By Nicola Gothard

How to change the world? That is the question! god knows where the answer might lie. A quick glance at the history reveals that progress is always slow, sometimes brutal but progress occurs none the less. It often starts with a small group of people who stand up against a perceived wrong (most often against themselves) and they have to make a lot of noise to be noticed, for example, the suffragettes to acquire the vote for women or the Russian peasants against the monarchy – led by a group of well meaning intellectuals, not forgetting the African-American civil rights movement.

Change starts with an idea, it progresses with commitment, passion and a relentless pursuit of justice.  The animal rights/welfare movement is unique in that people are fighting for individuals of another species against the collective will and accepted norms of their own ’species’. It is sometimes hard to believe that any progress can be made at all when there is still so much racial, cultural and religious prejudice between humans. How can we create justice for other species when we can’t even find the compassion to relate to others of own?

However there is no denying that humanity is becoming a more just, peaceful and open minded group. The ideas behind animal protection started in the 1800s with the immortal words of Jeremy Bentham ‘“The question is not, “Can they reason?” nor, “Can they talk?” but “Can they suffer?” It may seem like we haven’t progressed much in all this time but the words first uttered in the 1800s have propagated and gathered pace over the past 200 years, so that today, they have been explored by modern philosophers like Singer and Regan, they have formed the basis for a new scientific discipline – animal welfare science and they have guided legal protection for animals. People have spread the word and hundreds of animal protection groups have formed, some with influence at governmental level and the power of arrest. In some places it has spread faster than others aided by education, wealth and human rights but there is no longer a place on the planet where someone isn’t doing something to progress this movement.

I was a massive fan of the movie Avatar. It embodied everything that I want for this planet and animal protection. The Navi protected themselves and their planet in bold battle and won. I left the cinema feeling elated and inspired but then it dawned on me that the battle on this planet is much more arduous and cerebral. It involves winning the hearts and minds of 9 billion individual autonomous people in hundreds of different cultures and religions. We can’t win by fighting them. The time for making noise has ended. It’s time to engage in dialogue rather than fight, to include rather than judge. I sometimes feel like we forget that communication is a two way street and the best way to change people is to understand them, just as we would like there to be  no ‘them’ and ‘us’ between humans and animals, we should also remember that there is no ‘them’ and ‘us’ between the animal protection movement and the rest of society. Yes I am angry about things that happen to non human animals but I want to change the world and expressing that anger will do no good. We must take society with us, we must communicate and engage with each and every one of them in a positive, productive manner. We don’t need any more angry jaded people, we need compassionate citizens who believe they can change the world for the better.

Any ideas or comments on the next step forward would be appreciated…..