Education: Still an American Value?

The Bushes have a long history with Yale, one of the finest educational institutions in the nation, and take pride in that connection. Mitt Romney went to Stanford and Harvard. Even Rick Santorum, with his infamous "snob" comment, has three degrees. So why is it that such a large portion of the conservative movement have suddenly begun to disparage education rather than embrace it as an American value?

It seems education was a non-partisan issue (and universally considered to be beneficial) until very recently. During the 2008 election, Barack Obama was labeled an ivory tower "elitist" by conservatives because he was informed and articulate. And this acceptance of ignorance has become even worse during this election. Herman Cain's following seemed by and large undisturbed by his dismissal of a president's need to know basic foreign policy.

Perhaps it's my New England upbringing that causes me to be such an "elitist snob", but one of the things I admire most about Barack Obama is that he managed to earn an excellent education despite growing up with considerable financial hardship. Even though Republicans hit him again and again with concerns of his lack of foreign policy experience, he was certainly well-versed in it. Yes, he has his weak points (the economy comes to mind), but he at least wouldn't be caught dead speaking a word like "Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan".

When did American conservatives stop believing that intelligence, education, and articulation were important qualities in a president? Time after time throughout this primary season we have seen Republicans blithely forgive these displays of ignorance. Why are these basic mistakes considered acceptable? Is it resentment, borne of racism, felt by conservatives that a black man should be allowed to receive so excellent an education? I imagine white Republicans would be far less threatened by Herman Cain, who could not hold a candle to Obama's brilliance. Or perhaps it is because of the deterioration of the quality of education we receive here in the U.S. Are Americans simply not capable of recognizing the short-comings of this season's candidates? Maybe the true "elitist snobs" in our nation - like the ones who drive multiple Cadillacs and pal around with Nascar team owners - have given a bad name to the educated. Is an MBA now automatically associated with Wall Street corruption?

I do not mean to speak only of a university education. Vocational schools and apprenticeships are incredibly valuable as well. Not everyone fits into the erudite university mold. Electricians, mechanics, and chefs are all incredibly valuable to our country. They make up the backbone of functionality and infrastructure without which academia, among other so called "higher institutions", could not exist. These people, too, are pursuing greater knowledge, bettering themselves and their country.

I look forward to the day when the acquisition of knowledge is celebrated again. Education should be honored and respected. I want to live in a country with a leader who knows everything he possibly can about running countries; a leader who continually strives for greater knowledge about the world around him or her. I want to be proud of my leader, and since 2009 I have been. Barack Obama has a great mind and it is a sin to believe that having a leader possessing so extraordinary a mind is anything other than a blessing to our country.

Did Robert Bales suffer a Dissociative Fugue?

Sgt. Robert Bales has been almost universally described by his friends and family to be a wonderful, warm person. Sgt. Bales' best friend growing up was a handicapped boy, and he is a loving husband and father. Is this the type of person who murders seventeen innocent Afghanis? It is nearly impossible to believe that a person who has such a long record of being so kind and so empathic can suddenly exhibit such sociopathic behavior. The mainstream media says he simply "snapped" under the stress, but in the world of clinical psychology there is a diagnosis that fits this particular set of behaviors; a diagnosis which is more specific than "Traumatic Brain Injury" (TBI) or "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD). It is called a "Dissociative Fugue".

A dissociative fugue is a rare psychological event characterized in the DSM-IV-TR (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) by sudden travel away from work or home, amnesia, and often a drastic change in or loss of identity. Typical episodes last a few hours or days, but in extreme cases sufferers have remained in the fugue state for years, creating entire new lives for themselves, during which they do not remember their previous lives. When they finally "snap out of it", they are left with only vague memories of their "new" lives. (Bales’ attorney has mentioned that Bales is experiencing memory problems.) They turn around and go back home. It is very rare that a person experiences more than one episode in his or her life.

Dissociative fugue is more common in those who have PTSD or recently suffered an extremely traumatic event. Just days before, Sgt. Bales had witnessed a close friend of his lose a leg in a bombing. This is on top of the Bales' financial and marital troubles, and after suffering an injury to his own foot. Bales was in extraordinary circumstances and emotionally vulnerable.

Suicide rates in our military are rising rapidly and are statistically linked to the number of tours of duty served. This administration gives a lot of lip-service to identifying and treating PTSD and other mental illnesses as early as possible to prevent these sorts of tragedies. Typically, though, one of two things tends to happen: either the soldier is too proud to truly reveal the depth of the emotional injury he or she is suffering, or the soldier is given an anti-depressant. Anti-depressants only work on a portion of the population, and the kind of intensive psychotherapy needed to face the complexity of one’s emotional issues is impossible to deliver in a military setting.

I am not saying definitively that this is Sgt. Bales’ diagnosis, nor am I saying there is no justice to be served. I am, however, saying that PTSD and TBI are complicated diagnoses that commonly occur alongside other diagnoses, and Dissociative Fugue is a diagnosis worth exploring, as many of the diagnostic criteria seem to fit Bales' behavior and circumstance.

We need to find a different way to address mental illness in our military. The average human psyche is ill-equipped to handle four tours of duty. Long-term, constant exposure to extremely high stress is breaking our beloved troops and we owe it to them to find ways to care for them. I believe, as a nation, we are coming to see mental health as being every bit as important as physical health to our troops. We are asking far too much of our young men and women.

So let's put a cap on the number of tours of duty a soldier is allowed to serve. Let's implement more thorough screening. Let's give more opportunities for leave to those who are suffering the worst. And when our soldiers return home, let's provide them with the best mental health care we have. I believe that if more interventions were in place for the mentally ill in the military, had we been paying closer attention, then this massacre would not have happened. Let's see that this doesn't happen again.

Occupy Activists Work to Enforce Volcker Rule

Occupy Wall Street camps have grown smaller as the winter has set in. They’re nearly abandoned at night as people retreat into their warm homes to sleep in their warm beds. General Assembly still has, in many locations, reasonable attendance, though certainly not to the same degree as it had in warmer weather. Many of the camps have been disbanded altogether due to local law enforcement – in fact, we are very lucky in New Haven to have such a cooperative police force such that we can remain assembled despite the weather and perhaps a decrease in morale. In many cases, the people that are left at the formerly occupied sites are the extremists and the homeless, leaving the almost completely abandoned camps a bleak sight.

Just as the movement was beginning to garner the respect and recognition needed to elicit real change, participation floundered due to weather and weariness, and in many places increasing police involvement (again, less so here in New Haven). Much of the respect and positive attention the Occupy movement had been receiving has decreased considerably.

We have come too far to let this movement die out because of a change in seasons. The movement will have to be rebuilt as Occupiers return in the spring. Hopefully, the return of the warm weather will hail a fresh influx of protesters and the movement will be injected with new vigor. Just as was done the first time, last autumn, the movement will have to build again, will have to attract attention and organize. But this time, we have a head start. The movement has organized into several different groups with different goals, and this February, one of those groups has made a remarkable achievement. The group calls itself “Occupy the SEC” (and their website can be found here: www.occupythesec.org).

The SEC (Securities and Exchanges Commission) is a federal agency tasked with the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act. But before the Dodd-Frank Act can be implemented, the SEC is required to seek public comment. And so formed Occupy the SEC – a group of Occupiers with considerable experience in the financial industry. Led by Alexis Goldstein, the group produced a comment letter on section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act, also called the Volcker Rule. The purpose of the Volcker Rule is to regulate proprietary trading by the banks, and to increase transparency. The comment letter is 325 pages long, answering 244 out of 395 questions proposed by the SEC regulators in the request for public comment. The Volcker Rule originally was full of so many loopholes and exceptions as to make it essentially self-castrating. Thanks to the incisiveness of Occupy the SEC, however, the Volcker Rule has the potential to turn into a very powerful regulatory statute, should the suggestions be followed. The group has demonstrated an unexpectedly keen and thorough understanding of the section.

The letter was extraordinarily well-received. Several prominent financial bloggers and publications gave high praise, including Felix Salmon of Reuters. It’s been enough to make many of the movement’s detractors take a second look, enough to make people question their notions of this movement as just a directionless group of dirty hippies. Now, we are finally able to show the world that we are organized, that we do have a purpose and a goal – several goals – and have the talent and ability to call for the change we’re seeking. Yes, the movement has made other contributions and comments of similar quality and professionalism, but none have been so high profile. The reputation of the movement is critical to the sustainment of the movement, and this letter achieves that.

Part of the beauty of this movement is its free-spirited nature. It has drawn independent thinkers, people who are not afraid to be bold and outspoken about their views. Incisive minds like that of Alexis Goldstein and her collaborators to continue to contribute in such vital ways. It is important to demonstrate cohesiveness. We have shared goals. Our marches are not just pleasant Sunday afternoon strolls; the encampments are not mini-Woodstocks. We are not some parody of the Vietnam and Civil Rights protests of the 60′s. We are relevant and we are now developing the organization and cohesion needed to state our purposes and make demands.

Now is the time to rebuild our morale, restate our purposes, and show the world the power of the 99%.