Becoming Solutionaries | Toward an Ethic of Most Good and Least Harm
In this episode, we chat with Zoe Weil, co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education, about her pioneering work in the area of comprehensive humane education, an approach to teaching that draws the intimate links between human rights, animal protection, and environmental sustainability. We take a dive into Zoe's latest book The Solutionary Way, which explores how to use a solutionary lens to bridge divides and address the seemingly intractable challenges we face. Highlights include:
Zoe’s personal journey of co-founding the Institute for Humane Education in 1996, and the many programs and resources offered through the Institute;
The description of a “solutionary” as someone who transforms unjust, unsustainable, and inhumane systems for the most good and least harm, and how one can cultivate a solutionary mindset;
How to use a humane education lens to understand the connections between overpopulation, lack of reproductive autonomy, animal exploitation, and ecological degradation;
Zoe’s reflections on societal double standards around reproductive choices - how not having children is stigmatized while having children is the unquestioned default;
The purpose and joy of living in alignment with our values while simultaneously working in community towards system change.