Humane Edge E-News January 2009

In This Issue:

• MOST GOOD, LEAST HARM: AN INTERVIEW WITH ZOE WEIL
• NEW MONTH-LONG ONLINE COURSES
• TAKE BACK THAT TV!
  
• OUR TOP 10 MOST POPULAR ACTIVITIES FOR 2008
  
• HUMANE EDUCATION IN ACTION: HELPING OTHERS GO GREEN
  
• FEATURED RESOURCE: HIP-HOP: BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES
  
• BE THE CHANGE: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ROBBINS
  
• FEATURED STUDENT: DANIELLA SCHMIDT
  

MOST GOOD, LEAST HARM: AN INTERVIEW WITH ZOE WEIL

How can we live in a way that connects us to our deepest values and helps us create a humane world? IHE President Zoe Weil’s latest book, Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life, has just been published by Atria Books/Beyond Words Publishing. Most Good, Least Harm addresses the fact that people everywhere are deeply concerned about issues like global warming, loss of biodiversity, human rights abuses, and animal cruelty, and they are yearning for both meaning and vision, for a world that works and souls that are at peace, for proactive, visionary, positive ideas for creating change that work for all: themselves, the environment, other people, and animals. In this interview, Zoe talks about the MOGO principle and the power of our choices.


IHE: Why did you write Most Good, Least Harm?

ZW: Most Good, Least Harm is a book that’s been brewing in my mind for almost a decade. As a humane educator, I wanted to give the general public what I’ve been giving my students for years –- the inspiration and tools to live deeply humane and meaningful lives that contribute to a better world. Most Good, Least Harm is for anyone who’s eager to make a positive difference and who wants to live a more meaningful, fulfilling life.


IHE: What is the MOGO principle, and why is it important?

ZW: MOGO stands for “most good,” which is a short version of the principle of doing the most good and the least harm for ourselves, other people, animals, and the environment. When we do the most good and the least harm through our daily choices, our acts of citizenship, our communities, our work, our volunteerism, and our interactions, we create inner and outer peace. This is the MOGO (Most Good) principle. Living with MOGO as a guiding principle opens us to growth, joy, renewed and renewing energy, and many and varied opportunities in life, work and our relationships.

Ultimately, when we adopt the MOGO principle we:

• Have a simple, helpful, and meaningful guide for every choice, conflict, issue, and life decision that we will ever face.
• Cultivate our own wisdom and kindness.
• Increase our freedom from others’ imperatives, whether these come from advertisers, social norms, the media, or individual people telling us what we should or shouldn’t do.
• Improve our own lives without unknowingly or unjustifiably harming others or the environment to do so.
• Remain honest, humble, open, and nonjudgmental.
• Balance strong concerns with level-headed choice-making.
• Develop our self-discipline and equanimity.
• Free ourselves from the specter of guilt, indignity, or shame caused by unreflective, inhumane, or rash decision-making and are liberated from the oppressive pursuit of perfection.

IHE: What’s the central message of Most Good, Least Harm?

ZW: Your efforts to help improve the world will also improve your life (and the reverse). Choosing to do the most good and the least harm is personally enriching and helps to bring about a peaceful, sustainable, and humane world for all.


IHE: How is this book different from all the sustainability and “green living” books that have been published recently?

ZW: In two ways: it’s not simply about green living, but about making choices that do the most good and least harm for everyone. It’s also about improving and enriching your own life.


IHE: Many “green” books have focused on a list of small or simple actions to take. Why and how have you taken a different approach?

ZW: Often we see two different approaches to creating change. One is a laundry list of dos and don’ts. These are the books with 100 ways to do x, y or z. The other is policy focused, recognizing that individual personal choices won’t save the world. The truth is, we need both. When, through our individual choice-making, we demand and support more humane and sustainable products, foods, etc., these develop more quickly. Yet, we also need systemic political, economic, educational, technological, and agricultural and other changes in order to make significant, rapid, and practical change.

IHE: Isn’t the MOGO principle about sacrifice and doing without? Isn’t it unrealistic to expect most people to make such choices?

ZW: Virtually all of us are willing to sacrifice for a greater good. We do it all the time! We sacrifice for our children, our elderly parents, our friends and neighbors in need, our country, and more. Most of us find the greatest joy in our lives comes when we give to others, when we’re part of creating good in the world. In the industrialized world, despite our relative affluence, happiness is on the decline. My premise, based on both personal experience and research, is that when we do the most good and least harm in a broad way, sacrifice becomes a misnomer because we feel joy in being part of the creation of a better world and meaningful life.


IHE: Isn’t the MOGO principle primarily for people with wealth who can afford to make different choices?

ZW: People with wealth have an enormous opportunity to improve the world with their resources, and I believe they also have a responsibility to do so. But people with wealth are also more likely to buy lots of resource-depleting, pollution-causing stuff and to have a much larger carbon footprint. Those without wealth may already be making MOGO choices because they are more affordable (hanging laundry on a clothesline, using public transportation, shopping at thrift stores, etc.). There are so many ways to participate in the creation of a better world –- many of them don’t cost a lot of money -- and everyone can find their niche that inspires and enlivens them.


IHE: What do you think prevents people from making MOGO choices?

ZW: Fear, apathy, greed, laziness, inconvenience, destructive systems, and lack of knowledge and support all come into play. We humans are capable of extraordinary goodness, and terrible cruelty, of altruism and selfishness (and everything in between). But even if we were to harness all our best qualities, we’d still have trouble always making MOGO choices, because there are so many systems in place that are unhealthy, exploitative, and destructive. One of the most important MOGO choices a person can make is to participate in the process of changing destructive systems into healthy ones.


IHE: Most “green” books address conserving and protecting different species, but don’t include animals as individuals within their circle of concern. Most Good, Least Harm does. Why?

ZW: Here in the U.S. we love our dogs and cats. We recognize that they are sentient, like us. They feel; they suffer; they experience happiness. We have laws to protect them. It would be illegal to go home and press a hot iron into the flesh of your dog or cat to leave a permanent mark. It would be illegal to put your pet bird into a cage so small she couldn’t stretch a wing or to cut off half her beak with a hot blade. Yet these are normal practices in farming today, and we even have names for these things (branding and debeaking). But there’s no difference between a dog and a pig, or a cow and a cat, or a chicken and a parakeet in terms of their ability to feel pain or pleasure. That we call certain things cruelty when perpetrated on one species and normal agricultural practice when done to another is not MOGO.

Most Good, Least Harm asks us to connect the dots and see the interrelationships among all forms of oppression and destruction so that we can create the most viable, meaningful, and positive solutions for all, including animals as individual beings.


IHE: What did you learn from writing Most Good, Least Harm?

A: It was both humbling (my life is far from the MOGO ideal I seek) and liberating (MOGO is an ongoing process, not an outcome).


IHE: Why have you focused on humane education in your work?

ZW: The sooner we transform our educational systems so that young people are offered relevant education for creating a peaceful, sustainable, and humane world, the better. Humane education teaches about the most pressing challenges of our time to help the next generation become creative changemakers for a viable, healthy future. I believe this is the most important work we need to do today, and if we neglect it and hope to just solve our problems without educating young people about the issues and engaging their creativity and sense of responsibility, we will be hard-pressed to succeed. I’d like to see humane education and the MOGO principle become the guiding philosophy of all education.


IHE: Who inspires you? Who have been your teachers in making MOGO choices?

ZW: So many! There are obvious historical figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Harriet Tubman, but really I’m inspired every day by the students and graduates of our M.Ed. and certificate programs, as well as the staff at the Institute for Humane Education. They’re my biggest daily teachers.


IHE: What’s your next project?

ZW: My next project is very big, but I look forward to starting it: I want to write a book about what’s wrong with our educational system and how we can truly transform it so that we can educate a generation with the knowledge, tools, and motivation to be part of creating a healthy, peaceful world.


IHE: What do you like to do when you’re not writing or teaching?

ZW: I spend as much time as I can outdoors: hiking, gardening, swimming, running, and kayaking. I love summer street pan music (where I embarrass my son by being one of the first to start dancing). I also enjoy improvisational comedy, which sometimes finds its way into my teaching. I read voraciously. But most of all I love spending time with my family and friends.

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TAKE BACK THAT TV!

On February 17, 2009, in the U.S., the TV industry will switch from the current analog to a digital TV signal, which means people need to have TVs capable of receiving the digital signal, if they want TV. Although a converter box is available, many people are trashing their TVs to buy a new digital one, which means tons of toxic e-waste from products that still function. If you want to be sure you're participating in the transition in an eco-friendly way, check out the Take Back My TV campaign, which has information, links to e-waste recyclers, and a campaign to encourage TV manufacturers to recycle their products. Of course, you can always decide to do without a TV!

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OUR TOP 10 MOST POPULAR ACTIVITIES FOR 2008

Humane education activities and lesson plans are just one of the perks we provide in our Resource Center. We now have more than 70 humane education activities available for free download, and we add new ones often. Here are our 10 most downloaded activities as of the end of 2008:

1. The World's Most Powerful Animal - Who’s the most dangerous AND the most powerful animal? We are! Lead students on an exploration of the positive and negative impacts our choices have on the planet. (grades 2-5)
2. Word Power - Words have enormous power and often assign value. This activity explores sample words in context and what kinds of value those words imply. (grades 4 & up)
3. Don't Tread on Me - What is oppression? Who gets oppressed? Why don’t we all agree about that? Participants explore their own beliefs about oppression and learn about others'. (grades 6 & up)
4. Analyzing Advertising - Students learn to be ad-savvy by exploring the pervasiveness of ads in their lives and by analyzing what ads are trying to sell…and trying to hide. (grades 5 & up)
5. Lottery Ticket - Use this quick icebreaker to show participants that everyone can make a positive difference! (All ages)
6. Two Apples - In this icebreaker, participants learn just how important words and actions are when they explore their impact on two apples. (All ages)
7. Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged - How do our own stereotypes and judgments limit our openness and receptivity to others? This activity uses props (or photos) to explore our snap perceptions of others. (grades 4 & up)
8. Lend a Hand - It comes naturally to most of us to help out when needed. This icebreaker sparks discussion about the importance of helping others, and how easy it can be to make helping part of our every day lives. (grades 2 & up)
9. A Moment in Their Shoes - How will students feel spending a moment in the shoes of a battery hen or a child slave? Use this lively and thought- provoking activity to introduce human and animal issues and the connections between them. (grades 6 & up)
10. The Dreaded Comparison - Participants explore the connections between human and animal oppression and ways that we can choose not to oppress others. (grades 7 & up)

Image courtesy of tracitodd via Creative Commons.

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NEW MONTH-LONG ONLINE COURSES IN 2009!

MOGO Online

Assess your life, examine your deepest values, and explore new information so that you have the tools and commitment to make the best choices for yourself and the world.

March 1-30, 2009
September 1-30, 2009

REGISTER NOW FOR MOGO ONLINE!

Sowing Seeds Online

Bring humane education to your classroom. Examine pressing humane issues, enliven your teaching, enrich your courses, and help your students become ever more engaged citizens.

May 1-30, 2009
November 1-30, 2009

REGISTER NOW FOR SOWING SEEDS ONLINE!

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HUMANE EDUCATION IN ACTION: HELPING OTHERS GO GREEN

IHE M.Ed. graduate Gina Diamond has created her own business, Green Diamond Consulting, to help educate, inspire and empower people, families, businesses and organizations to become positive choicemakers. Read about Gina's work, challenges and successes.

Quick Facts About Gina:

Current hometown: Seattle, Washington (USA)
IHE fan since: 2003
Current job: Eco Lifestyle Coach
Your hero: Dalai Lama, among many others
Book/movie that changed your life: Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
Guilty pleasure: Fair trade chocolate
Inspired by: My daughter
Love about yourself: My freckles
One of your strengths: Perseverance
Desired epitaph or tagline: “Gave of herself with joy”

IHE: What led you to the path of humane education?

GD: A desire to do heart "work" that combined my professional and personal experiences.

IHE: What has inspired you to manifest humane education by starting a consulting business?

GD: I wanted to fill a niche -- to do something that built on my years in education as a mentor and my love of all life.  I want to inspire others to be the best they can be.

IHE: Tell us about your business, Green Diamond Consulting. How did you decide what services to offer and whom to target, and why did you decide to hone in on sustainability and eco-friendly living?

GD: I follow my joy, what inspires me, and the path is formed. I have a goal and a loose idea of how to reach my goal. I remain open and keep taking the next indicated step, and then I get clarity on what services to offer, whom to serve, and what style of mentoring to use.

My definition of eco-friendly is really broad. We all have unique strengths and access to unique opportunities to share our strengths to serve the global community. What this looks like continues to evolve. For example, I know that I am supposed to offer my workshops virtually and am waiting to attract the right people to make this happen.

IHE: How have things been going with your business? What has been the response? What has been your most popular service?

GD: The response has been great. I have a ton of support, and people are helping me make this happen in a number of ways. I now have two sponsors who have given donations, a regular segment on a new local radio program, and a huge green network of business owners who want me to succeed. A friend of mine recently gave me her gently used bike panniers, which is allowing me to transport more work stuff while biking to clients' homes and businesses. It isn’t just about the paid work –- yes, I would like more clients -– but all these other things need to be in place to have a thriving business.
I have received a lot of attention since I began offering Parties With a Purpose (PWAP). In January I will be launching my "New Year’s Evoluntion PWAP" and imagine that they will be very popular, especially since I am gaining sponsors who will help offset the costs to clients. I am filled with hope on many levels and know that my business will lead me to many unforeseen great adventures.

IHE: What kind of feedback have you gotten from clients about any changes they've made in their lives?

GD: I always get emails from folks after our work is completed. I ask for this when people buy a package deal, which includes goal-setting and check backs. However, I receive it from workshop participants and others, even when I don’t ask for it. I love to read emails that say things like “I am on a personal mission to get my name off every single junk mail list.” I love it even more when people say that they always think of me and something that I said when they are out Christmas shopping or planning a party for friends or getting in the car to drive their kid a few blocks. People are becoming more conscious, and that is what it’s all about. 

IHE: What are some of your biggest challenges?

GD: Staying positive, faithful, and confident, especially when my path takes me in a direction that doesn’t make sense in the moment.

IHE: Share a success story. What has helped encourage you?

GD: I received a lovely book from a friend of mine who is a green interior decorator. She sent the Better World Shopping Guide to all of her friends who have helped her grow her business. On the card she sent with my gift, she wrote a personal note at the bottom, which said “Go, Gina – Go, Gina – Go, Gina – Go!” I was having one of those infrequent moments when I was wishing I had more clients instead of being grateful for the ones I currently have. Her note gave me the gusto to continue forward that day! 

IHE: You're also involved in writing a book and serve as a community organizer for a local climate action group. Tell us about those projects.

Yes, I am writing a book, but haven’t given it much notice lately. It’s based on my work. Basically, it will be a collection of fun and inspiring eco-lifestyle coaching stories, with a bunch of DIY sheets at the back. It’s going to be great!

I also helped start a climate change action group that created a pledge to get our neighbors to make changes that are meaningful and measurable. My personal favorite contribution was “Eat less beef.” Most of my time is put towards my business, but the group is still going strong, and I remain close to the participants.

IHE: What are your thoughts about the power of humane education to positively transform the world?

GD: Humane education transformed me and gives the world hope and a reason to wake up in the morning. My daughter started kindergarten in our local public school this year, and, although it has its strengths, there is so much that isn’t there. I continue to be reminded that there are already humane educators in school systems and more who are graduating every year. Thank goodness! Our kids are helping, on a significant level, to create our future, and I am looking forward to seeing more compassionate teaching as we move into 2009 – the year of change!

IHE: Any future plans, dreams or projects?

GD: As I mentioned before, I am planning to offer e-workshops and downloadable e-documents to enlarge my circle of influence. I have written a kid’s book and look forward to seeing it get published. And, my biggest dream: to have one of the greenest homes in the country. I work from home and want my work to be powered by the sun, etc. Oh, and my ultimate dream is to have a conversation with Deepak Chopra over a delicious cup of fair trade hot chocolate.

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FEATURED RESOURCE: HIP-HOP: BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES

“We’re like in this box. In order to be in that box you have to be strong. You have to be tough. You have to have a lot of girls. You gotta have money. You gotta be a player or a pimp. You know, you gotta be in control. You have to dominate other men, other people.”
~ Byron Hurt, filmmaker

Look at hip-hop videos, listen to the lyrics, and you notice a lot of similarities: guns, violence, women, sex, and money. Filmmaker Byron Hurt is a huge hip-hop fan, but he began to question the representations of manhood and masculinity, the portrayal of women and the prevalence of violence in hip-hop music and videos. Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes is a record of his journey.

In a society full of hypermasculine violence and posturing in music, movies, video games, and sports and military culture, this film serves as an excellent tool for exploring issues surrounding what it means to be a man (especially a man of color) in America, through the lens of hip-hop.

In his exploration of hip-hop music and culture, Hurt raises questions about several issues, from perceptions of masculinity, to the prevalence of sexism, misogyny and the objectification of women, to the existence of homophobia and homoeroticism in lyrics and images. He also explores the roots of hip-hop and the exploitation and domination of hip-hop by the major music industry, which is primarily controlled by white men.

Hip-Hop was originally shown on PBS, and the companion website includes clips from the documentary, suggested resources, background information about the film and the issues explored, and educational materials, such as a discussion guide.

Bring this video to your upper high school and older audience for exploration and discussion of these important issues. (Be aware that the film and website include explicit language and images.)

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BE THE CHANGE: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ROBBINS

A world renowned expert on the environmental and health impacts of our dietary choices, John Robbins is the author of Healthy at 100, The Food Revolution and Diet for a New America.

Focused on creating an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just way of living, John is the Founder and Board Chair Emeritus of EarthSave International, an organization dedicated to healthy food choices, preservation of the environment, and a more compassionate world. John is also the Board Chair of YES!, which connects, inspires and empowers young changemakers to join forces for a thriving, just and sustainable way of life for all. He is the recipient of the Rachel Carson Award, the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, and the Peace Abbey’s Courage of Conscience Award.



IHE: What role does education play in creating a better world?

JR: An enormous role, for better or for worse.  We are being “educated” all the time, by our culture, by the media, by our friends and associates, by the films we watch and the ads we see.  If we are going to create a more compassionate world, we need to educate ourselves, each other, and our children in that direction.  We need to notice when military figures are considered heroic, when in fact all they have done is be successful in perpetrating violence.  We need to notice when gender roles are perpetuated that stifle the wholeness and uniqueness of us as individuals.  We need to find and create ways to teach ourselves, each other and our children to live with respect for self and respect for others.


IHE: What personal and professional experiences have led you to focus on educating others as a method of changemaking?

JR: I’ve recognized how greatly our thoughts and feelings and beliefs are shaped by our experiences.  If we have been taught that we are unworthy and flawed, if we have learned to be ashamed of ourselves and afraid of the forces at work in our natures, we will be alienated from what is creative, joyful and powerful in us and in one another.  On the other hand, if we have been taught to rejoice in our powers, to celebrate differences, and to respect all forms of life, we will be able to respond to life’s challenges in ways that create a better world for all.


IHE: What do you see happening in the world that gives you hope for a more just, compassionate, sustainable future?

JR: I draw my hope not so much from what I see happening outside in the world, as I do from what I see happening inside us.  I look out into the world and I see much that is sad and destructive.  Sometimes I see a deep night of unthinkable blindness and cruelty.  Even then, though, I am undaunted, for I look within the human heart and find something of love there, something that cares and shines out into the dark universe like a bright beacon.  It is in the shining of the light within that I feel all of our hopes for a better future.  It is in the human heartlight that I find strength.


IHE: What are the biggest challenges in creating a humane and peaceful world?  

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FEATURED STUDENT: DANIELLA SCHMIDT

IHE M.Ed. student Daniella Schmidt has taught in classrooms for many years. But only recently has she felt that she has found the true key to teaching, connecting with and empowering children: humane education. Read more about Daniella.

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