The Plan
We refuse to see our neighbors as enemies. We deny power to those who do.
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We may passionately disagree. We may dress down leaders. We may fiercely protest.
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BUT we will never see ordinary people on the other side as evil. Dehuminizaton reliably leads to authoritariasm.
Why We Do
We live in a time when neighbors are taught to fear one another. That fear is not accidental. It is engineered. Enemy Makers — powerful political leaders and media figures — know that outrage is profitable and fear is mobilizing. So they study algorithms. They distort our differences. They magnify and reward our contempt. They claim we ordinary people are an existential threat to each other. When we see each other as dangerous, empathy collapses, loyalty hardens, and we become easy to mobilize. This is not a flaw in ordinary people. It is a manipulation of ordinary people. Most of us just want a workable society. We want to solve problems without hating our neighbors. This longing is not a weakness. It is a wisdom. Politics change when ordinary people stop buying the narrative of Enemy Makers. When we no longer view each other as enemies. What The Enemies Project fosters is not limp neutrality. It is not centrism. It is resistance to being used. It is a refusal to be turned against our brothers and sisters. The Enemies Project is a rebellion against the machinery of enemy-making. Humanization is the only known antidote to authoritarianism. Understanding is not just a bridge—it’s a barricade against those who thrive on our estrangement.
What We Do
The Enemies Project exists to rebuild our broken political society. To take power back from Enemy Makers. It's not a pipe-dream. It's a plan. And it's already succeeding. 1. Filmed Conversations We bring people who see each other as enemies into direct, face-to-face conversation. Not to debate. Not to force agreement. To achieve one outcome: full, fair understanding. Filmed humanization has leverage. Ten conversations can reach tens of millions. Viewers learn with certainty that ordinary people of the “enemy” are not their enemies. They are us on the other side. That certainty breaks the enemy frame. Enemy Makers lose their power. ⸻ 2. Education We teach ordinary people how to transform enemies into rivals who cooperate — sometimes with great affection. They reject Enemy Makers as leaders because they understand the cycle of retribution and decay. They learn to govern themselves and lead others not by edict or insult, but through cooperation, understanding, persuasion, and goodwill. We call them Civilization Makers. Programs for schools and universities are in development — the wellspring of our future. ⸻ 3. Community and Activation Civilization Makers are the majority, but we are isolated, often hopeless, and drowned out by the loudest voices of division. The Enemies Project allows us to recognize one another — to see that we are not alone, that people on every side prefer neighbors to enemies, that our true allies sit on the other side. From recognition comes community. From community comes political force. Our goal is to help Civilization Makers (you and those like you) take back society from Enemy Makers.
When Enemies Talk
We do this because we do not capitulate to hatred. We choose the hard and beautiful path.
