Captain's Log 01/22/09: Blindness Bay

I really enjoyed Butler's piece because she encapsulated many of my own ideas regarding US foreign policy and the war (and it's always nice to share opinions with someone who is eloquent enough for the both of you).

Sadly enough, the "us vs. them" dichotomy in society is not only prevalent, but encouraged. The media helps propagate the blindness of the average US citizen by reporting stories that portray America in a positive light, even going so far as to distort truths of mass violence into tales of heroic counterattacks.



The blindness to our own actions and (even more so) the resulting consequences, must be stopped.This dichotomy has gotten out of hand, to the point where people are willing (and some even eager) to kill innocents. Why? Mainly because they're not like us. They don't uphold the same institutions nor do they honor the same ideologies.





And obviously, this is just unacceptable.We need to spread democracy in the great name of the United States of America. We need to make everyone just like us because, well obviously we're just as good as it gets.
Really, it's just a case of an over-inflated ego. America is a bit of a drama queen. And she thinks everything's all about her all the time, so when trauma occurs, she just uses that to exacerbate her inflated sense of self worth. And then she takes all that attention and manipulates it to her advantage by pointing blame at adversaries.

How is this acceptable? I know it's not excusable. The murdering of thousands in the name of democracy does not absolve the killer. Differences do not make reasons for war. We are all people and that should be our basic criteria for judgment, not race or age or sex.

(May all of humanity awaken to love and compassion)

Captain's Log 01/20/09: Sleeping on the Seas

Trauma is only traumatic when one realizes it. Or when one "wakes up" to that realization. The immediacy of the event prevents any comprehension, any grasping or understanding by the consciousness.




At the moment of trauma, a breach occurs in the shell of the consciousness, impacting itself deep within the mind. This trauma isn't accessible until a later time, when the memory of it is triggered by an outside stimulus. And it is at this exact moment that the trauma really occurs.




The consciousness is finally awakened at this jarring moment. And from that point on, it begins to consume the victim of the trauma. Repetitive, repetitive recalls of the experience dominate the consciousness with no regard for the host. What was previously blackened out has been brought to light, for the mind to attempt comprehension. Many times, this is to no avail for trauma and such a crack in the shell defy rationale.



This leaves the victim confused. How to move on? Therapy comes in different forms: discussion, art, narrative. Do any provide true relief or help?



If this sense of loss (of identity, life, etc) is so devastating, why does the consciousness awaken to it? Isn't it better to stay asleep?

Isn't it?

Captain's Log 01/15/09: Survival Skills in the Seas

Song o' the Post: "I Will Survive" Aretha Franklin


A recurring theme in our texts and class discussions has been the idea of memorials and all they stand for. But my interest is not so much in public memorials as the personal memorials we keep of lost ones. Through these memorials, people keep alive the memory and spirit of those they can't let go.





After a traumatic event many people experience a crisis of survival, where they suffer from guilt for living through an event where others perished. Many people also feel a sense of being left behind by the person they love, creating a mixture of difficult emotions to cope with.



This leads to questions concerning whether these memorials are a help or a hindrance. Which, in turn leads to issues of dissolving these memorials--both personal and public. Is there an acceptable time for grieving? After a certain point, should these memorials be dismantled? Or should we all have to reckon with the travesties of a century gone wrong every day?

Captain's Log 01/13/09: Isolation Island

Song o' the Post: "Sheep" by Pink Floyd
"...meek and obedient you follow the leader..."


Our look at Lessing's work has triggered my interest in group dynamics and group functions. In particular, I found our class discussion concerning the fact that people who leave a group are hated more than people who oppose the group. As a religious studies major, my first real religion class was all about the study of "new emergent religious movements" or, more commonly called, cults. And this fact was a prominent point of discussion for the class.


Because people fear the ostracism they would inevitably face for dissenting from the group, many people succumb to the pressure and don't voice their opinions. This gives the leader total power and a willing, obedient group. And from this arises mob mentality. People just more or less "go with the flow" of the group.

A lack of dissension creates a powerful group; a group that can do whatever it wants. And this is how mass trauma occurs. This is why one group will war against another. This is how one group can eliminate an entire race.


People like to imagine they would stay true to themselves and their ideals, no matter what. Despite the intimidation, the pressure, the group's opposing views. But if placed in such a situation, would you really be the lone voice of dissent?

Captain's Log 01/09/09: Navigating the Treacherous Waters of the Sea of Cultural Response

An important, recurring topic in class discussions refers to perspective. Our individual perspectives alter the way we receive the information in our texts and the author's own viewpoint is inherently presented in their work. An author's work is a product of their history, as exemplified by Freud's claims in Moses and Monotheism.





As Craig and Egan noted, a writer is a shaped by their time and place in history. And the early 20th century was a time full of world wars, genocide, and atomic bombings.




This all led to society's need to question the events occurring worldwide. Was this inhumane treatment on a global scale acceptable? Could people ignore the torture of others any longer? Ultimately, America decided to "hasten the end of the war" via widespread bombing of Germany and Japan. However, questions have been raised whether these actions were the best course of action. Depending on the source, the bombings were the key end note of the war, securing America's supreme power holder in world. Yet there are also those who rally against this Big Man and claim the US is guilty of genocide for their bombings of Europe and Asia, namely Vietnam.

Captain's Log 01/06/08: Landing on Decision Dock

Song o' the Post: "Time Marches On"


I feel like this song rather appropriately relates to Caruth's ideas about latency. Even though a traumatic event can't be fully understood immediately after it happens, time will not stop to allow one to process the event and its repercussions. So unfortunately, that event is repressed until a later time when it is brought to the surface in a typically scarring way, such as a hallucination or nightmare.








And when these "gaps in the mind" are discovered, we are faced with the choice to deal with that trauma or continue on with our lives (the "never forget" vs. "never look back" groups). This can be difficult, as noted by Harries who sets out to determine if the spectatorship of trauma can actually destroy a person.
And if the decision is made to relive these traumatic experiences, the matter at hand becomes one of self-inflicted pain and masochism.




This, of course leads to the question of which is more healthy: to remember or forget?