Mark Bittman: “Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others”

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ March 21, 2011 ⋅ 1 Comment

Filed Under animal cruelty, cognitive dissonance, compassion, creative thinking, critical thinking, essays, factory farming, habits, humane education, Mark Bittman, morality, solutionaries, speciesism

I so appreciated Mark Bittman’s March 15 opinion piece in the New York Times, “Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.” Our hypocrisy surrounding the treatment of animals is stunning, and Bittman’s essay makes the point powerfully as he recounts the ASPCA’s arrest of a teenage girl for killing her sister’s hamster (a felony) while the routine killing (following nothing short of torture) of billions of other animals in our society is not only legal but ubiquitous.

Bittman’s essay describes the sort of unreflective and hypocritical (as opposed to critical) thinking that prevents us from creating a society that is just and humane and healthy, and I would love to see this essay read in high school classrooms, followed by class projects that uncover various inconsistencies within their own schools and our society that require investigation and, hopefully, rectification.

Imagine what would happen if our students became these sorts of critical and creative thinkers.

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach”

Image courtesy of meddygarnet via Creative Commons.

About zoeweil

I'm the co-founder and President of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE). IHE works to create a world in which we all live humanely, sustainably, and peaceably. We do this by training people to be humane educators who teach about the pressing issues of our time and inspire people to work for change while making healthy, humane, and restorative choices in their daily lives. We also work to advance the field of humane education, and to provide tools and inspiration to people everywhere so that they can live examined, meaningful lives. I'm also a writer. So far I've written six books and several articles.

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Discussion

One thought on “Mark Bittman: “Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others””

We’re mostly vegetarian (not vegan – we have chickens in our backyard) in our house and when we do eat meat, it’s with thoughtful reflection about the treatment of the animals and the cost of death. I don’t want my children growing up with a worldview that believes the styrofoam and cellophane package is “just meat.”

Posted by johntspencer | March 22, 2011, 3:47 pm

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