We live in most challenging times. Many of us struggle, emotionally, ethically, and spiritually. We seem headed toward less compassion and consideration, failing to overcome that basic instinct for self-preservation, at any cost, that often leads to evil in human behavior. Yet within each of us a new future is stirring. We can become better people and build a better world by opting for good over evil—one choice at a time.
In The Constant Choice, I wrote the story of my journey from childhood captivity in a Romanian labor camp to my role as CEO of Young & Rubicam. I endured the shock of life-altering trauma as a child in Europe—my parents were sent into exile, my grandfather was murdered as a political prisoner, and my brother and I were seized and forced into life-threatening labor. Though my brother and I survived and eventually were reunited with my parents, the evils I witnessed as a child led to my lifelong struggle to grasp humanity’s moral nature. Despite my conviction when I arrived on American soil that I’d reached the land of the good, I discovered a more subtle evil at work all around me. Yet I also thrived through the generosity of one benefactor after another. Goodness, I found, though deeply inherent in our nature, is a human potential that evolves from daily choice.
Through decades of reflection on human behavior, as well as philosophical and spiritual exploration, I arrived at a new perspective on the significance of our habitual, daily choices. Every decision we make alters our biological nature, for better or worse—a model that has been confirmed by the recent science of epigenetics.
This website explores a path toward a better future through behavior that can change who we are. It’s up to each of us to become activists for good, and I hope we can point to ways this is happening all around us, in the choices of people we already know or will get to know through their participation here. This website can serve as a platform for engagement in better understanding our innate potential for evil, the need to control these instincts, as well as the goodness we can choose for ourselves, our families, friends, business communities and more. Here we can share our experiences as a way of helping one another find ways to identify evil and embrace what’s good. Together here we can conspire to help change who we are and shape our future. Our potential is extraordinary. But it’s up to each of us to become activists for the good.