| Powerful Ideas, Practical Actions |
March 2011 |
|
|
In this newsletter, a preview of the
new issue of YES!
Can Animals Save Us?
What They Teach Us About Being Human
Too often, we forget the biological truth that humans are an animal species, too. Our culture treats animals as food, pets, pests, property, and curiosities. We’ve spoiled their habitats, endangering tens of thousands of species and our own future. If we learn to understand animals, we can protect and restore the planet we all share.
|
 |
|
|
|
The Emotional Lives of Animals
Grief, friendship, gratitude, wonder, and other things we animals experience…
Scientific research shows that many animals are very intelligent and have sensory and motor abilities that dwarf ours. Dogs are able to detect diseases such as cancer and diabetes and warn humans of impending heart attacks and strokes. Elephants, whales, hippopotamuses, giraffes, and alligators use low-frequency sounds to communicate over long distances, often miles; and bats, dolphins, whales, frogs, and various rodents use high-frequency sounds to find food, communicate with others, and navigate.
Many animals also display wide-ranging emotions, including joy, happiness, empathy, compassion, grief, and even resentment and embarrassment. It’s not surprising that animals share many emotions with us because we also share brain structures that are the seat of our emotions. In many ways, human emotions are the gifts of our animal ancestors…
READ MORE …
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Civil Disobedience on Trial… |
|
|
How does the United States try cases of civil disobedience? Defendant Tim DeChristopher on how much has changed since the founding fathers.
The Power We Do Have
Tim DeChristopher went on trial this week facing two felony charges for disrupting a federal auction of oil and gas leases on public lands (by bidding $1.8 million he didn’t have on more than 22,000 acres of land, an action that got the auction results thrown out long enough for the Obama administration to rule the process illegitimate).
If found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. DeChristopher doesn’t regret his decision—in fact, he hopes a lot more people will follow their convictions to take direct, nonviolent action to stop climate change.
| |
“I knew I would probably go to jail, but my mindset was: ‘It’s worth it to keep this oil in the ground.’”
—Tim DeChristopher
|
|
READ MORE FROM THIS EXCLUSIVE YES! INTERVIEW…
|
|
|
| Annie Leonard’s new film … |
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Localization is the Economics of Happiness”
We know what makes us happy—but too often our economic decisions stand in the way. YES! web editor Brooke Jarvis spoke with Helena Norberg-Hodge, director of The Economics of Happiness, about how to change all that.
 |
“The number of Americans who say, ‘Yes, I’m very happy with my life’ peaks in 1956 and goes slowly but steadily downhill ever since.”
That’s environmentalist and author Bill McKibben, speaking in the new documentary The Economics of Happiness. While our Gross Domestic Product has increased quite a bit since the ’50s, our happiness hasn’t.
That’s the reality that’s leading more people (and, increasingly, governments, from Bhutan and Bolivia to Britain and France) to ask a very simple question: What’s the economy for, anyway?
READ MORE …
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PHOTO ESSAYS
Domesticated
One photographer’s take on the mystery of the wild, and our constant efforts to tame it.
One of Many Detroits
“The people of this city are not abstractions.” An anonymous Detroit photographer shares a view of the city that the mainstream media doesn’t cover.
VIDEO
We Are Wisconsin
What convinces tens of thousands of people—including those whose rights aren’t directly on the line—to take to the streets and to occupy their state capitol around the clock? This beautiful video introduces you to the people making history in Wisconsin.
|
|
|
|
|
EXPLORE
