Occupy with Purpose

By Gautam Jagannath, Winter 2011

The Occupy movement in Oakland has no peer. With its mix of diversity, poor reputation, vibrant city feel and sense of malaise, Oakland is perfect for protests. Occupy Oakland stands against corporate greed, socioeconomic inequality, police brutality, the excessive incarceration of poor, and white collar crime gone unpunished. The Occupy movement is imperative, but I feel its efforts are misplaced.

Occupy makes me pause and recall an oft abused Jefferson quote which states that the "tree of liberty" should be watered with the blood of tyrants. The "the blood from patriots" part of the quote is often omitted. Jefferson imagined that government might not be peaceably changed every time change was needed. If "democracy is messy" as Oakland Mayor Quan noted, she hasn't seen nuttin' yet.

I realize that the income disparity is a legitimate, burgeoning problem (99% v. 1%), and during tough economic times the income disparity hurts more people in a more dramatic fashion. But how does "marching on banks and corporations" facilitate the process of reaching income equality? Shutting down the banks would not halt the financial system, however it would stop a few wage slaves from earning their hourly keep. Aren't these the 99%? Issues get muddled and the cause diluted.

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Elementary!

By Lorenzo Roberto Ramos, Spring 2012

Experiential models have shown that a shift in perspective is only as grounded as the context from which it arises. This focus on context creates the space for us to consider models and worldviews that have fallen from humanity's current repertoire of psychological thinking. A number of such contexts come from the times during which humanity's cultural systems were radically different from today's, often centered on the spiritual aspects of life. Egyptians, Greeks, Assyrians, Indians and Persians, Chinese and Tibetans, Druids, Mayans, Yaquis, Yorubas, Romans, Arabs and all sorts of indigenous tribal societies currently battling first-world oppression indulged in these animistic/monistic lenses through which to observe the living universe.

Such ancient ontological studies all seemed to share an interest in the elements. These were seen as the building blocks of the universe, as well as its every inhabitant. In such a perspective, the elements are treated as symbolic categories for forces and qualities found in the universe on a grand, functional scale. These 'elements' are thus far different from those we ascribe the label to today. Fire, for example, was very well the exothermic conflagration we call 'fire,' but it was also heat and light, allowing one a symbolic access-point to flame, sunlight, photons, vision, photosynthesis, transformation, digestion, and even intellect. Bodily and psychological health was seen as a dynamic system of elementary properties, complete with earthen stubbornness and windy nerve currents blowing about our bodies. The space in our bowels became the fume of flatulence and likewise holds our trachea open, and there's nothing quite as 'grounding' as the fact that our whole mass of organic matter stays put together. Does anyone see the earthiness inherent in being present for a client--or for yourself? It is the clinical insights one can draw from these ontological categories that give breadth to this discussion.

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Procrastination to Graduation

By Josh White, Spring 2012

Ok, let us be honest, how hard do we really work in graduate school? I am a library junky. I force myself to be in the library because I know when I am at home there are far too many distractions. Yet, even when in a setting of relative isolation, I am really good at finding ways to not complete the task at hand, or at least to prolong the process. In fact, as I am writing this article, I am waiting for a pause in my thought process to check Facebook and a whole slew of quick links I have on my laptop and my smart phone.

Why do I, or why do we, put off work that needs to get done for a delayed gratification called graduation day? So what is going on here? As a young psychologist I try to advocate a "know thyself" mentality, so what am I doing? Does it mean that my unconscious thinks immediate gratification is more important? Probably, let's roll with this hypothesis. When assignments have no immediate consequence, no immediate deadline (i.e. dissertation), no immediate relevance, or are just straight busy work (i.e. stats, sorry); I tend to find myself looking at something other than my work with little recollection of clicking on that link. On the other hand, is procrastination sometimes a conscious process? I say yes. Sometimes, or most of the time, depending on who is reading this, it is more entertaining to find about a new fad, look at potential apartments I can afford once I graduate, or to watch a funny video than to do work on assignments.

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