Wow! As always, you blow me away with your brilliance, insightfulness, and candor. Talk about brave, you epitomize it. I am heartbroken for you to have lost your best friends, but time truly does fly, and soon you guys will be in constant contact again, fighting the good fight. Please please don't ever give up. I only wish we could send you to Israel and Gaza, I have no doubt that you alone could make everyone see reason and restore peace to the Middle East, something so desperately needed now, just as the right to rescue is as well. Thank you so very much for all you do. You are so appreciated and cherished.
Wayne, as always, I learn from your Substacks. I didn't realize so many high profile Animal Rights Activists had given up and gone into positions in the private sector. That fills me with disparare. I have been doing work as an online activist to support rescue groups since I was placed on disability in 2008. Since then, I have been able to connect online with hundreds of rescues worldwide and help spread their messages. It saddens me to know that Leadership, especially, fine Leadership like yours, is waning in the field of rescue work, education and humanitarian roles. Such roles are so vital to our society and our survival as a civilized species. I truly hope that this trend will somehow turn around. There is, I believe, overall, more meanness in our society since our country has become so politically divided. As that has happened, I have observed less tolerance for any objection to the corporate or system rule of law. The courts seem rigged against us.
Regarding, "most of us can probably agree that it would have sucked to be in her place" - referring to Claudine Gay. Well, it should suck to be caught out as a plagiarizer. And if you have done this, it is important for you to be removed. Any student caught plagiarizing is disciplined - failing the course, etc. The failure in leadership, I say, is that it took so long for her to remove herself - that the institution so long tolerated such a president. And what a world that your response is "most of us can probably agree that it would have sucked to be in her place."
The work of a leader has always been difficult, but unlike other times, we have fewer teachers and mentors to make the leaders needed for today's world. However, I still have hope, because without hope you have nothing. Wayne thank you for your candor.
Brilliant article as usual Wayne ! I can't agree with you more - leadership requires candor , curiosity and above all courage - you are a living example of all these qualities , especially courage and brilliant mind and heart .
Very complex panorama! I needed to sleep before commenting. Waking up (I'm 78, mind too slow for speeds of debates or journalism in complex world). What I see is giant systems stumbling at running our world. And I see dreams necessary when reality isn't working. Somehow, the word "compassion" needs an action form, "compassion-ize". Short-range uplift can be rescuing some chickens and pigs, long-range uplift can be giant asteroid defense, medium-range uplift can be enforcing ceasefires, providing aid airlifts, re-allocating world's aircraft fleets to dousing mega-wildfires and city-killer heatwaves, drones planting trillions of trees, and try out humans to make new forms of ombudsman-ship and try out raising U.S. elections to the level of a Lincoln and Douglas contest, not the expected clash of two mental deficiency cases stirring up tribe-style dislike, distrust, denial. At balloting, I expect I'll write-in maybe Wayne Hsiung or maybe "A.I. For President" (or at least, A.I. for chief advisor). Human-run giant systems, including political parties and economics, now is a giant wash-out. Picturing some dreams, may help.
Your leadership descriptors are spot on. I can overlay those on the handful of (legit) leaders I have experienced in my lifetime. The descriptors give such clarity to why those leaders stood out in my life...and the feelings of empowerment that came from that leadership. A wise and inspiring piece that I will share far and wide. Thank you. 🫶
thank you wayne as always for your insights, in this article, into what makes a good leader. thanks for these examples of successes and failures even within DxE. i think dr claudine gay’s resignation was disappointing though i don’t know what i would have done in her situation. death threats have been carried out. i don’t consider myself courageous though i’ve taken actions that at times may have seemed so. responding to you now may (or may not) be one of them.
in my opinion, the situation in the middle east is complex, perhaps more so than your suggested talks to the jewish and palestinian communities suggest. i’m glad you’re following the news and i think it important to put the unfolding horrors there in the context of a larger history.
to begin, i wouldn’t relay sympathy for victims described but not substantiated in the ny Times, a paper which reported Nazi gas chambers way after they knew about them and then only on page sixty something. this is also a corporate media outlet which reported (by Judith Miller) that WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) existed in Iraq when all evidence (by Scott Ritter, UN weapons inspector) proved otherwise. need i go on?
it’s important to note that hamas was financed, armed and supported by israel and the US in order to divide the palestinians who were fighting for liberation. hamas represents a people fighting back against and resisting oppression, a struggle accepted by the global courts and public morality as just. as JFK said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable,” thus we have the war of independence, the american revolution; the armed wing of the ANC, the African National Congress, the Vietnamese National Liberation Front (the NLF), etc. A slave has a right to rebel, to fight against her or his enslavement.
when going to the jewish community, say at harvard, instead of mentioning the suffering of 100+ hostages, who by all accounts (of released hostages), have been treated well by hamas, i might acknowledge hundreds of years of scapegoating by kings, pharaohs and other rulers who wanted to deflect from their own cruel, greedy, unjust acts and policies. i would include the pogroms in russia and hitler’s “final solution,” the genocidal policies and killing of millions of jews and the ongoing actual, not fabricated, anti-semitism (see Norm Finkelstein’s - Beyond Chutzpah).
as an aside, concerning all religions, we understand from reading “an unnatural order” that they started (mainly in the middle east) with cruelty to animals, namely by herders. These were originally hunters who carried this violence to its extreme, following their food on the hoof and stealing milk and lives, from sheeps and goats. “The good shepherd” is an oxymoron, an ox-see-moron. Sheep-herders or shepherds were not “good,” as we hope to see when the film CHRISTspiracy comes out. domination by anyone over any others, however cloaked in religious garb or verbiage, is to be exposed and resisted.
According to my understanding, Israel is one of the most highly secured and fortified countries in the world, Their lack thereof on oct 7th is isuspect. in addition, the primary aim of Hamas in breaching Israeli gateswas to take hostages. With these hostages Hamas could pressure israel to release at least some of the thousands of prisoners it’s kidnapped. These are children, women and men picked up and unjustly imprisoned. according to the few released during the only pause in bombing, they were starved, beaten and deprived of blankets, bedding and protection from the elements. There are no charges brought against them and they are given no ability to defend themselves, no legal rights and no prospect of ever being released.
Hannibal was a ruler who killed himself rather than be taken prisoner. It’s my understanding that Israel’s Hannibal policy is to never allow citizens to be taken hostage so it never is put in the position of having to negotiate the release of these unjustly imprisoned Palestinians. this policy means that Israel kills its own citizens rather than allowing them to be taken hostage. According to eye witness testimony, including of an IDF soldier and top commander, they were ordered to fire heavy rounds of ammunition into the kibbutz and other populated areas killing both Hamas AND Israeli civilians.
As part of this Hannibal policy, the cars in which Hamas were able to drive away with Israeli hostages were a target. They could not to be allowed to escape. From above, the IDF rained hell-fire missiles incinerating ALL passengers, Hamas kidnappers and Israeli hostages. Testimony from 20+ year war correspondent, Chris Hedges and eye witnesses on the ground (see “the Gray Zone” with Max Blumenthal) agree this is the only possible explanation for the charred remains, the ashes found in these decimated vehicles. in other words, it was the IDF, Israeli Defense Forces, not Hamas that killed the majority if not all the1200 Israeli’s who lost their lives Oct 7.
Hamas taking hostages as a tactic to free unjustly imprisoned Palestinians was as much a crime as DxE rescuing chickens. Hamas raping women and children is as much truth as police claiming the black men they shot in the back were a threat; that Amado Diallo shot 41 times was holding a gun rather than the wallet with his ID they’d requested he produce.
and even if Israel’s claims were true, that it was Hamas, not the IDF, who killed these Israelis, it still does not excuse Israel’s ceaselessly dropping 500-2000 pound bombs indiscriminately over Gaza killing 23,500 people, to date, not including thousands missing and presumed dead under rubble. The majority of these are women and children. It does not justify denying food, water, medical supplies, electricity, internet to the rest of the 2.3 million population. It cannot excuse the targeting and killing of 100+ journalists, hundreds of medical personnel and rescue workers. It cannot justify forced relocation of half the population.
Zionist Jews both in and out of Israel have experienced a lifetime of indoctrination about the rightness of the Israeli zionist occupation of Palestinian land, starting with the violent killings and forced relocations of 1947-48. Israel’s propaganda machine is now working full time. We must not fall prey and ignore the past 75+ years of settler colonialist domination of a peoples. it wasn’t a land without a people for a people without a land. it was peopled! Perhaps the criticism of Dr Gay should be she didn’t explore deeply enough this history. [See “Our Roots are still alive” and “the Hidden History of Zionism” by Schoenman.]
I stand with all Jews who resist oppression, those who side with peace loving people of all religions, ethnicities, etc. i stand with the oppressed Palestinians. I stand with all who demand an immediate cease fire, an end to the siege, the blockade of food, fuel, clean water, internet, medical supplies and all necessities of life. I stand with those who demand an end to the US backing, arming and funding of Israel’s colonial settler apartheid occupation of Palestine and its current genocide. I stand with those who call for a free Palestine. I stand with those who call out their own governments for fulfilling the profit incentives of their ammunitions manufacturers. I stand with those who oppose all oppression including that of our sister brother animal family. i stand with those who seek and stand with truth. I therefore stand with you Wayne, with admiration, respect and love.
you can jail (kill) a revolutionary but you can’t jail (kill) a revolution. nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Animal liberation is an dea whose time has surely come.
Your fight with the court system is a prime example Wayne. It seems like the conservatives on the bench want to silence us and the courts have become packed with more and more conservative judges.
Wow! As always, you blow me away with your brilliance, insightfulness, and candor. Talk about brave, you epitomize it. I am heartbroken for you to have lost your best friends, but time truly does fly, and soon you guys will be in constant contact again, fighting the good fight. Please please don't ever give up. I only wish we could send you to Israel and Gaza, I have no doubt that you alone could make everyone see reason and restore peace to the Middle East, something so desperately needed now, just as the right to rescue is as well. Thank you so very much for all you do. You are so appreciated and cherished.
Wayne, as always, I learn from your Substacks. I didn't realize so many high profile Animal Rights Activists had given up and gone into positions in the private sector. That fills me with disparare. I have been doing work as an online activist to support rescue groups since I was placed on disability in 2008. Since then, I have been able to connect online with hundreds of rescues worldwide and help spread their messages. It saddens me to know that Leadership, especially, fine Leadership like yours, is waning in the field of rescue work, education and humanitarian roles. Such roles are so vital to our society and our survival as a civilized species. I truly hope that this trend will somehow turn around. There is, I believe, overall, more meanness in our society since our country has become so politically divided. As that has happened, I have observed less tolerance for any objection to the corporate or system rule of law. The courts seem rigged against us.
Regarding, "most of us can probably agree that it would have sucked to be in her place" - referring to Claudine Gay. Well, it should suck to be caught out as a plagiarizer. And if you have done this, it is important for you to be removed. Any student caught plagiarizing is disciplined - failing the course, etc. The failure in leadership, I say, is that it took so long for her to remove herself - that the institution so long tolerated such a president. And what a world that your response is "most of us can probably agree that it would have sucked to be in her place."
The work of a leader has always been difficult, but unlike other times, we have fewer teachers and mentors to make the leaders needed for today's world. However, I still have hope, because without hope you have nothing. Wayne thank you for your candor.
Wayne, thank you for these important words.
Brilliant article as usual Wayne ! I can't agree with you more - leadership requires candor , curiosity and above all courage - you are a living example of all these qualities , especially courage and brilliant mind and heart .
Very complex panorama! I needed to sleep before commenting. Waking up (I'm 78, mind too slow for speeds of debates or journalism in complex world). What I see is giant systems stumbling at running our world. And I see dreams necessary when reality isn't working. Somehow, the word "compassion" needs an action form, "compassion-ize". Short-range uplift can be rescuing some chickens and pigs, long-range uplift can be giant asteroid defense, medium-range uplift can be enforcing ceasefires, providing aid airlifts, re-allocating world's aircraft fleets to dousing mega-wildfires and city-killer heatwaves, drones planting trillions of trees, and try out humans to make new forms of ombudsman-ship and try out raising U.S. elections to the level of a Lincoln and Douglas contest, not the expected clash of two mental deficiency cases stirring up tribe-style dislike, distrust, denial. At balloting, I expect I'll write-in maybe Wayne Hsiung or maybe "A.I. For President" (or at least, A.I. for chief advisor). Human-run giant systems, including political parties and economics, now is a giant wash-out. Picturing some dreams, may help.
What an awesome piece! Thank you!
Your leadership descriptors are spot on. I can overlay those on the handful of (legit) leaders I have experienced in my lifetime. The descriptors give such clarity to why those leaders stood out in my life...and the feelings of empowerment that came from that leadership. A wise and inspiring piece that I will share far and wide. Thank you. 🫶
thank you wayne as always for your insights, in this article, into what makes a good leader. thanks for these examples of successes and failures even within DxE. i think dr claudine gay’s resignation was disappointing though i don’t know what i would have done in her situation. death threats have been carried out. i don’t consider myself courageous though i’ve taken actions that at times may have seemed so. responding to you now may (or may not) be one of them.
in my opinion, the situation in the middle east is complex, perhaps more so than your suggested talks to the jewish and palestinian communities suggest. i’m glad you’re following the news and i think it important to put the unfolding horrors there in the context of a larger history.
to begin, i wouldn’t relay sympathy for victims described but not substantiated in the ny Times, a paper which reported Nazi gas chambers way after they knew about them and then only on page sixty something. this is also a corporate media outlet which reported (by Judith Miller) that WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) existed in Iraq when all evidence (by Scott Ritter, UN weapons inspector) proved otherwise. need i go on?
it’s important to note that hamas was financed, armed and supported by israel and the US in order to divide the palestinians who were fighting for liberation. hamas represents a people fighting back against and resisting oppression, a struggle accepted by the global courts and public morality as just. as JFK said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable,” thus we have the war of independence, the american revolution; the armed wing of the ANC, the African National Congress, the Vietnamese National Liberation Front (the NLF), etc. A slave has a right to rebel, to fight against her or his enslavement.
when going to the jewish community, say at harvard, instead of mentioning the suffering of 100+ hostages, who by all accounts (of released hostages), have been treated well by hamas, i might acknowledge hundreds of years of scapegoating by kings, pharaohs and other rulers who wanted to deflect from their own cruel, greedy, unjust acts and policies. i would include the pogroms in russia and hitler’s “final solution,” the genocidal policies and killing of millions of jews and the ongoing actual, not fabricated, anti-semitism (see Norm Finkelstein’s - Beyond Chutzpah).
as an aside, concerning all religions, we understand from reading “an unnatural order” that they started (mainly in the middle east) with cruelty to animals, namely by herders. These were originally hunters who carried this violence to its extreme, following their food on the hoof and stealing milk and lives, from sheeps and goats. “The good shepherd” is an oxymoron, an ox-see-moron. Sheep-herders or shepherds were not “good,” as we hope to see when the film CHRISTspiracy comes out. domination by anyone over any others, however cloaked in religious garb or verbiage, is to be exposed and resisted.
According to my understanding, Israel is one of the most highly secured and fortified countries in the world, Their lack thereof on oct 7th is isuspect. in addition, the primary aim of Hamas in breaching Israeli gateswas to take hostages. With these hostages Hamas could pressure israel to release at least some of the thousands of prisoners it’s kidnapped. These are children, women and men picked up and unjustly imprisoned. according to the few released during the only pause in bombing, they were starved, beaten and deprived of blankets, bedding and protection from the elements. There are no charges brought against them and they are given no ability to defend themselves, no legal rights and no prospect of ever being released.
Hannibal was a ruler who killed himself rather than be taken prisoner. It’s my understanding that Israel’s Hannibal policy is to never allow citizens to be taken hostage so it never is put in the position of having to negotiate the release of these unjustly imprisoned Palestinians. this policy means that Israel kills its own citizens rather than allowing them to be taken hostage. According to eye witness testimony, including of an IDF soldier and top commander, they were ordered to fire heavy rounds of ammunition into the kibbutz and other populated areas killing both Hamas AND Israeli civilians.
As part of this Hannibal policy, the cars in which Hamas were able to drive away with Israeli hostages were a target. They could not to be allowed to escape. From above, the IDF rained hell-fire missiles incinerating ALL passengers, Hamas kidnappers and Israeli hostages. Testimony from 20+ year war correspondent, Chris Hedges and eye witnesses on the ground (see “the Gray Zone” with Max Blumenthal) agree this is the only possible explanation for the charred remains, the ashes found in these decimated vehicles. in other words, it was the IDF, Israeli Defense Forces, not Hamas that killed the majority if not all the1200 Israeli’s who lost their lives Oct 7.
Hamas taking hostages as a tactic to free unjustly imprisoned Palestinians was as much a crime as DxE rescuing chickens. Hamas raping women and children is as much truth as police claiming the black men they shot in the back were a threat; that Amado Diallo shot 41 times was holding a gun rather than the wallet with his ID they’d requested he produce.
and even if Israel’s claims were true, that it was Hamas, not the IDF, who killed these Israelis, it still does not excuse Israel’s ceaselessly dropping 500-2000 pound bombs indiscriminately over Gaza killing 23,500 people, to date, not including thousands missing and presumed dead under rubble. The majority of these are women and children. It does not justify denying food, water, medical supplies, electricity, internet to the rest of the 2.3 million population. It cannot excuse the targeting and killing of 100+ journalists, hundreds of medical personnel and rescue workers. It cannot justify forced relocation of half the population.
Zionist Jews both in and out of Israel have experienced a lifetime of indoctrination about the rightness of the Israeli zionist occupation of Palestinian land, starting with the violent killings and forced relocations of 1947-48. Israel’s propaganda machine is now working full time. We must not fall prey and ignore the past 75+ years of settler colonialist domination of a peoples. it wasn’t a land without a people for a people without a land. it was peopled! Perhaps the criticism of Dr Gay should be she didn’t explore deeply enough this history. [See “Our Roots are still alive” and “the Hidden History of Zionism” by Schoenman.]
I stand with all Jews who resist oppression, those who side with peace loving people of all religions, ethnicities, etc. i stand with the oppressed Palestinians. I stand with all who demand an immediate cease fire, an end to the siege, the blockade of food, fuel, clean water, internet, medical supplies and all necessities of life. I stand with those who demand an end to the US backing, arming and funding of Israel’s colonial settler apartheid occupation of Palestine and its current genocide. I stand with those who call for a free Palestine. I stand with those who call out their own governments for fulfilling the profit incentives of their ammunitions manufacturers. I stand with those who oppose all oppression including that of our sister brother animal family. i stand with those who seek and stand with truth. I therefore stand with you Wayne, with admiration, respect and love.
you can jail (kill) a revolutionary but you can’t jail (kill) a revolution. nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Animal liberation is an dea whose time has surely come.
Your fight with the court system is a prime example Wayne. It seems like the conservatives on the bench want to silence us and the courts have become packed with more and more conservative judges.