Does the language we use when talking about animals reflect the way we treat them? Colleen Patrick-Goudreau thinks so.
Listen below, on KQED’s website, read the transcript below, and please share with friends and family. It’s a perspective that can change the way we interact with the world.
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The changes I recently made to incorporate more zero-waste actions into my life have resulted in a change in my perspective. Listen to my NPR commentary about how we can have a zero-waste mindset while reducing our environmental footprint. Listen below, on KQED’s website, read the transcript below, and please share with friends and family. It’s a perspective that can change the way we interact with the world.
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I wrote and recorded this radio editorial for KQED Radio, called Why I Am Hopeful. Listen on KQED’s website, or just click play on the audio player below.
In any case, please share. I think animal advocates and vegans need to hear this message more than ever.
I have been an animal advocate for more than 25 years, and I see enough cruelty every day to have a pretty bleak view of the world.
And yet, I have hope.
No, I’m not a mythical creature. No, I’m not delusional, and yes, I’m paying attention — so much so that I’m quite aware, for instance, that in the U.S. every year, over 9 billion animals are brought into this world only to be killed for human consumption.
Elephants are killed in their homes for their tusks.
And wild animals face the consequences of global warming.
And yet, I have hope.
I have hope because I focus on what I can solve rather than what I can’t.
I have hope because there’s much to be hopeful about. History gives you great perspective if you just step back.
I have hope because outrage doesn’t change the world. Vision and vigilance do — along with the political, technological, economic, and moral forces that drive progress forward. I’m hopeful, because:
I live in a Democratic country, I can criticize elected officials, I can vote them out, and I can exercise my power and privilege to help those who have neither.
Scientific advances and technological breakthroughs, such as cellular agriculture, have the potential to save billions of animals from misery and death.
I live in an economic system that empowers visionaries to test their innovations in the marketplace and that gives me the choice to support companies and products that reflect my taste and ethics — and reject those that don’t.
My hope is not delusional; it’s rooted in facts, science, reason, and statistics.
My hope is not complacent; it’s provisional. It’s the difference between wanting things to change and taking action to facilitate that change.
My hope is rooted in joy. We don’t have to be angry all the time to demonstrate we care. We don’t have to be outraged to show that we’re conscious. We can be acutely aware, actively engaged, politically minded, and still have hope.
And so I’m hopeful, and I hope you are, too.
With a Perspective, this is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.
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The TRUE carnivores of the world provide SO much benefit to our ecosystems, but they’re misunderstood, maligned, and systematically killed, mostly because of the HUMANS who pose as carnivores. Animal agriculture doesn’t only affect the billions of its direct victims, it also destroys the lives and habitats of millions of individual wild animals. Today’s guest on Food for Thought has devoted her life to changing attitudes and policies about the most maligned members of our communities. Camilla Fox is the founder of Project Coyote, a national nonprofit of scientists, educators, ranchers and citizen leaders who work together to change laws and policies to protect native carnivores from abuse and mismanagement, advocating coexistence instead of killing.
Co-Existing with Carnivores: A Conversation with Project Coyote's Camilla Fox. "Animal agriculture kills millions of wild animals as well as billions of domesticated animals." Click To TweetMay we come to view coyotes, wolves, mountain lions and other misunderstood predators who are native to the United States with understanding, respect and appreciation — rather than with fear, ignorance, and brutality. Listen to learn how YOU can help!
The animals who live among us are residents — not intruders; listen to my NPR commentary about how we can be better neighbors to our wild brethren. Listen below or on KQED’s website, read the transcript below, and please share with friends and family. It’s a perspective that can change the way we interact with the world.
(Supporters make this work possible. Thank you.)