rousing the rabble

The Psychological Aftermath of Katrina

First Published 8 September 2005

Articles are starting to appear about how some Katrina refugees are being arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct in the Astrodome and in various shelters.  The articles mention this fact as if it were happening in a vacuum, as if the last horrible days were not an inextricable backdrop to this behavior.

Of course order needs to prevail to keep people safe.  And yes, there are a few folks who were no doubt engaged in disorderly conduct before the winds and the water of Katrina came.  But the vast majority of them were not.   And in the aftermath of Katrina, these folks might find themselves feeling things and thinking things and doing things that are ‘off.’  Things that they, themselves, do not understand.  When this happens, what they need is competent psychological understanding and, if need be, intervention.  Yes, such intervention can include caring, respectful containment when necessary.  But what it definitely does not include is a jail cell.

Schwarzenegger -- People's Governor or Flouter of First Amendment Rights?

First published 13 July 2005 by the San Francisco Chronicle

It's the early 1970s. The Vietnam War is raging. Soldiers are dying daily with no end in sight. Many military officials say it's an "unwinnable" war. Lies are uncovered. The media begin to expose widespread military and law- enforcement surveillance of the anti-war movement. The strong anti-war voice at UC Berkeley is a major target. California's citizens, outraged at such blatant rights violations, respond by voting to amend Article 1, Sect. 1 of the California State Constitution. Going beyond federal constitutional safeguards, the amendment guarantees protections from privacy violations by both state and private entities.

Terri Schiavo: Beyond the Wedge Issue

Published June 18, 2005

The newly released results from Terri Schiavo's autopsy reveal the poignant realities that she was blind, that she was unable to perceive her surroundings, including when her feeding tube was removed, and that her 'smiles' were actually involuntary muscle movements. In the wake of these findings, both sides of the debate are busily commenting, backtracking, or claiming victory. But what neither side has adequately touched on is the same topic that was sorely missing from public discourse as it was happening: the why of it all. Why was Terri Schiavo in a coma in the first place? She was in a coma because she had an eating disorder that far too many times ultimately creates behavior that pushes the limits of what a body can withstand. Tragically, Schiavo pushed her body too far.

That the public discourse about Terri was not about the intrapsychic and sociopolitical implications of eating disorders is a huge disservice to the memory of her and another shovel in the deep pit of shame and secrecy for all those who struggle with them. An exploration of the mechanisms and institutions complicit in this issue in the mainstream was nowhere to be found. One institution, for example, is the women's magazine industry. Women's magazines purport to help women as they tell us to be afraid of and deeply ashamed about wrinkles and cellulite on the one hand, while they hand over our fear and our checkbooks to the advertisers with the other, wishing for a third hand to take in their ad revenues. Our fear and self-loathing and what we buy to mask them are the life bread of these magazines, as they are for many industries. Fully exploring this, and the causes and implications of eating disorders is far too broad for this article, but it certainly should not be too broad for public discourse because women (and men) like Terri Schiavo and Karen Carpenter and countless others all over the US are at this very moment literally dying to be thin.

Buddy Can You Spare a Dwarf*?

Revisiting California’s Rolling Blackouts

As if we needed more evidence of Enron’s misconduct, the L.A. Times just reported the recent unearthing of more taped telephone conversations of glib Enron electricity traders conspiring to shut down perfectly running power plants the day rolling black outs were scheduled throughout California.

Back on those cold, grey electricity-bereft days while some corporations were merrily plotting the financial and electrical ruin of the men, women, and children across California, still others were busy parading their indifference.  Literally.

The following was written in the midst of such gauche, and increasingly typical, corporate behavior.

_________________________________________________________________________
I had not been inspired by a commercial since that night in 1976 when I was convinced my life would be unutterably revolutionized if only I had a can of Psssssst!©, the instant aerosol spray shampoo. I was overdue.

Enter the “Save a Watt” ad. It’s the one that pleads with Californians to use electricity as sparingly as possible to help with the current energy crisis. “We can all make it through this together,” says the encouraging voiceover. Somehow something in that corny commercial got to me and I found myself filled with a sense of community and purpose. “Yes. We can make it through this together,” I thought. So hand in hand with my fellow Californians, I vowed to do my part; whatever it took. And I began working out my strategy.  But then, boom: directly after this ad, came one from Disney for its “Electricland Parade.”

Sowing the Seeds of Peace Amidst the Tsunami Tragedy

How the U.S. government and its citizens, including those in the peace movement, handle the tsunami relief efforts and reconstruction has everything to do with future peace.

It's at these times, when people are hit with unfathomable tragedy, when they are at their most vulnerable, when they are reduced to foraging for basic necessities, fighting for packets of rice, living day to day amidst a sea of corpses as far as the eye can see, when the peace movement should stand up, speak out, and act as resolutely and vociferously as if we were on the brink of another war. Because it's at these moments of want and desperation and inequity that the seeds of violence are potentially planted.