Just Be Kind: Reflections on Jacintha Saldanha’s Death

Posted on December 11, 2012 by zoeweil

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As most people now know, last week two Australian DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles and called the hospital where Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, was being treated for acute morning sickness. They fooled Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who answered the phone and transferred the call, enabling the impersonators to tape, for all the world to hear, personal medical information about the Duchess.

A couple of days later Jacintha committed suicide.

Obviously, the DJs are not responsible for Jacintha’s death, but their prank raises an important question: can’t we just be kind?  We live in a world in which meanness, deception, and harrassment is well-compensated. The DJs bragged about their success. Until Jacintha’s death, they seemed both thrilled and smug. No longer.

Before we do anything to anyone, it would help to remember these words: “Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle.” Would the DJs have made their prank call had they held this sentiment close to their hearts? Would Jacintha be dead and her two teenage children left without their mother? We’ll never know, but the lesson in this is still there for each of us to heed.

Just be kind.

- Zoe

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We Can (and Should) Care About Both People and Animals

Posted on October 11, 2012 by zoeweil
Image courtesy of AlicePopkorn via Creative Commons.

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent essay I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “We Can (and Should) Care About Both People and Animals”:

“In a recent interview in The Sun magazine, Joel Salatin, who is the owner of Polyface Farm and was featured in the film Food, Inc., and in Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, makes a number of comments about animals that bear deconstruction, primarily because they’ve become a straw man that undermines the goal of doing the most good and least harm to all people, animals and the environment.

Salatin is a farmer who raises animals for food. When asked whether animals should give up their lives simply for our pleasure, he replies: ‘Why think animals are more special than carrots?’ He goes on to say that he hopes that anyone who cares for animals ‘would not spend more on his or her dog or cat than on making sure hungry children in Africa got fed,’ stating that Americans spend more on vet care than Africans spend on health care. He actually calls this a litmus test of our priorities.

Why this need to disparage caring for pets? After all, there are many other things we spend money on.”

Read the complete essay.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed.   

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Is Gaming the Answer to Our Global Problems?

Posted on February 6, 2012 by zoeweil

Watch this TED talk about gaming as a solution to our problems:

As a non-gamer, this TED talk raised many questions for me:

  • Will gamers like real-world solutionary games as much as Warcraft?
  • Is the speaker’s vision and call for more gaming likely to achieve the results she suggests?
  • Does gaming 22 hours/week on top of school or work leave time for real-life solutionary efforts?
  • Does the optimism of gamers spill over into engaged changemaking work?

If there are gamers out there who read my blog, I’m eager to know. Please share your thoughts.

For a humane world,

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. 

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Non-human and Human Animals: More Similarities Than Differences

Posted on November 11, 2011 by zoeweil
Image courtesy of braindamaged217
via Creative Commons.

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent post I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from Non-human and Human Animals: More Similarities Than Differences:

“It’s common to read books about issues related to human psychology, sociology, behavior and history and find references to and comments about the essential differences between humans and other animals (more often referred to as just “animals”). It’s as if in every era and from every author, a new fundamental difference must be named. I generally find these irritating.

I realize that humans are, in a very obvious way, quite different from all other species currently residing on Earth (but imagine if we still shared this planet with Neandertals!). Our built world is a far cry from a termite nest. Our ability to adapt to every clime by creating and wearing clothes, building elaborate structures, and harnessing energy sources for warmth and light certainly stands out. The complexity of our languages and our ability to use representational symbols to convey information through writing (and now computing) doesn’t have a counterpart among other species; and yet, these lie along a spectrum, and what essential quality do humans really have that does not lie on a continuum with other species?”

For a humane world,Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. 

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The Day We Buried Grif

Posted on July 11, 2011 by zoeweil

We buried our beloved dog, Griffin, Sunday, July 10, and I wrote this poem in his honor for my blog post today.

The Day We Buried Grif
by Zoe Weil

We buried our dog this morning
In heavy clay soil.
He was light on the earth
a tiny three-legged boy
still so soft,
though no longer fierce.

We remembered him aloud,
sharing stories,
His love affair with our big three-legged shepherd;
our son’s biggest scar
when he tried to prevent him from biting friends
who’d stopped by and were chased back
to their car
by pugilistic Grif.

He likes that scar.
He loved that dog.
Whom he’d rescued at two and a half
Saying in no uncertain terms to his reluctant parents,
“We HAVE to adopt him,”
and we did.

Fifteen plus years together;
our son’s whole childhood,
the photos in the albums like proof,
one after another:
Griffin in his arms;
Griffin and he floating on a raft;
Griffin in his lap;
Griffin on his bed.
Always with Griffin,
the dog he saved.

Grif is in the earth beside Sophie, next to Maia,
flanked by Uba, Buddha, Pere, and Mish,
marking the inexorable passage of time,
marking years of love,
of joyous puppy and kittenhood,
and the solid decade each of companionship and devotion,
and then arthritis and kidney failure and decline
and their inevitable deaths.

Meanwhile, three others wait in the house,
banished from this burial.
Elsie, two;
Ruby, eight;
Sir Simon, thirteen.
The cycle continues.
Loving them a bit more tenderly today;
The day we buried Grif.

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Posted on November 30, 2008 by zoeweil

Thanks for visiting! I would love you to share your comments. Get free updates to my blog by subscribing to my RSS feed, and please enjoy my TEDx talks. Below are “The World Becomes What You Teach” and “How to Be a Solutionary.” You can also watch “Solutionaries” and “Educating for Freedom.”

 


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Zoe’s at Bioneers – Back Next Week

Posted on October 16, 2008 by zoeweil

Hello, Everyone,

I’m off for the Bioneers conference this weekend in San Rafael, California. I’ll be really busy attending sessions, networking, and tabling for the Institute for Humane Education, so I won’t have a chance to do any blog posts until next week. In the meantime, in case you don’t already know about it, please visit IHE’s Humane Connection blog, which is updated 4-5 times a week.

Be well,

~ Zoe

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The New Yorker Cover of Barack and Michelle Obama

Posted on July 21, 2008 by zoeweil

By now, most of us have heard about the recent New Yorker magazine cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House, fist pumping in their Muslim and terrorist garb while the American flag burns and a picture of Osama Bin Laden looks on. I grew up in Manhattan, and The New Yorker magazine arrived at our doorstep weekly. I loved the cartoons, and I grew to enjoy reading the essays and stories when I was old enough to appreciate them. And truth be told, I felt a bit smug about my appreciation for this rather elite magazine that only truly appealed to the highly educated and highly literate. Yup, I was a proud member of that liberal elite so disdained by the so-called “red states,” even though the very concept of the liberal elite was created by the conservative elite.

This recent New Yorker cover, however, unveils the seed of truth that generated the disdain for the liberal elite. It’s clever all right. All those stereotypes and lies thrown Obama’s way this past year all artistically executed in one cartoon. The New Yorker so elite it can show the rest of the world their prejudices and fears all in one fell swoop of a cover. But at what cost? For whom was that cover drawn? For the liberal elite to laugh at the silly racism, bigotry, and fear of the less educated masses? To discuss at art openings in Tribeca?

Barack Obama represents a historical tide change that so many people have worked so hard to achieve. The New Yorker subtly diminished that achievement, leaving us to ponder why we don’t want to continue the effort to break down persistent forms of bigotry, rather than reinforce them.

~ Zoe

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The 3 Is: Inquiry, Introspection, Integrity

Posted on September 11, 2007 by zoeweil

Readers of my blog, books, and essays know about the 3 Cs and the 3 Rs of humane education: Fostering Curiosity, Creativity, and Critical Thinking and Instilling Reverence, Respect, and Responsibility. These are components of quality humane education largely because, without them, positive personal change and problem-solving are impaired.

Now that we’re offering MOGO (Most Good) workshops to people striving to make their lives more aligned with their values, I’ve come to recognize that there are 3 Is involved in lifelong learning and the pursuit of personal change. They are: Inquiry, Introspection, and Integrity. These are not elements specific to the teacher offering humane education, but rather they are elements for all individuals to bring to their own journeys toward humane living.

Inquiry: In order to align our life choices with our values, we need to inquire about the effects of our actions (and inactions) on ourselves and others. Although we are always stumbling upon knowledge that shifts our choices and life direction, bringing conscious inquiry to the forefront of our minds means that we will continually and consciously ask questions that lead us to the information we need to make informed decisions.

Introspection: As we ask questions and gather information, if we are to make meaningful changes we will need to introspect, that is to look inward and see where the confluence of new knowledge and our life choices lies. It’s likely we’ll periodically feel some conflict between our habits and desires and the truth of what we’ve learned, but this is why a commitment to introspection is so important. We dive below our surface desires and habits to discover our deepest visions, dreams, and commitments.

Integrity: As we open our hearts and minds to inquiry, as we acquire the information we need to make informed and conscious decisions, and as we introspect, we are then called upon to act in accordance with our new knowledge and our deepest values. This is integrity.

Together, these 3 Is bring our dreams and hopes for a better world to life. They provide a simple map for lifelong learning and choicemaking that can inform our everyday decisions, as well as our careers, relationships, political involvement, volunteer work, and all of the ways in which we participate in creating change in the world. Using the 3 Is brings about not only a better world but a more joyful, meaningful life.

~ Zoe, IHE President

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What a Great Time to Be Alive!

Posted on September 9, 2007 by zoeweil

In the current issue of Ecologist, a UK environmental publication, you’ll find excerpted quotes from environmentalists and visionaries interviewed in Leonardo DiCaprio’s new film, The 11th Hour. One in particular, from Paul Hawken, environmentalist, businessperson, and author, popped out for me:

“The great thing about the dilemma we’re in is that we get to reimagine every single thing we do… there isn’t a single thing that doesn’t require a complete remake. There are two ways of looking at that. One is: Oh my gosh, what a big burden. The other way, which I prefer is: What a great time to be born! What a great time to be alive! Because this generation gets to essentially completely change the world.”

By now, if you’ve been reading this blog, you know how I feel about either/or statements. Many will confront the challenges we face in saving our planet with a combination of feelings, among them trepidation, commitment, anger, excitement, apathy, enthusiasm, horror, sadness, tenacity, hope, and energy. And I think that we must acknowledge and deal positively with the range of emotions and attitudes that these times elicit. But I love Hawken’s essential point – this is the generation with the opportunity and necessity for creating change.

The role of humane education is pivotal to this challenge. For this generation to change the world for the better, they need knowledge, skills, and passion for the job. That’s what humane education provides.

It’s difficult for me to imagine how we can succeed in changing the world for the better without a change in our educational approaches and systems — without a shift in our thinking about the very purpose of education. If the greatest challenge we face is restoring the earth and creating peace, then this should be the goal of education at all levels.

~Zoe, IHE President

Photo by Tansan

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