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Why I Support The Occupy Wall Street Movement

For me, it has to do with the social contract. The actual social contract theory refers to mutual agreement between a people and its government but I feel the sentiment applies to an agreement amongst citizens as well. Nation-states can only exist upon the mutual agreement of its citizens to cooperate at some level. Some of us, namely the wealthiest Americans, are abusing this collective agreement.

First, to be taken seriously, I feel I should address some common complaints about the OWSers.

One, that many of the protesters seem inarticulate. Agreed. But this is true for almost any protest, anywhere, including the Tea Party protesters back in the day. Any news organization can cherry pick the dumb-looking protesters out of a crowd to show on TV. Some go a step further and call the protesters “lazy hippies” or some such thing. Personal attacks on the protesters are nothing but a diversionary tactic made by those who can’t or don’t want to respond to the protesters’ legitimate concerns. This is true of both sides of the political aisle.

On that note, two, the protesters demands are not clear and specific. While I think this is less true in recent days, I will still admit that the movement has not been defined by a clear set of demands. Having said this, I believe that the general purpose of demonstrating the collective discontent with corporate corruption and economic inequality is purpose enough. Again, I think that those who dwell on this “problem” are merely diverting attention from an issue that is notoriously complex and unpleasant to deal with.

Now, why I support them.

Few people will deny that there is a problem in the U.S. with corporate corruption and economic inequality. Until now, even fewer have taken any meaningful action to resolve those problems. Most of the U.S. population, including myself, implicitly supports the status quo of corruption and inequality – by shopping at Walmart, by driving fossil-fuel powered vehicles, by craving the latest fashions, by eating at McDonalds, and by not speaking up about the problems that exist.

Corporations and people who have the skills to become rich deserve to do so. That is the essence of the American Dream and it is a beautiful thing. The problem arises when people become too concerned with profits and when money becomes too involved in politics. Jobs get sent overseas, wages decrease, products become more expensive and so on. There is ample evidence that profits among the top 1% have steadily increased for decades while the remaining 99% continue to work for the same amount of money they did in the 50s. Americans continue to put the same amount of effort into their country but receive less and less in return. This is not the mutual agreement that Americans deserve. Corporations and the ultra-wealthy are taking advantage of a social contract in which all Americans have part, whether they know it or not.

People see these problems but rarely do anything but complain from their armchairs. I fall into the armchair category. Even though I am blogging about the issue, I have done little to change it. That is why I support the Occupy Wall Street movement, because they are willing to speak up.

Marketers Don’t Think We’re Very Smart

I don’t know if it’s just because my psychology training is more salient these days but I’ve been getting bugged by some of the lame marketing ploys I’ve seen lately. Specifically, the new Samsung Galaxy S2 commercial really rubs me the wrong way.

The ad uses classical conditioning to make its product appear more attractive. This isn’t a new technique, everyone uses it. You pair an attractive woman with a soft drink and you’ll sell more soft drinks, that kind of thing. What bugs me about the Samsung commercial is the pairings it chooses to make. It uses images of Martin Luther King, Jr., Bethany Hamilton (the one-armed surfer) and from the film Rocky to suggest that by using this new Samsung phone you somehow fall into the same category as these heroes.

I hope I’m not the only one who is slightly offended at the blatant appropriation of these heroic icons to sell a phone. I like to think that I and the people I know are smart enough to see through this kind of marketing but I’m also smart enough to realize that they use this kind of marketing because it works with a lot of people. I also know that the effects of this kind of conditioning often happen outside of our awareness. So, in addition to complaining about Samsung’s disingenuousness, I also implore my readers not to be taken in by this ridiculous form of persuasion. That is all.

Just For Fun – My Job History

It has been brought to my attention that I’m not posting enough. True enough.

The topic of this post is my job history. Maren has commented several times that I have had some very random jobs in my life and I agree. This little personal history snippet will be fun for me to recall and hopefully fun for you to read. It includes both paid and volunteer work. I may have missed some.

Beginning with the earliest job:

• Budget Foods, Clinton, B.C. – Shelf-stocker, sweeper/mopper (duration: 1 year)
• Ultrasave Gas (I think that’s what it was called), Clinton, B.C. – cashier (several months)
• Precision Cartridge, Magrath, AB – Data entry (a month or two)
• Morton Ranch, Del Bonita, AB – Ranch helper (I didn’t do much, but I got paid when I did)
• Pretzelmaker/Little Monk Pretzels, Burnaby, B.C. – Pretzel maker (about a year and a half)
• ASC Automotive Styling Center, Burnaby, B.C. – driver (a few months)
• Landscaping for Mr. Fred George, Chilliwack, B.C. (a month)
• Turkey barn cleaning, Chilliwack, B.C. (1 week)
• Litescape Landscape Lighting, Chilliwack, B.C. – Cold calling (a couple months)
• Union Station Foundation, Pasadena, CA – volunteer with homeless (6 months)
• Window Gang, Houston, TX – window cleaner (9 months)
• Formidable Foundations, Edmonton, AB – cribbing (4 months)
• Canwest Properties, Edmonton, AB – maintenance helper (2 months)
• BJM Painting, Edmonton, AB – Residential painter (2 months)
• Edmonton Distress Line, Edmonton, AB – volunteer (9 months)
• Catholic Social Services, Edmonton, AB – volunteer (1 year)
• Liberty Security, Edmonton, AB – door to door salesman (2 months)
• Rescom Landscaping, Edmonton, AB (2 months)
• Barnes & Noble, San Diego, CA (4 months)
• New Alternatives Inc, San Diego, CA – residential foster care (2 years)
• Sharp Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital, San Diego, CA – volunteer (6 months)
• No Child Left Behind, San Diego, CA – In-home Tutor (4 months)
• UCSD OCD Research Clinic, San Diego, CA – Research Assistant (4 months)
• National Children’s Study, San Diego, CA – household interviewer (9 months)
• University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ – Teaching Assistant (current)