Essentially, though, Legrain argues that consumerism – albeit a healthier version than most of us think of when we hear the word – is a primary key to a happier and more just and peaceful world. One of the pull out quotes in the article reads: “Localism, not globalization, is the true enemy of the planet.”

Legrain’s is a fairly unpopular view among progressives of various sorts who are promoting local economies, food independence, and voluntary simplicity as keys to a sustainable, just, and healthy world. And it is one I appreciate. I have found myself grappling with the complexities and sometimes the contradictions of local vs. global, and of consumerism vs. simplicity, for many years. I’ve written about this in my book, Most Good, Least Harm, because it is not always clear what and to whom actually does the most good and the least harm from our choices, especially if we are trying to do the most good and the least harm to ourselves, other people, animals, and the environmental all at the same time.

If I were to choose to eat only foods that are grown locally, as opposed to the criteria that I have chosen (vegan, organic, fair trade), then those organic and fair trade banana growers in Central and South America, from whom I purchase bananas at our local food co-op, would lose a loyal customer. I care about those growers as much as I care about the organic wheat growers in Northern Maine, whose crop I buy whenever I purchase bread or flour. True, the ecological footprint of the bananas is significant, shipped as they are using fossil fuels, but when I imagine a post-fossil fuel world that relies upon sustainable, non-polluting energy, that world has an abundance of global trade. My only reason now for limiting my purchases of distantly-produced products is environmental. I have never been swayed by “localism” for localism’s sake, that is, to “support my local economy.” It feels insular to me. In the same way, I have never understood when the news reports the number of Americans killed in a battle or natural disaster and fails to report the number of non-Americans killed. Personally, I don’t care about Americans more that I care about Iraqis. I care about people.

And so I was glad to read Legrain’s ideas and grateful to Ode Magazine for publishing an unpopular view. Yet, I hope that when I read his actual book (instead of excerpts) it will be more nuanced, and there won’t be either/or scenarios as presented in the quote “Localism, not globalization, is the true enemy of the planet.”

In a complex world, with challenging conundrums and solutions still eluding us, we must think beyond either/ors and attempt to continually ask and seek to answer what does the most good and the least harm in the countless choices that make up our lives. In this way, we can hone our critical thinking skills and harness our creativity to find new ideas that don’t simply refute other positions but which bring us further toward a peaceful, sustainable, and humane world for all people, animals, and the environment.

Zoe Weil

Image courtesy of Sheila’s via Creative Commons.

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Zoe Weil
Author of Most Good, Least Harm

Image courtesy of kretyen via Creative Commons.

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What do you think?

Zoe Weil
Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education and Most Good, Least Harm

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What should schooling be for?

Please share your thoughts. I look forward to reading your responses!

Zoe Weil
Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education and Most Good, Least Harm

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Zoe Weil
Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education

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Not only do our students need to identify themselves and be identified as able to succeed in academics, we also need to identify them and ourselves in other visionary and important ways. It isn’t enough for students to succeed on standardized tests measuring their acquisition of certain scholastic skills; we all need to create bigger identities for ourselves as agents of positive change. Many have come to believe that we really can’t change pervasive problems in the world. Last summer I spent a couple of nights with a group of strangers on an island off Newfoundland. Among them was an Israeli couple. The subject of Israeli-Palestinian peace came up, and not only did the Israeli couple believe that there would never be peace, many of the Americans in the group agreed with them.

If we believe that peace is impossible, that we cannot end slavery or institutionalized animal cruelty, reverse climate change or restore habitat, slow human population growth or find non-polluting energy and mineral sources, then we will never achieve these important goals. But if we change our identities, realize that we have the ingenuity and capacity to solve problems, we can do so. We have the ability, and many have the will. But we need the belief, the identity, and the commitment to raise a generation who with this same believe and identity. And then we must provide this generation with the tools and knowledge to achieve this great task.

Zoe Weil
Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education, Most Good, Least Harm and Above All, Be Kind

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I wrote the following, and I hope you will share your thoughts as well:

I believe the biggest challenge in education today is that our current purpose for schooling is inadequate. We are not yet teaching for the future our children are inheriting. We have largely defined the goals of schooling as verbal, mathematical and scientific literacy in order to graduate students who are employable and able to compete in the global economy. But given the global challenges we face, such as climate change, war, poverty, escalating worldwide slavery, habitat destruction and extinction of species, energy, access to clean water, overpopulation, genocide, institutionalized and massive animal cruelty, genocide, and so on, it’s imperative that we educate a generation that has the knowledge, tools, and motivation to be problem-solvers and system-changers in order to create a sustainable, peaceful, and humane world for all. If we were to succeed at achieving our current educational goals, we would simply produce a generation that perpetuates many destructive, inhumane, and unsustainable systems. The “basics” must be seen as foundational tools for achieving healthy societies. They are critical, but not enough. But if we expand our goals for schooling, making our children’s education truly relevant to their future, their personal investment and interest in their schooling would grow in proportion to the meaning and importance we would offer them through their studies.

Zoe Weil
Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education and Most Good, Least Harm

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When Elsie arrived in our house she walked in fairly confidently, despite the fact that the house was already full of dogs, two of whom were much bigger than she. In one swift move, she plopped down on the floor, as if signaling her intention to stay. And stay she has, taking her place in our family and my heart as the funniest, most engaging, most loving dog I’ve ever known. Elsie makes eye contact like nobody’s business, but not aggressively. When Elsie looks at you it’s as if she’s trying to pour out her overflowing, enthusiastic heart. I have never felt so adored in all my life as I do by Elsie.

This summer has been a joy for Elsie. If she has tired out our 7-year-old dog, Ruby, and if none of us are willing to play stick, Elsie will simply play stick by herself. She has collected a couple of very large sticks (more like branches), and she keeps them in a specific place by the kiwi arbor. When she wants to play with them she picks one up and runs around with it, and then throws it up in the air and catches it, and then chews it for awhile, leaving it by the arbor for next time. And when she gets hot from such activity, she trots down to the pond and goes for a swim.

Elsie is so attentive that as soon as I awake in the morning, even before I open my eyes, she jumps on the bed (or, if she’s already on the bed, slinks up it), to greet me. She’s learned not to paw me or lick me on my face (I don’t like either of these behaviors), but to give a teeny lick on my hand and rest her head on my body to say good morning. And then I pet her, and we are both so happy.

It’s hard to describe the joy that Elsie brings me. The best way I have of understanding it is by observing her. She is joyous in a way I can only imagine, and lucky for me, I experience a measure of it in her presence.

Zoe Weil
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Claude and Medea: The Hellburn Dogs, and So, You Love Animals: An Action-Packed, Fun-Filled Book to Help Kids Help Animals

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By the time we got the canoe in the water and cajoled our dogs into the boat, it was 4:30. Perfect timing, as it would mean we’d still be on the pond as the crepuscular animals came out near sunset. Otter Bog has several beaver lodges on it, and lots of old logs covered in sundews. The bog itself has pitcher plants growing all over it as well, and is nestled between small mountains. It’s a wildlife extravaganza, and in addition to the beavers we’ve seen or seen evidence of such megafauna as bears, moose, deer, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, otters, wood ducks, and many species of song birds, including rare migrating warblers.

Dancing over the surface of the pond were water bugs that my husband named “aquagraphs” because their movements seemed like writing on the water, and periodically a snapping turtle would poke her head above the surface. When we wound our way down the stream that feeds the pond, we ended up in an area that was once a forest before the beavers flooded it to create their home. Long dead but still tall white pines stood high in the water, the largest the former site of an osprey family’s nest. We paused for a time by a massive beaver lodge, and my husband began looking at a piece of thick grass poking out of the water. There were tiny worms crawling through the grass, and fortunately I had brought my “microglass,” the name I gave the high-powered magnifying class that my husband had had for years and which he gave me last year for my birthday. Not only could I watch these worms slithering through this piece of grass, but I also saw planaria! I’d never seen planaria (non-parasitic flatworms) outside of high school biology.

As we meandered back around 6:30, the beavers let us know they were not happy about our appearance on their pond. One in particular slapped his tail repeatedly, seeming to say “Get out of here!” We complied, but not all the beavers seemed to mistrust our canoe. Some just swam on by looking our way.

At dinner that night, I told my husband that if there was one item I would consider selling, it wouldn’t be organic cotton clothing, or fair trade chocolate, or some other seemingly MOGO product; it would be these amazing magnifying glasses. Lasting a lifetime, they offer a glimpse into a world so magical and amazing: our world. If every family had such a “microglass” and used it frequently out in the wild, it’s hard to imagine we wouldn’t do everything in our power to protect this mysterious, awesome planet.

As I’ve said before, please go outside, for yourself and the world.

Zoe Weil
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education

Image courtesy of Tom Gill (lapstrake) via Creative Commons.

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I love fiction, but I admit that sometimes I feel like I’m indulging myself by spending time with a novel instead of with non-fiction that will “teach” me more and enable me to do more and better work in the world. (This is ironic because I have an Master’s in English Literature!) The truth is that there are those novels that so transform us that we become better people because of them.

Check out this book!

Zoe Weil
Author of Most Good, Least Harm

(Image is of Zoe and one of her rescued dogs, Elsie.)

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