Richard Kahn Essay Reflection

Kahn Essay Reflection

In his article Towards Ecopedagogy: Weaving a Broad-based Pedagogy of Liberation for Animals, Nature, and the Oppressed People of the Earth, Richard Kahn explains the different routes the fate of the Earth might fall into. 

“We move, then,” he says, “in a sea of possibilities and swirling energies. Amidst these energies arises the great wave; and it is crashing and we who are threatened with annihilation and asked to threaten others with the same are its driftwood. Will we then be smashed to splinters upon the polluted beach of no tomorrow? Will we surf the awesome tube of this grave peril and move laterally across it into newly imagined freedoms? Or will we head outward into deeper waters still, floating upon unfathomable depths, along with dangers and possibilities even as of yet unforeseen?”(Kahn 1).

He goes on to explain that Capitalism handicaps people to distinguish the delicate relationship between creatures and their environment.  Destroying the environment destroys the creature, and vice versa.  A capitalist world, he says, puts the two against each other. 

“. . . the fact of the matter is that capitalism as we know it rests by definition upon friction. It is predicated first and foremost by competition and growth, a predatory survival of the fittest approach to life in which “fittest” means most mighty and therefore able to grow further and out-compete rivals. There is no ecology of symbiosis in the dominant system today, no ecology of mutuality and compassion; and again, this lack exists not by accident but rather as the result of concrete historical forces at work in our world. . .”(Kahn 2). 

I can see where Kahn is coming from in his article.  Capitalism has encouraged business to produce as much as they can with their money, which can result in exploitation of resources, but it frustrates me that he does not provide an alternate method, at least, that America should work towards.  I also do not like how he blankets the whole system as an evil. 

He also states that Capitalist America is carrying the “murder” of trillions of animals on its back because of the growing popularity of fast food industries.  I found this argument weak because he did not give support to his claim as to how, exactly, the animal kingdom was being affected.  I would have liked to see past trends in animal deaths and scientific studies to back up such an assertive statement.

Kahn later mentions in his article that he believes ecopedagogy (or environmental education) should be expanded into the lives of average individuals.  Over the last couple of decades, he says, environmental movements have opened the eyes of individuals, changing the way people look at the world.

“In part, [the modern environmental movement] has developed ideas and practices of environmental preservation and conservation, struggled to understand and reduce the amount of pollution and toxic risks associated with industrialized civilization, produced new modes of counterculture and morality, outlined the need for appropriate technologies, and led to powerful legislative environmental reforms as well as a wide range of alternative institutional initiatives” (Kahn 5).

Enforcing an environmental education curriculum in schools could help raise a generation that is aware of the state of the earth and its natural resources.  It could also be used as a gateway to reaching the families of the schoolchildren.  One school that is taking matters into its own hands is the School of Environmental Studies in Minnesota, referred as the “Zoo School”.  This school lets juniors and seniors in high school take their classes at a nearby zoo so that they might observe the inner workings of the zoo itself, as well as the flora and fauna.  This supposedly increases motivation of the students and helps the students to connect lectures to real-life. 

I agree that environmental education is important.  People need to be aware that they contribute to the health and wellness of their world.  Teaching students when they are young will initialize good habits that they can carry on into their adult life and pass on to their children.  I think that the “Zoo School” sounds like it could be a good system for a select group of students.  I believe that it would be difficult for certain learning styles to assimilate in that setting, but I think it would be good for those tactical learners. 

Overall, I think that Kahn gave some good insight on many real problems that America, along with the rest of the world, has. However, it bothered me that he didn’t offer a solution to fix those problems.  I was skeptical while reading his essay because I didn’t find much science-based information and how it ties into the overall ecology of the world, and I wish that he had incorporated that into his work.

http://richardkahn.org/writings/ecopedagogy/towardsecopedagogy.pdf