Science & Tech, Home & Lifestyle, Community & Government

Advocacy Strategies

Lesson time 13:32 min

It's easy to feel hopeless in the face of problems. But Dr. Jane teaches you the many ways you can help, and how we should think—and act—locally.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Make Responsible Decisions • Act Locally • The Power of Your Dollar • Get the Facts • Reconnect with Nature

Preview

I think gradually I find that more and more people are aware of what we're doing to harm the planet. They know. I mean, you can't live in China and not know about pollution. Because half the time you're wearing a mask. And so, why aren't people doing more about it? Often they just don't know. It's ignorance. They don't understand what they can do. And I think one of the main problems is that if we're thoughtful, we think about all that we're doing to harm the environment-- everything I've said and more-- we feel helpless. We feel hopeless. What can I do? What can I possibly do? And I think the thing is, and sometimes young people get this better. That if we start making decisions, little choices each day, and think about the consequences of those little choices. What do we buy? Where did it come from? How was it made? Did it come from very far away, using a lot of fossil fuel? Could we buy the same thing that's made locally? Did it involve harm to animals? Did the making of it involve child slave labor? Is that why it's cheap? Should I perhaps spend a little more, and therefore waste a little less? Because the waste is terrible. And if we start thinking in those terms of the consequences of the small choices we make. First of all we learn a little more. Because we can't make a good choice if we don't understand. And children are learning, and teaching their parents. But secondly, we realize that it's not just me. If it's just me making these little ethical choices, well so what? But as more and more people are becoming more and more aware. More and more educated. And more and more countries. It's hundreds of people. Thousands of people. Millions of people. Eventually, hopefully billions of people all making the right ethical choices in how they lead their lives each day. That is going to move us towards the kind of planet that we would like, or not be ashamed to leave behind to our children. And of course, there are people out there who can, with one decision, make huge change. Like the CEOs of major companies. I sometimes wonder how some of these CEOs can live with themselves. I sometimes wonder how people can be good parents. Care about their children and their grandchildren. And yet, with one sweeping decision do something that will harm the future for those very people that they love. And it's as though they shut off a part of it from their family life. It's the same with people doing animal experimentation. I've met people who work in a lab with dogs. Doing experiments on the dogs. They hang up their white coat, they go home. And there's the family pet. Oh, she understands everything I say. She's part of the family. What a dissociation between these dogs that you're tormenting, and this dog who's part of your family. We seem really a...

About the Instructor

There is still a window of time. Nature can win if we give her a chance. In her first ever online class, Dr. Jane Goodall teaches how you can conserve the environment. She also shares her research on the behavioral patterns of chimpanzees and what they taught her about conservation. You'll learn how to act locally and protect the planet.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Dr. Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall shares her insights into animal intelligence, conservation, and activism.

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