Hi, my name is Pascal Wenz-Kim and my personal mission is to
‚Help others grow and learn in order to enrich their lives, and contribute to creating a more caring and compassionate society.‘
The new word ‚empicipate‘ that I have coined is another more specific expression of this mission. It means to empower people to participate in the creation of a more caring and compassionate society.
I believe that learning is always mutual and I make an effort to continuously grow and learn myself. I also recognize that other people enrich my own life even as I try to enrich theirs. If you ever notice that I am not living up to my own expectations in terms of being open to learning, please hold me accountable and give me constructive feedback.
Below, you can learn about the two main concerns that have driven the creation of this website and find out what I am trying to achieve with it.
The need for trust within and across nations
The idea for this website began in spring 2019 when I was reading Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Harari’s discussion of the current and future challenges that we are facing, as people in an interconnected world, reinforced my belief that we need to cooperate across borders, social groups and cultures.
It struck me that compassion that extends to those who are different from us is an important prerequisite for such collaboration and solidarity. If we don’t care about people who have different concerns from us, it is difficult to build relationships of trust that are crucial for cooperation.
It is my opinion that we lack trust not only between nations but also within nations. The growth of nationalist movements that oppose international cooperation in the U.S. and a number of European countries, such as Britain and Germany – to name just the examples I am familiar with -, expresses that these voices feel that their concerns are not heard by large parts of their own societies.
In order to create lasting global collaboration it is therefore important to show concern to those who are different from us who live in close proximity as well as to those who live far away from us. If we fail to create trust within our own society, one political election or change of leadership can erode the trust of our international partners and roll back years of progress in international negotiations and treaties that serve our shared long-term interests.
The treatment of non-human species across the world
Compassion cannot only extend to people who are different from us but also to other non-human species. As human beings we are one species of animals and share many traits and capacities with other species of animals. Many non-human animals are able to experience the joy of social connection and the pain of separation that we experience, too. This is particularly true for other mammals.
When I first saw documentaries about the conditions of factory farming in Europe, the U.S. and Japan, I was both shocked and sad to see how the well-being of animals seemed to be neglected at these farms.
The treatment of non-human animals by humans and the resulting suffering is a much neglected social justice issue. The development of alternative sources of proteins and the growth in plant-based foods will make an important contribution in reducing such suffering. However, I believe it is important that compassion towards animals, and not just economic or environmental concerns, remains a key motivation for this change.
Please join the cause of creating a more compassionate society by spreading the word!