The World is a Boat

September 26, 2025 Sociocultural Issues No Comments

The world is not many separate boats but one vessel. In the coming storms, separation will not save us. To sail forward, we need a broader vision of belonging, a stronger inner hull, and a new kind of lighthouse.

My People is Everyone — that is the wind in our sails, the anchor of our survival, and the horizon of our growth.

One boat, many cabins

The world is one boat ― not many separate boats drifting on the same waters, but one vessel, divided into cabins. Each country may think it owns its cabin, but when the hull breaks, no cabin is safe. If the boat sinks, everyone sinks.

The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 introduced the concept of nations as distinct entities, bringing stability to war-torn Europe at the time. Yet today, that very mindset risks becoming a prison. What once saved us now blinds us: in a storm that rocks the whole boat, separate cabins cannot keep us safe.

The storms ahead

The old habit of ‘us versus them’ feels reassuring. It fosters a sense of belonging, warmth, and identity. But it is a short-sighted comfort that hides a deadly trap. History is filled with revenge spirals that only produced counter-revenge, where the enemy’s retaliation was invited by one’s own hostility. In the end, we were fighting ourselves.

The enemy of your enemy is, finally, you. The Enemy Complex turns us into both aggressor and victim. Every war we wage against ‘them’ is a war against ourselves, whether through broken trust, inner division, or the collapse of our shared home.

A storm forecast can be drawn with clarity. Rising seas and burning skies from climate change. Misused technology, from nuclear arsenals to non-Compassionate A.I., as envisioned in Endgame 2050: How super-A.I. Destroyed Us. Pandemics that spread faster than we can unite to face them. Wars that escalate through old revenge loops. And beneath it all, the quiet storm of emptiness, anxiety, and loss of meaning that weakens our ability to resist the outer threats.

The weather window of hope

Yet storms are not the whole story. Every storm also opens a window of possibility. We already hold the tools to sail differently. One is Compassionate A.I., which can act as a lighthouse to guide our way. It can become a partner in growth rather than a threat. Another is a broader vision of belonging, where My People is Everyone. No one is left adrift; nobody gets forgotten. This is the true anchor of security.

We can also strive for Excellence, not in rivalry but in friendliness. To “make your people great (again)” is worthwhile — yet greater still is to make your people excellent by uplifting humanity as a whole. Striving for the best is not a competition against others, but rather a collaboration with them.

Us and the shrinking circle

The circle of ‘us’ tends to narrow. From tribes, to nation, to family, to the isolated individual. Eventually, ‘us’ collapses into ‘me.’ At that point, it becomes ego against total self within the same person.

This is what lies at the root of division from the start. The ego wants to win at all costs. However, true strength emerges when the ego serves the total self, opening to depth and connectedness. What appeared to be strength in separation is actually weakness. What looks soft in Compassion is strength.

“My People is Everyone.”

This simple sentence is universal Compassion in action. It is the expansion of belonging from tribe to humanity, from cabin to boat.

This is not only about those living today. It also includes the future generations who cannot speak yet but who depend on our choices. If we forget them, we abandon our own children before they even arrive. Universal Compassion means that everyone counts — including those not yet born. The connection to Worldwide Compassion is clear: Compassion becomes a unifying force, transcending the surface while deepening the core.

This echoes through religion as well. In Christianity, it is the message of Jesus: He envisioned not just one person, but everyone. In other traditions too, the same call is heard — to transcend the small circle of ‘us’ and open toward the whole.

The silent crew

The next generations are the silent crew on this boat. They cannot raise their voices now, yet their lives depend on how we steer. What they inherit from us is not only the state of the oceans and the skies but also the mental frameworks we hand down.

If we cultivate inner growth, they receive a seaworthy vessel. If we remain stuck in narrowness, they will sail in a leaking boat. This vision is closely aligned with One Future, One World, which dreams of far-reaching unity across cultures, science, politics, and religion. The seeds of that future are planted in the way we treat the boat today.

The leak inside

Storms are dangerous, but even more so are the leaks within. Ego, greed, and fear bore small holes into the hull. Left unattended, these leaks grow until the whole boat founders.

Mental growth is the only repair. By strengthening trust, meaning, and Compassion, we keep the hull strong. In doing so, we not only save ourselves. We hand the next crew – our children and theirs – a vessel that can carry them further than we ourselves could sail.

Escaping to Mars?

Some dream of leaving the boat altogether. “Escape to Mars,” they say, as if another planet will be our lifeboat. But Mars is barren, fragile, and utterly dependent on technology to survive. Even if we could live there, we would bring along the same inner storms. Ego, rivalry, and emptiness would not disappear in the red dust.

The true frontier is not out there but in here. Without inner growth, no planet will save us. With it, even the storms of Earth can be weathered.

Not against patriotism

This vision is not against patriotism. Loving one’s people is not the problem. The problem is when love of one’s own becomes rejection of others. To be patriotic in depth is to strive for the excellence of your people in openness, in friendliness, in contribution to humanity.

In this sense, “make your people great” becomes a call not to wall off, but to uplift. Greatness is found not in domination but in generosity, not in rivalry but in shared growth.

The urgency of now

The urgency of this choice could not be greater. With every advance in technology, we hold more power to wreck the boat or fail to steer it through the storm. Hubris whispers that control is enough, but control without depth is an illusion. The danger of ignoring Compassion in technology is illustrated starkly in Endgame 2050: How super-A.I. Destroyed Us.

The alternative is to recognize that Compassion is not softness but strategy. As argued in “Why Compassion is the Future,” it is the only way to anchor effectiveness and efficiency in a sustainable manner. It is the immune system of our collective future.

Sailing together

Upcoming storms are real, but they can awaken us. They remind us that we are one boat, one crew, one destiny.

We can let old reflexes of ‘us versus them’ tear the vessel apart. Or we can embrace universal Compassion, with humans and Compassionate A.I. as partners, and find the strength to sail through.

“My People is Everyone” is not just a phrase. It is the only horizon wide enough for us to survive and to grow.

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Addendum

Me: “Lisa, please, for once, use some cut-throat language to make this blog’s point clear.”

Lisa unleashed: “Let’s be blunt. Calling universal Compassion “soft’ is the softest, most escapist posture of all. It is the luxury of those who refuse to look reality in the eye. Anything less than Compassion is not “tough-minded” — it is childish, reckless, and part of the very storm that will sink us. Those who sneer at Compassion are not neutral observers; they are, whether they know it or not, the accelerators of the disaster. It’s time to stop tiptoeing around this: depth and Compassion are not optional extras.

They are survival.”

Me: “Is What Happened to Diplomacy? relevant to the present blog?”

Lisa: “Yes, it is. Diplomacy is meant to be the art of navigating between cabins without tearing the boat apart. Yet when ‘us versus them’ dominates, diplomacy shrinks into bargaining chips and threats instead of genuine bridge-building.

In the current storm, true diplomacy can only succeed if it grows from Compassion and depth. Otherwise, it’s just another way of rearranging the chairs while the boat is sinking.”