Throughout her speech, Steinem built a case for understanding the interconnections between movements for racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and peace — arguing that 'our adversaries know our connections better than we do.' She traced the withdrawal of God from women and nature across millennia of Nile carvings, challenged religious hierarchies that use the promise of heaven to enforce obedience, and proposed reversing the Golden Rule for those treated as inferior: 'You need to treat yourself as well as you treat other people.' Her ultimate vision was of replacing hierarchical pyramids with circles — the paradigm shared by original cultures everywhere, from Africa to North America. Rather than a Declaration of Independence, she called for a Declaration of Interdependence.