Institute for Humane Education President, Zoe Weil, had a guest post on The Good Human blog yesterday, called How to Be a Good Human. Here are a couple of excerpts:

“We know a good human when we see one. An act of heroism? Good human. Donated a kidney to a stranger? Good human. Launched a non-profit to end human slavery? Good human. Dalai Lama? Good human. Adolf Hitler? Evil human.

“But it’s not so simple. Most of us are neither the Dalai Lama nor Hitler. We try to be good, but we are ignorant of many of the effects of our choices on others, and sometimes we get lazy and greedy. Often our desires and perceived needs compete with our values, leading us to buy products that cause harm to the environment (e.g. electronics), or were made in sweatshops (e.g. most clothes produced overseas), or may have been tainted with human slavery (e.g. much chocolate) or animal suffering and cruelty (e.g. almost all meat, dairy, eggs, fur, leather).

“So how can we be consistently good humans? We can do so by endeavoring to the greatest degree possible to bring what I call the 3 I’s of inquiry, introspection, and integrity to our life choices, whether these are daily decisions about what products, foods, or clothing to buy, or larger decisions about our work, activism, volunteerism, and involvement in change-making.”

Read the full post here.

(Posted by IHE staff.)

Filed under: Blogs, citizen activism, MOGO (Most Good), Zoe Weil appearances Tagged: | citizen activism, critical thinking, good human, inquiry, integrity, introspection, MOGO principle, zoe weil