WHITING_NEP- June1

Science & Public Policy Social Cause Activism : 

Science & Public Policy Social Cause Activism National Egg Producer Conference & Egg Farmers of Canada Meetings July 4 - 7, 2010 Winnipeg Terry Whiting terry.whiting@gov.mb.ca

Slide 2: 

Public Policy PROHIBITED THINGS Public Policy Space Largely Unregulated Things Permissible But Regulated Things

Social Movements : 

Social Movements How they affect regulatory frameworks 2 types of social movements Focused Movements Diffuse Movements

Moralization (Concept) : 

Moralization (Concept) Acquisition of moral qualities by objects or activities that were previously morally neutral Moralization is the conversion of preferences into values Moralization happens over time

Moralization : 

Moralization Happens at the individual level Happens at the cultural level IS the conversion of preferences into values

Moralization : 

Moralization Preferences General External Temporary No justification needed Values Central to the self (MINE) Internalized More durable Characterized by the accrual of multiple justifications Amenable to institutional and legal support Vertically transmitted within families

Slide 7: 

Preference Value Unregulated Regulated Smoking Tobacco Smoking Marijuana Buying the Biggest Car You can Afford Driving Drunk Societal Trends - Random Examples Animal Use - Food & Entertainment PROHIBITED Canada - Gay Marriage - USA

Premise #1 : 

Premise #1 If an individuals behavior can injure another then the behavior is subject to moralization Risk of injury to others is KEY Moralized behavior is amenable to legislative support Lobbying for Legislative Change is a Venture Capital Opportunity (Lobbying for Profit)

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Moralization of Smoking Once was a preference Now is a Value

Prohibition : 

Prohibition 1942 The prohibition of alcohol, 1920-1933, is one of the most interesting policy experiments in U.S. history. 1933

Moralization of Animal Use in Livestock Production : 

Moralization of Animal Use in Livestock Production A History: of privileged white women

Ruth Harrison, 1921-2000"Animal Machines", Vincent Stuart Publishers, London. [1964] : 

Ruth Harrison, 1921-2000"Animal Machines", Vincent Stuart Publishers, London. [1964] Animal Machines also lit the fuse for greater animal advocacy when a group of British scholars in 1971 wrote Animals, Men and Morals: An Enquiry into the Maltreatment of Non-humans. Ruth’s essay opened the book which also included a chapter by Richard Ryder who coined the term “speciesism.” Brambell Report > UK legislation European Convention for the Protection of Animals Used For Farming Purposes Profession: Actress

Astrid Lindgren 1907-2002 : 

Astrid Lindgren 1907-2002

Rachel Louise Carson(1907 – 1964) : 

Rachel Louise Carson(1907 – 1964) The anti-DDT campaign she inspired resulted in as many deaths as some of the worst dictators of the last century (Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot) Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston serialization in The New Yorker, began in June 16, 1962

Big Animal Activist Schools : 

Big Animal Activist Schools Anti-Industrialization – Ruth Harrison “Un-natural” – Astrid Lindgren Where is the Human Injury required to justify Government Interference?

Premise #2 : 

Premise #2 Moralization (where direct human injury is weak or subtle) normally requires multiple justifications It is wrong because, because, because

Ethical Vegetarians : 

Environmental Concerns Animal Welfare Health Body Image alicia silverstone 1997 B&R Anti Meat Focus Ethical Vegetarians

Ethical Vegetarianism : 

Ethical Vegetarianism Example of a diffuse social movement Have no political party Primarily personal expressionist In contrast to religion based vegetarians – Ethical vegetarians are EVANGILISTS

Ethical Vegetarianism : 

Ethical Vegetarianism Example of a diffuse social movement 2009 Rodale A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight and Saving the Planet Rodale Mags: Men's Health, Prevention, Runner's World, Women's Health, Best Life, Bicycling, Mountain Bike, Organic Gardening and Running Times. Books: South Beach Diet series, Eat This Not That!, and Flat Belly Diet!, AND An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore) 1998

The Animal Activist Triad : 

The Animal Activist Triad Self Righteousness Is a Great Feeling Injury of the Innocent Is Very Offensive Average Human Has Poor Cognitive skills

Animal Use Politics : 

Animal Use Politics Backbone: Injury to the animal Animal suffering for profit is not just wrong it is a SIN Injury because of unnatural animal husbandry - PERVERSE Injury to the environment Environment damage is also SIN as it steals from the unborn

Emergence of the Social Cause Activist Group (SCAG) FOCUSED MOVEMENT : 

Emergence of the Social Cause Activist Group (SCAG) FOCUSED MOVEMENT Schweikhardt DB, Browne WP. Politics by other means: the emergence of a new politics of food in the United States. Review of Agricultural Economics 2001. 23(2) 302-318.

How do they (SCAG) Work : 

How do they (SCAG) Work Working with an external FOCUS Standard Operational Procedure Self-Funding

Market a “Fundamental Issue” : 

Market a “Fundamental Issue” Must be very simple to communicate The simplest person can convince themselves they understand the issue in 15 seconds (petition) Issue Must be seen as “evil” Must be able to portray some truth in a way that will be most offensive

Politics by other means Schweikhardt 2001 : 

Politics by other means Schweikhardt 2001 Go direct to the manufacturer and scare them into change Lobbying the Government was mostly ineffective, too slow and to confused

Traditional SCAG - SOP : 

Traditional SCAG - SOP SCAG LOBBY Government Industry Regulate

New SCAG - SOP : 

New SCAG - SOP SCAG LOBBY Government Industry Regulate Joe Public Affect $Markets$

The Single Issue Campaign : 

Accomplish A Goal Make Money + The Single Issue Campaign One in a sequence of marketable issues

SCAG : 

SCAG “Social-Cause Activist Group” Not Evil, just another business with a product The product is Moral Outrage and “MO” is traded on the free market for voluntary DONATIONS

Single Issue Marker : 

Single Issue Marker Ban Sow Stalls Quit Stalling Naked than wear fur “Factory Farm”

2nd Type of Social Movement : 

2nd Type of Social Movement The Decentralized Movement SCAGs are single issue focused Sometimes multiple SCAGs converge on specific synergistic things by recruiting a combo of common themes Environment Animal Welfare Social Justice Naturalism Public Health

'Battle in Seattle’WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 : 

Minimum 40,000 protestors – all about Agriculture 'Battle in Seattle’WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999

Politics & politics : 

Politics & politics politics are usually differentiated from Politics where p is local and lightly funded and P is heavily funded and part of the “platform” politics – personal conviction Politics – change others conviction

Politics & politics : 

Politics & politics There is a lot of money to be made converting a political concern to a Political concern Partij voor de Dieren Holland 2 MP’s

Slide 35: 

PvdD Member from Zeeland Maarssen Marianne Thieme http://www.partyfortheanimals.nl/

Societal Change : 

Societal Change How do we manage (with) societal change? Laissez-faire – Industry free from state intervention Articulate the social contract – New Laws

Can The Market Solve Societal Concerns regarding Agriculture? : 

Can The Market Solve Societal Concerns regarding Agriculture? It is unreasonable to expect the consumer to be able to exercise true free choice at the time of product purchase because of simultaneous competition of obligation The anti-globalization factions think the market IS the problem

Regulatory Argument : 

Regulatory Argument Issues of social conscience should be decided by informed decision at the ballot box not at the checkout counter Reality of Human Nature – “Free Rider Problem” Environmental self-regulation not satisfactory

Premise #3 : 

Premise #3 When things are difficult to think clearly about - it is easier to Believe about them What do you believe about “Global Warming”?

Place of Science : 

Place of Science The use and miss-use of Science Science is a process to try and understand the reality around us

The recruitment of “Science” : 

The recruitment of “Science” In the development of public policy Criminal Justice Criminology Health Policy Epidemiology Social Justice (Review of Residential School System) Sociology All “ologies” claim scientific authority

The recruitment of “Science” : 

The recruitment of “Science” Real Science A systematic process of challenging what we believe to be true with evidence collected from the real world

The recruitment of “Science” : 

The recruitment of “Science” Junk Science A systematic process of compiling anecdotal information in support of your personal bias

Belief RULE : 

Belief RULE If it ends in “ISM” it is a belief system Marxism Thatcherism Unfortunately BELIEFS > POLITICAL DECISIONS

Public Policy Trip : 

Public Policy Trip Things are not as they “Should” be Convert To an “ology” Convert To an “ism” Translate Into LAW Ethics Faith Science Dogma

The PEW CommissionOn Industrial Agricultural Production : 

The PEW Commission was a Public Ethical Deliberation: The authors did deal with “what is” but, only so far as they could make the jump to what “Should be” The PEW CommissionOn Industrial Agricultural Production Sacred Text

Slide 47: 

Has had significant impact on Agriculture Policy Development In the USA.

The PEW CommissionOn Industrial Agricultural Production : 

The PEW CommissionOn Industrial Agricultural Production ASSERTION The PCIAP is not in essence or intent a scientific work, to try and understand it from a scientific perspective is an error Sacred Text

Slide 49: 

The PCIFAP was established through a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to recommend solutions to the problems created by concentrated animal feeding operations in four primary areas: public health, the environment, animal welfare, and rural communities.

Fluff Ratio (%) : 

Fluff Ratio (%) Fluff Data Bullshit Score Low High

Fluff/Content Ratio raises Questions : 

Fluff/Content Ratio raises Questions Is the BS Score important in understanding Political Discourse? Why did AW & AMR Score so High? Low Hanging Fruit? Most Emotive in Nature? Poor-Weak Scientific Justification? High F/C Ratio = Propaganda?

Propaganda : 

Propaganda is neutrally defined as a systematic form of purposeful persuasion that attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of specified target audiences for ideological, political or commercial purposes through the controlled transmission of one-sided messages (which may or may not be factual) via mass and direct media channels.  Richard Alan Nelson A Chronology and Glossary of Propaganda in the United States Greenwood Press, Westport CT 1996

Propaganda : 

Propaganda systematic form of purposeful persuasion attempts to influence specified target audiences: For ideological, political or commercial purposes By controlled transmission of one-sided messages via mass and direct media channels.  (Whiting-Edited) Richard Alan Nelson A Chronology and Glossary of Propaganda in the United States

Slide 56: 

Science in the Support of Legislative Change Once was a preference Now is a Value November 2000 Pure Propaganda 2003 Science - ?

Good Public Policy?(Science Informed) : 

Good Public Policy?(Science Informed) In considering Literature can we with confidence sort between Science (the search to determine the nature of Physical Reality) AND Propaganda (a systematic form of purposeful persuasion) ?

Slide 58: 

Karl Pearson 1857–1936 In 1911 he founded the world's first university statistics department at University College London In 1925 Pearson also established The Peer-reviewed Scientific Journal Annals of Eugenics The name was changed in 1954 to reflect changing views on the role of eugenics in society. By the 1950’s society had lost “faith” in Eugenics, and it no longer was the subject of scientific investigation. Science History Fact

Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) : 

Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) is a “peer-reviewed” “Open Access” journal of the United States' National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Via mass and direct media Channels? YES

NIEHS : 

NIEHS NIEHS is one of 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH : 

NIH NIH is a component of -The United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS)

HHS : 

HHS a Cabinet department of the United States government

Slide 63: 

Competition between Government Departments for Money Sub Division Owns Publishes Sole Purpose Manufacture Science To Direct Public Policy (Spending) Milton Friedman

Slide 64: 

#5 Propaganda Criteria 5. via mass and direct media channels.

Slide 65: 

“concentrated animal feeding operations”

Slide 66: 

Search Wikipedia for “Concentrated animal feeding operation” – redirected to “Factory Farming”

Science : 

Science So….CAFO is a term invented by the Journal EnvioHealthPerspect Is CAFO a neutral term used in Scientific Discourse OR Is it a pejorative term used in Political Discourse?

Science & Non-Science : 

Science & Non-Science Scientist Evangelist

Slide 69: 

Public Policy PROHIBITED THINGS Livestock Production Public Policy Space Largely Unregulated Things Permissible But Regulated Things

Why Convictions Count : 

Why Convictions Count A significant proportion of people are thinking hard about their food People will support their food-beliefs on their ballot

What should We Do : 

What should We Do People in free democracies demand their opinion to be valued The use of animals will and should stimulate controversy and discord for the foreseeable future Can we learn from the discord and adjust in time?

Build Infrastructure : 

Build Infrastructure Recognize when policy coalitions are growing in society and participate in their development No one can win! There is no winning. You can’t achieve a draw if you refuse to play

Take Home : 

Take Home It requires skillful communications to help people develop true beliefs about livestock production and use Environment Social Justice Animal Welfare Public Health Rarely but sometimes; the beliefs that need to change may be our own

Take Home : 

Take Home The great religious leaders of the 20th Century have all been economists The religious leaders of the 21st Century may be other types of social activists

Slide 75: 

Think right Think left Think low Think high Oh the thinks you can think If only you try. terry whiting Office of the CV; Manitoba 545 univ. cres, winnipeg mb r3t 5s6 terry.whiting@gov.mb.ca Dr. Seuss a useful guide