The dog next door wants to move in. He's been hungry. He's sometimes cold. He's left alone, sometimes for days, in the barn. We have two dogs, nine cats (we live in the country) - and a warm house where our pets are welcome. We'd like to give him a home. But he belongs to the farm next door.

He shows up whenever he's let loose - comes, peers in the windows, curls up for hours in a wind-sheltered corner near our door, waiting for us to relent and let him in. With us he has hope - because we've often let him in, including overnight.

It started in summer when he was just a pup. We took care of him for a couple of weeks when the people next door went away on a holiday. We offered, and his owners were glad we were there to look after him. But I think they already worried that our care would spoil him. .

But that was in summer, when the kids were home from school. He had a lot to keep him with his owners.

Early in fall, he often came over, but would race home when the school bus went by.

Recently, he's stayed on our property and just watched it. It's cold out. The kids don't spend time outside, but he's stuck there.

Winter is coming. It's been here, with the temperature down to 17 below. It's mild again now, but won't stay that way.

Anyway, that's not the question. The question is: who should have the right to decide where the dog lives? The dog or the owners?

The question behind the question: do we have the right to own dogs and cats, or should they be allowed to make some decisions on their own - like where they want to live.

****

I'm not talking about their current legal rights. Those are obvious. Parents used to have the legal right to beat their children as often as they wanted, as hard as they wanted. I don't care about legal rights - those in fact change, in a democracy, as the general values of a society change. So now children have a legal right not to be beaten, and we have a legal right to birth control, divorce, etc. - because our values have changed.

Our values are based on what we believe is truly right - not legally, but morally, ethically, inherently. What intrinsic rights, we ask ourselves, should people have, children have, animals have, based on who we are, who they are?

I don't like (too soft a word) the slaughterhouse system - it offends my sense of what is right for animals. Trucks rattle past our place - open slats on the side. There's a pig farm a couple of kilometers away - enclosed, no sight or sound of what's inside. Then one quick trip through the outdoors. And a squealing death. I don't want to be part of it.

I stopped eating land animals and birds long ago. It did not feel right to me.

****

And now again, it does not feel right that the dog next door should be stuck where he doesn't want to be.

This question - should dogs and cats have some say in where they live? - may sound absurd to you.

But it used to be considered normal for people to own other people. Now it's unthinkable for many of us.

I remember reading, and later teaching, The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston. There's a passage describing a traditional Chinese delicacy. A live monkey is screwed into place in a table with a hole neatly carved for the top of its skull to show above the table surface. The monkey's body presumably dangles underneath. The skull is sawed open, and the brain - apparently delicious - is eaten. At some point, the monkey dies.

I've taught the book. What stood out for you, I ask my students (college and university level). One after another, they bring up this passage and shudder.

Also interesting is that the author writes the passage - the tone is so casual - as if unaware that her description might horrify current Western sensibilities. Perhaps this did not occur to her, though she grew up in the United States - just as many North Americans are not horrified by the slaughterhouse system (but do want to make sure they don't have to face it).

****

Times change, customs change. The delicacy of one time is the atrocity of another.

The dog next door isn't enduring atrocities. He'd just rather be indoors, than in an unheated barn with only cows for company. He has been skinny, but no one was intentionally starving him.

Plus, the life his owner wants for him is better than that of many city dogs - where, at present, many people are not horrified at the stultifying lives of millions of animals. City dogs - many get two short walks a day, long hours of solitude, and a minimum of attention in the evening. Many have no contact with other animals. You call that a life?

Here, I hear other dogs in the distance howling at night. They, like the dog next door, must be outdoors - or why howl? (They're far away enough that, fortunately, we only hear them when we're outdoors.)

****

Recently the owner asked that we stop letting the dog into our home. In this case, he is probably outside his legal rights. The dog comes onto our property of his own free will. We've never held him captive. (It's the owner who does that.)

The dog is roaming less and less these days - increasingly locked in the barn. We are the ones learning the lesson: the dog will be punished if comes near our place. So we had better not be nice. It's not worth it in terms of the cost to the dog.

****

I keep coming back to my question. What rights should animals have?

And, in the meantime, how should we deal with this specific dog? Do we turn our back on him?

There are no definite plans. My partner has been away for a few weeks. Before he left, he was unwilling to come with me and talk with the owner, though like me he cared about the dog. Now he is more willing. We know that the owner thought, when he got the puppy, that it would turn into a nice burly husky-like guard dog. It didn't. It's more like an overgrown terrier. We've thought of offering to find him a dog closer to what he intended to get. I've also thought of asking if we can buy the dog from him.

****

Pets, ownership, slavery. I'm not suggesting that owning people is the same thing as owning animals. I am suggesting that we have a lot of thinking to do about what's right, when it comes to animal rights.

signed,

Elsa
December 17, 2006

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2006
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006

****

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As for me, I've always - gut level - cared about how animals were treated. Here's a childhood memory. It's from when I was seven and was given a child's version of the Bible by some well-meaning friends of my parents:some wello-meaning friends of my parents. It's also on how we may know, deep inside ourselves when something is wrong even if no one has told us it's wrong:

I'm seven and I utterly know
THIS IS WRONG.

Much more recently I wrote a book for preteens. It's about a thirteen-year-old girl and ... an invisible dog.

The Fluffers Book -
or Caro Carolina, Geela Gribbs,
and Fluffers the Invisible Dog

****

PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT FOR ANIMAL LOVERS
WHO WANT TO TRAVEL WITH PETS,
MY PARTNER AND I HAVE PET-FRIENDLY VACATION RENTAL HOMES:
http://www.holiday-vacation-rentals-plus.com/
DOGS WELCOME. CATS WELCOME. OTHER PETS, PLEASE CHECK.

Provence holiday vacation - villa with pool

Montreal vacation rentals - apartment, condo, home

Quebec countryside - Laurentian chalet, Eastern Townships cottage

****

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For a "favorite" stupid opinion, click here for Stupid Opinion #One.

For Elsa's creativity blog, on the writing of these ideas and much else,
click here.

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And why, so often, is evidence of no interest to people? We have masses of evidence of how good many people are at denying evidence when it goes against what they believe. Millions have denied, and continue to deny the equality of women and men, of Jews and nonJews, of atheists and Muslims, gays and heterosexuals. People are incredible experts at denying reality - what is seen, experienced. Of course we need to interpret reality - we do not know it "pure" but through our limited senses, our limited memory, our limited ability to perceive and make sense of the amazing array of information that does gets perceived.

Still, it boggles the even slightly rational mind - how can so many people be so utterly blind to, let's say, findings about nutrition? It amazed me to find out, when I was growing up, that there was evidence for the health benefits of whole grains over refined products - because masses of people stuck with white flour, white rice, white sugar. How could they be so closed to evidence? Somehow they had a wall against the evidence.

The ideas I want to explore are those that go with, not against, the evidence, that try to make sense of evidence.

So, the Idea Emporium - a place for ideas.
The Idea Emporium - a place where ideas are explored.
The Idea Emporium - a place where ideas are entertained , played with,
looked at from many angles.
The Idea Emporium, a place where ideas are evaluated.

What is an idea, by the way. I hadn't thought of that when I chose the name of The Idea Emporium. It just seemed the obviously right name. It was months before I realized I had a hard time putting into words what I meant by idea. I began to think about the word. Sentences with the word, idea, floated into my mind. Like, "I have an idea. Why don't we order pizza?" That was an eye-opener for me.

My guess is that most of us use the word without knowing exactly what it means. "I have an idea of what we might do. Maybe we could go out for Chinese food. But It's just an idea" - meaning this need not come to pass, but we think it might be fun. That is obviously not what I meant by idea.

"I have an idea. Maybe you left your hat in the car." Again, no

""My idea is that we go in together and talk to her." No.

These are all legitimate uses of the term, idea, but it's not what I meant when I came to name The Idea Emporium. And I'm sure it's not what people might expect if they click on The Idea Emporium - because it's not what most people mean by the word "idea."

Word has a built-in dictionary. This is what it says:

Idea -
a personal opinion or belief;
a thought to be presented as a suggestion;
an impression or knowledge of something;
a realization of a possible way of doing something or of something to be done;
the aim or purpose of a plan or project;
the gist or précis of something such as a book, report, project or plan;
a thought about or mental picture of something such as a future or possible event;
a concept that exists in the mind only;
a mental image that reflects reality.

The last is what I'm most interested in - ideas that reflect reality as well as possible. But I've decided that I like it that idea is such a wide term.

Here I am taking idea to mean (and I think this is what most of us think of when we think of the meaning of the word, idea) some thought one has about something. "I have an idea" - meaning, I am not sure this concept fits reality, but it is a hypothesis I have formed.

I also think that, when I named The Idea Emporium, I was blurring words together in my mind - idea, concept, conception, understanding, hypothesis.

The Idea Emporium - a place for all these things.

This is not the same as people having "an idee fixe" - meaning, a fixed idea, a rigid belief that something is one way or another.
The sooner people get rid of such ideas, the better. The Idea Emporium is not a place to set out rock-hard beliefs and stone people with them, hurling them like missiles at all and any that come within striking range.

That is not The Idea Emporium.

The Idea Emporium - a place to present and explore ideas - for now my ideas.

That does not mean the idea need to be timidly set forth, all hemming and hawing, tentative even when the evidence is strong.

The Idea Emporium – the goal is smart opinions, critical thought, perception, good analysis.

The Idea Emporium. Smart opinions - meaning, drawing on every resource possible, rather than "it's my opinion, that's why I believe it, and it's as good as yours any day. Who are you to say blacks can do math, women can learn to read, Jews deserve to live. I have every right to my opinion." Personally, I'd rather do my best to think well, but many others are clearly proud of their avowed right to be thoughtless.

That's not The Idea Emporium.

The Idea Emporium. Critical thought - that means we do our best to think well, to apply logic, information, all our capacities.

The Idea Emporium. Good analysis. Again, that means we try to ensure that we use valid arguments - not, "because it's my opinion," "because I say so" "because I know that's right" "because my god says so" "because everyone knows that's right" . We both draw conclusions from evidence (so there may be evidence showing patterns and tendencies in certain groups (for instance, I've done lots of research on the impact of rights movements on those who get involved, and have found lots of evidence for patterns of response) - and at the same time we are careful not to generalize, to draw conclusions beyond what we have evidence for, and even contradicting the evidence ("Women are ..." "Muslims believe ..." "everyone this happens to ..." "Jews are..." "Gays are ..."

The Idea Emporium. Perception. Not easy to perceive. We each do it through a filter of experience, memory, assumptions, and so on. We have all learned not to perceive many things - denial - and to magnify other things. The goal at The Idea Emporium (and this should be the goal everywhere) is to be as perceptive - taking in as much information - as possible.

The Idea Emporium. i could go on and on. But this is enough for a start. More important now to put it into action - because it's ideas came first, surging inside me, wanting to find a place to be heard.

I'm (among other things) a college teacher, so my teaching gives me one outlet for my ideas, to express them, modify them, listen to other ideas, test the evidence, the power (or lack thereof) of different arguments.

But that hasn't been enough for me. One small class at a time.

I have a sense that I have some ideas that could be valuable to many people - ideas many people don't have (many have very different ideas), ideas where my ideas may help other people struggling with some of the same concerns, and so on. I think these ideas could help make some kind of positive difference in the world, reach people who are reachable, maybe even break through some shells many people live inside, shells that stop them from perceiving things.

There will be space for the ideas of others as well. Right now I am starting with a few ideas of mine. But I envisage that The Idea Emporium is a place that will grow, enriching both others and also myself - that I and my ideas will grow from some of what comes back.

Elsa
July 30, 2006

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2006
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006

Questions - on rage, hatred, narcissism, empathy, caring, peace.
Good thinking and analysis. Logic plus emotion.
The Idea Emporium - facts, ideas, conclusions.
Plus stupid opinions exposed.

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IDEA * EVALUATION * CONCLUSION * INSIGHT * COMMENTARY * CONTROVERSY * INTELLECTUAL CONFLICTS * CONFLICTING VERSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS * DIFFICULT AREAS * OPINION * WELL-REASONED OPINION * UNFOUNDED OPINION * STUPID OPINION * THEORY * THEORIZING * FEMINIST THEORIES * PERCEPTION * PERCEPTIONS * PERSPECTIVES * PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORIES *
THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM * THE IDEA EMPORIUM
ENVORINMENTAL CONCERNS * ANALYSIS * DISCOVERING UNDERLYING CAUSES * AMBIVALENCES * AMBIGUITIES * FEAR OF AND RAGE AGAINST IDEAS * FEAR OF EXPRESSING IDEAS *
ANTI-THINKING TORRORISM * ANTI-INTELLECTUAL TERRORISM * FALLACIES * FLAWED REASONING *
THE RAGE AGAINST UNWANTED IDEAS * THE RAGE AGAINST UNWANTED VISONS OF REALITY *
THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM * THE IDEA EMPORIUM
BLINKERS AGAINST PERCEPTION * BARRIERS TO THINKING * BARRIERS TO REASONING *
INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION * STIMULATING IDEAS * FERTILE THOUGHT * VIEWPOINTS * UNDERSTANDINGS * COMPLEXITIES * UNCERTAINTIES * GUESSES * HUNCHES *
FACTS * GUT FEELINGS ABOUT THINGS * EXPLORING IDEAS * EXPLORATIONS OF IDEAS *
EXPERIMENTS TO VERIFY IDEAS * REALITIES * REASONING * IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS *
THOUGHT OF THE DAY * PERCEPTION * PERSPECTIVE * DATA * INFORMATION *
OPINION PIECES * LOGICAL THINKING * CRITICAL THOUGHT * INTELLECTUAL LAZINESS * IDEA