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 “Believe and Never Give Up”:

“… while the evidence is clear that we’re living in less violent times, we are simultaneously living in more dangerous times because we now have the capacity to cause so much irrevocable destruction of our planet. Climate change and habitat destruction are leading to the extinction of so many species that we may lose half of them by the end of this century. Nuclear weapons – tens of thousands of them – are a constant threat. A growing human population, all desirous of a better standard of living, could denude our planet.

And yet, never before have we had the capacity to collaborate and innovate with people across every border to solve our challenges. Anyone who says that we cannot feed the world through humane and sustainable agriculture; produce products ethically and sustainably; develop enough renewable energy to meet our needs; cure cancer and other diseases without animal experimentation; be safe without the war machine, or have thriving economies without endless growth in the GDP simply lacks imagination. This is why imagination, the capacity to envision solutions to our challenges, is the most essential ingredient in the complex recipe that will lead us closer to a peaceful, just, and healthy world. This is why it’s so critical that we nurture our children’s – and our own – imagination, our birthright as human beings.”

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“
My TEDxYouth@BFS “Educating for Freedom”

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Filed under: humane education, MOGO (Most Good) | Tagged: belief, better world, citizenship, determination, education, global ethical issues, humane education, imagination, persistence, social justice, solutionaries | Comments Off