How Treating Others Well Can Change the World

The Golden Rule is an old idea. It tells us to treat others the way we want to be treated. This idea is not new. It shows up in many cultures and religions. For example, Jesus said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. " In Islam, the Prophet Muhammad taught, "None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself. " In Hinduism, the Mahabharata offers: "Do not to others what you do not wish done to yourself. " Buddhism teaches compassion through a similar lens: "Consider others as yourself. " The Golden Rule is simple. It does not require logic, advanced theology, or philosophical training. It asks only that we pause long enough to imagine the experience of another person through the lens of our own hearts and minds and then act accordingly. In a time often defined by urgency, speed, and conflict, that pause alone would be revolutionary. The Golden Rule is not just a personal ethic. It has profound implications for how we live together in every sphere of public and personal life. In politics, the Golden Rule could soften the sharp edges of our political discourse and transactions. It doesn’t require agreement, but it does require a baseline respect. Imagine political debates where candidates speak about opponents the way they’d want to be spoken about. Imagine lawmakers negotiating with the assumption that the other side is made up of human beings with families, fears, and hopes, not fools and opportunists. The Golden Rule doesn’t erase conflict, but it can transform the spirit in which conflict unfolds.In business, the principle is equally powerful. A company that treats employees the way its executives want to be treated tends to foster loyalty and innovation. A business that treats customers with honesty and care earns trust that no marketing budget can buy. In education, the Golden Rule can shape classrooms. Where educators model empathy, students absorb it not as a rule but as a way of being. When students practice it with one another, bullying decreases and collaboration increases. Schools become not just places of academic instruction but laboratories for citizenship. And in our personal lives, the Golden Rule can be a daily compass. It can guide how we speak to and about our colleagues, co-workers, and family members when we’re frustrated or exhausted, how we respond to strangers online, how we show up for friends in moments of joy or crisis. Of course, living the Golden Rule is harder than reciting it. It asks us to stretch beyond instinct and impulse, especially when we feel wronged or impatient. It asks us to imagine the inner world of people we don’t understand. It asks us to slow down in a culture that rewards speed. Beginning the new year with this as a central principle doesn’t require heroism or grand gestures. It can start with pausing to think about the other person as if she or he truly were you: listening more carefully, speaking more gently, giving others the benefit of the doubt and practicing what the English poet William Wordsworth called the “little, nameless, unremembered, acts/Of kindness and of love. ” The Golden Rule endures across religions and centuries because it invites us to consider our shared humanity. If we embraced that invitation, even imperfectly, imagine what kind of year it could be.