish compassion and justice at the foundation of all societies
By Rick Hanson
A Letter of Gratitude and a Call to Grow Compassion Together
November 2025
An open letter from Rick Hanson reflecting on what the Global Compassion Coalition has built so far, and calling for deeper commitment to growing compassion in the world.
"Compassion brings us together. And together we change the world."
FROM PAUL GILBERT, TARA BRACH, AND Rick Hanson
Compassion Brings Us Together and Together We Can Change The World
In this closing segment from the Beyond Us and Them event, Paul Gilbert, Tara Brach, and Rick Hanson explore how reclaiming our deep nature allows us to come together at a global scale — using modern technology to turn compassionate action into a force strong enough to change the world.