Raid at Iowa Slaughterhouse Another Reason to Change U.S. Agricultural System

The anti-immigration sentiment that’s growing in the U.S. is fomenting not only inhumane actions but also a shameful waste of taxpayer dollars. In an opinion piece in the Miami Herald, author Mary Sanchez describes a government raid on an Iowa meatpacking plant in which almost 400 Mayan Guatemalans “were scooped up and shuffled in shackles to a fairground designed to hold cattle” before being jailed for 5 months (at taxpayer expense) pending deportation to Guatemala.

The online comments left by two readers of the opinion piece applauded the action, citing identity theft by illegal immigrants and lack of jobs for U.S. citizens. It’s understandable that citizens facing economic hardship and/or identity theft would be angry, but there’s a reason why agribusiness relies on illegal immigrants, whether for harvesting in fields or working in slaughterhouses. Few U.S. citizens want these jobs, especially jobs in meatpacking (slaughterhouses) which reportedly have the highest injury rates of any profession in the U.S. Agribusinesses hire illegal immigrants to keep the meat rolling off the assembly line at prices they can profit from, and if we in the U.S. decide to stop illegal immigration, it’s the employers we should punish for breaking the law, not desperate people fleeing relentless poverty.

As always, left out of articles and opinion pieces such as these are animals and the environment. Large scale slaughterhouse work, with its sped up lines and dangerous working conditions, is brutal and inhumane for humans, but it is a travesty of relentless cruelty toward animals, with millions of fully conscious mammals and birds dying terrifying, slow, and excruciating deaths. And the destructive effects of animal agribusiness on water, air, soil, and climate is egregious.

We could solve a host of problems, massively diminish the inhumane treatment of both people and animals, and save a massive amount of taxpayer money if we changed our system of agriculture to protect people, animals, the environment, and the safety and health of our food.

~ Zoe

The Gist of You: Developing Your Own Tagline

Last month, our M.Ed. and Humane Education Certificate Program students gathered at the Institute for Humane Education for their residency training – five days in which we all came together to learn in person in an otherwise distance-learning format. Twenty-three humane educators from all over the United States, and one from Germany, shared brilliant ideas, great wisdom, and heartfelt emotions about the challenges we face. During the week every student offered the group a fifteen minute presentation on some topic in humane education. All of our toolboxes are now full of new activities which we can use with a range of groups. (Visit our Humane Education Activities section, where these, and other activities, are/will be available for free download.)

One student, Charley Korns, introduced us to the concept of taglines by testing our tagline knowledge (a fun and enlightening activity in and of itself), and then led us into an activity in which we wrote our own taglines. Can “The Gist of You” (not to be confused with the equally compelling “gift of you”) be put into words that represent your vision, your mission, your self such that your personal tagline works as a guiding meme for your life? Try it! Then live it.

~ Zoe

Image courtesy of anand16bk.

John Edwards’ “Mistake”

I watched John Edwards confess his extramarital affair on Nightline and found myself pondering his repeated reference to this affair as a “mistake.”

Mistake?

A mistake is when you put a comma in the wrong place, or do an algebra problem and add two numbers wrong, or when you call a hawkweed flower a dandelion.

Choosing to have a secret, unsanctioned-by-your-spouse, extramarital affair when your wife is battling cancer, and you’ve been preaching morality publicly for a decade is not a mistake. And lying about your behavior repeatedly is not a mistake either. These are ethical failures.

We’re all guilty of ethical failures. It’s not easy to be consistently honest, compassionate, responsible, generous, courageous, and kind. Living with integrity may be our goal, but our fears, greed, selfishness, and desires often compete with what we know to be MOGO.

It’s important, and it’s MOGO, to call our failure to live up to our values by its true name. Dishonesty, duplicity, and hypocrisy aren’t mistakes; they’re examples of deep ethical battles that we’ve lost and that we can only correct with awareness and a renewed commitment to be honest with ourselves. By naming the great challenge of living a MOGO life with candor, we enable ourselves to accept our failures as we enthusiastically and continually recommit to our deepest values.

~ Zoe

Economics AND the Environment: Beyond the Dead-End Either/Or Question

In the August 4 Ethics Newsline , you’ll find the results of a research report that asked the question: Which is more important: Economic Growth or the Environment? The answer to this question, from a Harris poll, is:

“As economic conditions worsen, people who are asked to make a decision between protecting the environment or economic growth and development have moved even more strongly into the economic growth column.”

Why do we ask people to make a (false) decision between protecting the environment and economic growth? Such questions reinforce the regressive perspectives that continually influence us to take sides that don’t serve us. They narrow our vision and stifle our creativity. They are either/or dead-ends instead of both/and possibilities.

We must reframe such questions and ask instead: “What can we do to simultaneously protect the environment and create a healthy economy?”

The pollsters won’t have an easy time analyzing the answers because they’ll receive creative ideas that require pages to describe, but they will have meaningful responses to actually solve economic and environmental challenges. Wouldn’t that be nice?

~ Zoe

Study Confirms What Humane Educators Have Always Known

In a news release from the Association for Psychological Science titled, “Reflecting on values promotes love, acceptance,” humane educators’ efforts to foster personal reflection on individual values is vindicated. Such reflection, which humane educators typically offer students, results in less defensiveness, more generosity, and willingness to change unhealthy or inhumane choices. It’s always nice when scientific studies provide evidence for what many educators already know.

If you’re interested in reflecting upon your own values and living your life so that it more deeply embodies them, I invite you to complete the MOGO (Most Good) Questionnaire below:

1. The qualities (virtues) that are most important to me are:

2a. With my family, friends, and neighbors I model the following qualities:
2b. I would like to model the following qualities more consciously with my family and friends:
2c. In order to achieve this goal, I will take the following steps:

3a. In relation to my health (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual) I take care of myself in the following ways:
3b. I would like to learn/do the following in order to improve my health (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual):
3c. I will take the following steps to improve my health (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual):

4a. In relation to people who produce and supply the products and services I use, I currently make the following choices to prevent others from suffering or being exploited:
4b. In relation to people who produce and supply the products and services I use, I need to learn about the following in order to make choices that better reflect my values:
4c. I will take the following steps to learn, think critically, and make more humane choices in relation to people who produce and supply the products and services I use:

5a. In relation to animals (wildlife and those used for food and clothing, in product testing, in forms of entertainment, who are in shelters, etc.), I currently make the following choices to minimize animal suffering and exploitation:
5b. In relation to animals (wildlife and those used for food and clothing, in product testing, in forms of entertainment, who are in shelters, etc.), I need to learn about the following in order to make choices that better reflect my values in relation to animals:
5c. I will take the following steps to learn, think critically, and make more humane choices in relation to animals:

6a. In relation to the environment (air, salt water, fresh water, land, soil, forests, rainforests, natural resources, etc.) I currently make the following choices to live an environmentally friendly, sustainable life:
6b. In relation to the environment (air, salt water, fresh water, land, soil, forests, rainforests, natural resources, etc.) I need to learn about the following in order to make choices that better reflect my commitment to protecting and restoring the environment:
6c. I will take the following steps to learn, think critically, and make more environmentally friendly, sustainable choices:

7a. In relation to activism and volunteerism, I already do the following:
7b. In relation to activism and volunteerism, I would like to help more in the following ways:
7c. I will take the following steps in order to help others through activism and volunteerism:

8a. In relation to charitable giving and sharing my resources, I contribute in the following ways:
8b. In relation to charitable giving and sharing my resources, I would like to contribute more enthusiastically and effectively in these ways:
8c. I will take the following steps to contribute more enthusiastically and effectively:

9a. In relation to democracy, I’m active and engaged in the following ways:
9b. In relation to democracy, I need to learn the following in order to be more meaningfully and actively engaged and participatory:
9c. In relation to democracy, I will take the following steps to be more meaningfully and actively engaged in the democratic process.

10. This is the epitaph I would like to have:

11. In order to turn my intentions in this questionnaire into practical changes, I will use the following methods to support and discipline myself (this support can be internal, such as starting a meditation practice, or external, such as taking a class, finding or creating a support group, or a combination of both):

12. Within the next week, I am going to do the following 3-5 things in order to implement this plan:

13. I am going to put a reminder to myself in my calendar on this date to assess and evaluate my efforts and successes at fulfilling my commitments and to plan again:

~ Zoe

If you’d like to explore living your values in more depth, consider attending one of IHE’s MOGO (Most Good) Workshops. Currently, there are workshops scheduled in Watkins Glen, New York, Woodstock, New York, Orlando, Florida, and Portland, Oregon.

Reframing, Part 2: Reframing Societal Myths

In my previous blog post, I discussed reframing education in general. From the humane educator’s perspective, almost all the myths of society require reframing. Consider these:

• If we don’t buy lots of non-essential things, the economy will collapse.
• You’re either with us or against us.
• Economic globalization is the greatest hope for developing countries.
• Economic globalization is empire-building colonization at its worst.
• Milk is good for your bones.

The list is endless. Each of these statements, even those that represent opposite viewpoints, like the two about economic globalization, is, on its own, false. If we reframe these assumptions into meaningful questions, however, we may find positive answers to solve persistent challenges. For example:

• How can we maintain a healthy economy and promote sustainable, life-enhancing, environmentally regenerative living?
• What are the many different perspectives on a specific issue, and how can we learn from and resolve conflicts in a peaceful, healthy, safe way?
• How can we promote the life-enhancing, progressive, and positive aspects of economic globalization while making sure that we are not causing destruction, pollution, or suffering?
• What are the healthiest ways to ensure strong bones as people live longer?

Try reframing every assumption or myth or opinion masquerading as fact into a meaningful question. Then seek to answer it. And please post any thoughts on these or other false assumptions!

~ Zoe

Reframing, Part 1: Reframing Education

There’s a great blog post on reframing at Salon.com. The author, Dave Pollard, focuses on reframing common (and false) business myths, and it’s fascinating to see how he reframes each one. His new perspective and questions allow us to completely rethink assumptions that stifle creativity and positive change.

What are common education myths that could use some reframing?

• We must have a national standard curriculum that is delivered to all children.
• The only way to find out if students have learned the subject matter is to test them using national and state standardized tests.
• Rewarding schools that have high standardized test scores and withholding funds from those that don’t will improve student learning.
• Schools are not the place to teach or discuss values.
• The national and state curricula are not biased but humane education is.
• Property taxes are a fair and just way to fund schools.

How could we reframe these with questions that inspire creative and practical answers?

• Given the world we live in today, what knowledge and skills do young people most need in order to be successful, contributing members of today’s world?
• How can we know if students are gaining this knowledge and these skills? What projects, tasks or ideas might they launch or generate to demonstrate their abilities and knowledge?
• When schools fail to educate students with the knowledge and skills they need, what should we do to help them become successful?
• What values do we consider universal and important for leading peaceful, sustainable, and humane lives, and how can we invite students to identify and embody these for their own and society’s benefit?
• What biases are in each curricula we use? How can we best teach students to identify these biases so that they are good critical thinkers?
• What methods can we use to fund education so that every child is able to receive a good education from pre-school through college?

If you have ideas or comments on these questions, by all means share them! We need to solve our educational challenges, and reframing the questions may open the doors for new, healthy ideas.

~ Zoe

The Hidden Costs of Shopping at Wal-Mart

There’s an article in the Detroit Free Press by Georgea Kovanis titled, “Yes, I’m shopping at Wal-Mart.” It’s a paean to a store formerly vilified by cultural creatives and eco-consumers. But with a tough economy, even people who have eschewed Wal-Mart for years are starting to shop there as money becomes tighter with rising fuel and food costs. Plus, Wal-Mart has been working hard to change its image, adopting green slogans, organic food, and hiring consultants, such as Adam Werbach, formerly the president of the Sierra Club, to help them accomplish their goals in sustainability. Thus, Ms. Kovanis feels justified and tries to convince her readers that shopping at Wal-Mart is now good.

But Ms. Kovanis didn’t convince me with her examples. She writes:

“A couple weeks ago I spent $2.50 on a Wal-Mart plant that was $4.99 at the nursery up the street. I stumbled upon DVDs for $5 and I’ve stashed away the fairly new releases to give as Christmas presents. And my favorite fat-free sugar-free Jell-O instant pudding mix is 25 cents cheaper than at my regular grocery.”

We might ask if there are even more thrifty and sustainable ways to satisfy these desires. For example, why not take a cutting of a friend’s houseplant (free), or give homemade cookies, coupon gifts for fun activities, or cool found objects from nature as Christmas presents? And there really are healthier and tastier options for dessert, such as local fruits in season (supporting our health and local farmers at the same time).

The problems associated with Wal-Mart, and all of the big box chain stores, are many, but they are hidden. When strapped for cash, those hidden problems recede even further from our willingness to make an effort even to view them. Whether the problems are the collapse of local economies, sweatshop labor abroad, fuel-intensive transportation costs, local water pollution and increased traffic accidents, excessive materialism, waste accumulation and disposal from extra (and largely unnecessary) items, there are costs, far greater ones than are apparent in the cheap price tag on the individual items. Costs certainly not explored by Ms. Kovanis.

I wish writers like Ms. Kovanis would delve just a bit deeper before justifying Wal-Mart purchases in a tight economy. Would our thrift-conscious, depression-era-surviving grandparents have thought that shopping at a cheap chain store was the answer to a slowing economy, or would they have advocated true thriftiness with a commitment to purchase well-made, long-lasting items when necessary?

~ Zoe

The New Yorker Cover of Barack and Michelle Obama

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

Valuing Teachers/Valuable Teachers

As an educator, Woody Allen’s famous line in Annie Hall still haunts me. “Those who can’t do, teach, and those who can’t teach, teach gym,” he quipped to big laughs. As a teenager watching the film for the first time, I laughed, too. I certainly wasn’t considering teaching as a profession back then. No status, poor pay, little respect. Woody Allen was right, and I had my sights set on something important; I went to college pre-med.

Years later, I became an educator despite Woody Allen, but as I said, his line still haunted me: did I become a teacher because I couldn’t do something? I’ve come to realize the answer is a resounding no. I could do plenty of things. I choose to teach because I believe that we must raise a generation with the knowledge, tools, and motivation to create solutions to global challenges and create a better world. I teach because I love inspiring and empowering people to live their lives as meaningfully and positively as possible. I teach because I believe that good education is one of the most important gifts we can give others. I teach because I can think of no nobler, more meaningful, or more important work for myself. I teach precisely because it is the best thing I can do.

Yet, our society still grants teachers little respect, even less pay, and hardly any status. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that while many brilliant, inspiring, enlightened people go into teaching as a profession, many others go into teaching for less than noble reasons. A few years ago, I learned that a certain state university (which will remain unnamed) accepts people into its M.Ed. program who have a C average from college. I find this disturbing.

We want our doctors and lawyers to be exceedingly smart and well-educated. We expect our college professors to be not only highly intelligent, but also wise. But we don’t have very high expectations of the teachers who will be paving the way for our children’s future on countless levels, not least of which is their passion for and ability to pursue lifelong learning.

I’ve written in this blog that I believe the purpose of education should be to provide the knowledge, skills, and inspiration for people to live sustainably, peaceably, and humanely, but I’ve not written much about teachers. We need to build a society in which the very brightest, wisest, most inspired and inspiring people go into teaching — not just at the university level, but in primary and secondary schools, too. We need to value our teachers the way we value our physicians and pay them accordingly, so that such people are drawn to education, not just to medicine, law, and business.

There is no easy formula for this. But there are some steps we can take:

• If you are a parent, show your gratitude and respect for your children’s best teachers. Let them know how important they are. Share books and websites with them (such as HumaneEducation.org) so they can learn more themselves.
• If you are a teacher, honor yourself. Woody Allen was wrong. Realize the potential you have to make an enormous impact on the lives of your students as well as on the world. Be a lifelong learner, and commit to bringing humane education to your students. Doing so may reawaken your passion for and commitment to your chosen profession.
• If you are an educational reformer, brainstorm ways in which we can begin to pay teachers better and more equitably across communities. Meet with other educational reformers to draft policy ideas and share these.
• If you are a concerned citizen, write letters to the editor, your own blog posts, or simply voice your commitment to education – help build a society which values education and hence attracts more and more valuable teachers.

Our motto at the Institute for Humane Education is “The world becomes what you teach.” We believe that we will build a better world when we teach for such a world. Nothing is more important than the teachers who will do this great work.

~ Zoe