Richer, But Not Happier

Posted on May 29, 2009 by zoeweil

The Worldwatch Institute has produced a short film which asks whether consuming things really makes us happy. Turns out it doesn’t. Beyond a certain point, money and things don’t bring us joy. I imagine most readers of this blog already assumed (or knew) as much, but this short video is worth watching and sharing with others.

If you can’t view the above, go here to watch it.

~ Zoe

Filed under: consumerism, videos | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Story of Stuff Helps Us Envision New & Better Systems

Posted on May 27, 2009 by zoeweil

The New York Times recently had an article about the growing use of the video The Story of Stuff in schools, and the controversy that sometimes surrounds it. The short, animated film provides an introduction to the impact of our stuff on the environment, and it’s a great way to introduce the effects of consumer products and consumer culture on ecosystems and climate. I’m delighted that The New York Times has written an article about the film and its creator, Annie Leonard, because both deserve widespread attention.

It’s not surprising that there is some controversy associated with the film being shown in schools. Just as the economic historian I mentioned in my previous post countered a call to non-consumerist living with the statement that our economic system is based on consumerism, some are calling The Story of Stuff anti-capitalist (and hence anti-American).

Name calling. It doesn’t achieve much. It doesn’t solve our problems or imagine new ideas that could create greater happiness, prosperity, healthy, and peace. We need The Story of Stuff and so many other alternative views in our schools. Without them, we trudge on the status quo path that threatens all of us – even if we personally fail to see the likely consequences of our actions. But when we introduce new ideas to the next generation, pose questions that invite curiosity, critical thinking, and creative ideas, we can get beyond the name calling and “the controversy” and build new systems that work for all.

~ Zoe

Filed under: consumerism, critical thinking, Cultural Issues, economy, education, humane education, systemic change, videos | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Must Our Vision of the World Be Based on Consumption?

Posted on May 25, 2009 by zoeweil

I’ve been encountering a number of people who are ambivalent about this recession we’re in. On the one hand, they’re struggling personally because of economic hardship, but on the other hand they recognize that consumption needs to decline for the sake of biodiversity, climate stabilization, and restored ecosystems. I was listening to an economic historian on the radio yesterday, who pointed out to a caller (who believed we need to reduce our consumption) that this was simply not how our economy worked. I’ve written about this topic in previous blog posts (such as this one), imagining a more service-based economy to replace our thing-based economy, but I know that this solution is incomplete.

Recently, on my book tours for Most Good, Least Harm, I’ve met people who want to read my book, but don’t want to buy it because they don’t want to consume more (more paper, more trees, more ink, more fossil fuels – all of which go into the production of my book). And I agree with them! I want my book to be a bestseller that millions read, and I want each of us to consume less and use our resources with more care. When asked about this dilemma, I often suggest they get a copy of the book and donate it to their local library when they’re done. Since the last page in the book provides a place for people to write down their names and email addresses so that they can connect with others who want to explore the issues involved inMOGO living, the perfect home for Most Good, Least Harm is a library. But the quandary remains.

What kind of society and world do we envision? Is it consumption-based or something else? What else?

In some of my future posts I’ll explore these issues of consumption further.

~ Zoe

Filed under: consumerism, economy, MOGO (Most Good), systemic change, third side thinking | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Creating Community for Positive Change

Posted on May 20, 2009 by zoeweil

I’ve written about our M.Ed. graduate, Kim Korona, in my book Most Good, Least Harm. Kim doesn’t usually like to make waves. She’s so kind and caring and avoids conflict with people assiduously. But she’s also a changemaker and a humane educator. This fall she moved to Brooklyn, New York, to be a humane educator for HEART, offering humane education programs to schools throughout the city. She moved into an apartment that had a host of problems, from smoke and a build up of soot from an improperly functioning boiler, to lack of fire and carbon monoxide alarms. She brought up the problems with her landlord, to no avail. Kim had some concerns about her own health, but when she also began to learn about the problems her neighbors were having, which included severe symptoms ranging from headaches and migraines, to nose burns, excessive coughing, black mucus, and sore throats, Kim took action. She contacted her neighbors, co-wrote a stern but honest petition to the management for them to sign, and launched change. The problems have been fixed.

MOGO often means facing problems head on with clarity, conviction and tenacity. It means joining with others, creating community, and making systems change. This is often the kindest approach, even though it can be challenging to those inclined to avoid conflict.

Kim has demonstrated to me that even the kindest person, most averse to interpersonal conflict, can embrace the MOGO principle so fully that she models her message for kindness, creates community, takes responsibility, and works for change simultaneously.

~ Zoe

Image courtesy of grngobstpr.

Filed under: changemakers, citizen activism, MOGO (Most Good), systemic change | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Be Creative: Become Happy

Posted on May 18, 2009 by zoeweil

There’s been a spate of happiness books published lately. I’ve enjoyed them and learned from them, whether Stumbling on Happiness or The Geography of Bliss, and it’s no surprise that these books sell well. People want to be happy, and in the U.S. the pursuit of happiness is etched into our guiding principles. But so much evidence points to a truth missing in some of these books and in our relentless pursuit of happiness.

My last quote from Joshua Ramo’s The Age of the Unthinkable is this:

“As we’ve seen, our future is a race between good innovation and bad innovation. That’s a sprint that will be decided purely by our ability to create. It’s a shift so profound that it evokes the ideas of the American philosopher John David Garcia, who once said that we should reject the notion that increasing human happiness is the most important goal for society. Far better, he said, to increase human creativity. Happiness will follow.”

In my book, Most Good, Least Harm, one of the keys to MOGO is to pursue joy through service. There’s much evidence that engaged service brings people joy, but I think that John David Garcia is right in pointing out the happiness that comes through exercising one’s creativity. The key is to point one’s creativity toward good. When creativity is directed toward solving problems, the resulting happiness is nothing short of grand: grand because it is not only personal, but communal, with the good one has achieved bringing happiness to so many others.

We need creativity – good innovation – directed towards so many endeavors: education, governance, health systems, environmental restoration, production of goods, transportation, energy, food systems, law and penal systems, and so much more. Choose your system. Get creative. Become happy.

~ Zoe

Image courtesy of GiniMiniGi.

Filed under: changemakers, citizen activism, Cultural Issues, MOGO (Most Good), systemic change, third side thinking | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Take Back Your Power

Posted on May 15, 2009 by zoeweil

Here’s another quote from Joshua Ramo’s The Age of the Unthinkable:

“The moment you hand power over to other people, you get an explosion of curiosity, innovation, and effort.”

Humane education seeks to hand power over to you: Power to think critically and carefully and create positive change. Power to determine what is most important to you and commit to living your life according to your deepest values. Power to educate the next generation so that they can be conscious of the effects of their choices on themselves and others and committed to changing systems so that they are just and healthy. Power to lead a MOGO life however you come to define it. Power to take responsibility for yourself and your world so that you truly find and create freedom.

Take back your power. And try using the 3 Is from Most Good, Least Harm (Inquire, Introspect, and live with Integrity) to help you.

~ Zoe

Filed under: humane education, MOGO (Most Good), systemic change, values | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Creating Change/Changing Minds

Posted on May 13, 2009 by zoeweil

Here’s another quote from Joshua Ramo’s The Age of the Unthinkable:

“There is nothing more horrible than to walk that faulty line between new and old, seeing what the future holds, screaming about it in your art or your writing, and finding only mute incomprehension or dismissal in your audience.”

When I read this line, I put a bunch of exclamations next to it. This is how I often feel when I speak about humane education and the need for a paradigm shift about the very purpose of schooling. For many years I’ve been “screaming” about the need to change the way we think about education and about the necessity for humane education (which gives people the knowledge, tools, and inspiration to become conscious choicemakers and engaged changemakers for a peaceful, sustainable, and humane world) to not only solve our gravest challenges, but to prevent future problems from arising.

And while I’ve been “screaming,” No Child Left Behind was passed — a worthy vision so terribly misguided, that now we have even less time for relevant education for a changing world, and even more standardized tests that don’t promote critical or creative thinking.

I believe that Barack Obama understands this, but the fault line between new and old in terms of education is huge, and too many in Congress and our schools still do not really see what the future holds. So speak out. Let Barack Obama and Arne Duncan and your own senators and representatives and school boards and principals know what you think. If we “scream” together, if you join your school board, or change education from within as a teacher, we may soon find that mute incomprehension and dismissal change to full embrace of educational change.

~ Zoe

Filed under: citizen activism, education, humane education, systemic change | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Generosity and Decency in the Face of Fear

Posted on May 11, 2009 by zoeweil

In several of my next blog posts I’m going to refer to Joshua Cooper Ramo’s excellent new book, The Age of the Unthinkable, and use quotes from his book to jump-start my own thinking about current issues. The first quote is this:

“There will be many moments in the future where we will be surprised, confused, or terrified. Our usual reaction — to hit back or cower — needs to be augmented with an instinct for generosity and decency.”

Ramo is speaking of national conflicts that lead to violent responses, and his call for generosity and decency is a huge request in the face of people’s fear of genocide and attack, of physical safety in a dangerous world; but I think that this quote is even more far-reaching.

In the face of a rapidly-changing world, including economic instability, climate destabilization, energy upheavals, and potential pandemics, many of us wake up preparing for the worst, wondering if the morning’s news will bring catastrophe. Our adrenaline is flowing, and we’re prepared to fight for our and our family’s survival. Yet this reaction -– hit back or cower, ready to protect ourselves –- often prevents us from consciously choosing generosity and decency, from cultivating our solutionary selves in favor of only our reactionary selves. Much of the media just fans the flames of our reactivity, rather than encouraging our far-sighted, engaged efforts at system changing.

Those of us who are parents learn early on to “count to ten” before reacting to our tantrum-throwing, back-talking children. We know that wisdom isn’t always our first response. So, too, do we need to count to ten before cowering or hitting back in the face of the myriad problems and the concomitant media blitz that has us ever ready to fight or flee, instead of digging deep into our bag of values for those qualities that will actually better serve us and our world.

Whether it’s peak oil, swine flu, global warming, or some egregious form of cruelty, count to ten, dig deep, and bring your generosity and decency to the task of solving the challenge.

~Zoe

Filed under: books, MOGO (Most Good), third side thinking, values | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Replacing Red Meat With White?

Posted on May 8, 2009 by zoeweil

With the Swine Flu (H1N1) scaring people away from eating pigs, articles like “Paying a Price for Loving Red Meat” in the New York Times, and environmentalists’ success at drawing connections between beef and global warming, more and more people are eschewing red meat. Unfortunately, many are replacing red meat with “white” — that is, with chickens, turkeys, and sea animals. The problem with this, from an animal protection standpoint, is that the animal cruelty inherent in today’s poultry farming is so extensive that a switch from beef to chicken is a switch from contributing to some animal abuse to contributing to massive animal abuse.

When someone eats a burger, they’re eating a small portion of a large animal; but when someone eats chicken they may be eating a fourth, a half, or (in the case of small hens) a whole animal who was – most likely – confined under horrendous conditions,debeaked (when conscious and without anesthesia), and slaughtered without benefit of any humane standards. When someone eats a steak, the cow was at least supposed to be rendered unconscious before being killed; but when someone eats chicken, chances are good that the chickens who were killed for it hung upside down, fully conscious, as they moved along a conveyor before having their throats slit, since there are no requirements that poultry be unconscious when killed. They may even have been conscious when dropped into the scalding tanks to loosen their feathers. As for sea animals, we’re decimating fish stocks, dragging conscious fishes for miles with hooks in their sensitive mouths, destroying millions of non-target sea life, and suffocating billions of fishes (surely not a humane killing method). Many people who are influenced by health and environmental concerns to switch from red to white meat may not be considering the animal welfare issues involved.

So if you’re thinking of reducing your consumption of red meat, consider what’s MOGO: white meat or plant-based options? And if you do choose “white meat,” consider obtaining it only from small scale farmers, fisheries, and slaughterhouses that have a commitment to standards of animal welfare that you can support.

~ Zoe

Filed under: animal protection, Environmental Preservation, food and diet, MOGO (Most Good) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Freeman Dyson’s Big Error

Posted on May 6, 2009 by zoeweil

The New York Times March 29 magazine cover article was a profile of renowned physicist Freeman Dyson. Freeman Dyson does not believe that global warming is a problem. While he admits that he cannot know this for certain, it’s his contention that concerns about climate change are overblown and misguided, that other issues (e.g. poverty) are more pressing, and that we will be able to address high levels of carbon in the atmosphere through innovative means that don’t focus on limiting the production of carbon dioxide.

Dyson may be right. I hope so, since carbon in the atmosphere continues to rise. But what if he’s wrong? Dyson is 85. He will not see the future effects of his and my generation’s choices, but his grandchildren will. What will they say about their brilliant grandfather’s efforts to divert attention from limiting carbon? What if Dyson is wrong, as the great majority of climate scientists believe? Dyson’s big error, in my opinion, is misdirected optimism. Let’s focus on poverty, yes, but not by burning more coal. Let’s expend our energies toward clean and green technologies and solve two problems at once. Let’s not be overly optimistic about our capacity to produce super carbon-sucking plants, and instead embrace the precautionary principle to ensure that our grandchildren have a viable future. If Dyson is right, hallelujah. If he’s wrong, too much is at stake.

~ Zoe

Filed under: Environmental Preservation, global warming, Least Harm, systemic change | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off

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