Objectivity on the Judged

Erich Fromm discusses the idea of objectivity and being able to treat people as individuals and accept them for whom they are as a person, rather than who they are us. Fromm points out that we often become concerned with our self-interest even when attempting to relate to other people, in some way we manage to project our opinions onto those we do not really know. Writing about objectivity isn't easy because it can easily become complicated and lost in our subjective ideas, so naturally it is also difficult to practice objectivity because just as easily, we become subjective.


This semester my friend Alex told me about a program on campus called Project Rebound, it is a program that is directly involved with people who are coming right out the criminal justice system and helping them enroll to San Francisco State University. Also, the program acts a resource for students that have been accepted to SFSU through Project Rebound to find tutoring, counseling, support system  and basically any other help that they may need over the years. For myself, I thought it would be an interesting experience because I'm actually interested to someday work for the criminal justice system as a psychologist for inmates and thought that this would be an amazing opportunity to catch a glimpse into what kind of personalities I could potentially meet.

Clearly I was anxious about this program because I felt like it would be completely unpredictable as to how much work and time would be necessary to successfully help students who come from jail or prison. The one thing I told myself that I must do is be objective towards these individuals because they are here to make something out of themselves and the last thing they need is another person to judge them. A week after applying for the internship I was emailed two names and two numbers, students that I must contact and introduce myself to, reality hit and I paced back and forth about what I will say and what I will ask, surely the last thing I want to do is come off judgmental.

I contacted both, but one sort of blew me off and never replied to emails and phone calls after our initial conversation. I could only hope that he continued to work hard in school because he seemed like a pretty cool guy over the phone and I looked forward to working with him. As for the other student, Jason, I actually got to know and meet a few times. He was an older student, one who had recently served "quite some time" in prison from what I was told and that he definitely needed help with working a computer, specifically ilearn. I never made it a point to find out Jason's criminal past, at this point it wasn't part of why I was helping him or why he was there, so I never really found out why he spent time in prison. My goal was to be objective when I worked with Jason, I was there to serve his needs to become a successful college student rather than being known as an ex-con.

Unfortunately my last meeting with Jason was when I found out he would most likely not be a student at SFSU or be with Project Rebound. From what Jason told me, he had been set up for something he had not done. He had to meet with his parole office and possibly go before the court in order to not go back to prison. In most cases, I think people would not believe Jason, given his past, but I accepted what he told me and told him that I'm sorry for the situation he was in , along with telling him that what is most important is that he gets that taken care of.

Initially I was disappointed that I had managed to have both contacts drop out and potentially go back into the criminal justice system, but after a while I was okay with it. I was able to accept the fact that these were two students that took it upon themselves to take a second chance that many people would not have given a second thought to. I learned that even with people who have been found guilty, they too deserve to be treated objectively. If I was capable to be as objective with these two people, why can't I be objective with everyone else I encounter, I do not need to know a persons history in order to treat them with respect and dignity, I only have to know that they are people, like myself.

Respect and dignity are standards for love that seem pretty obvious, but my experience with Project Rebound so far has definitely solidified it even more so. I can only continue to apply these two standards to those who I consider close to me, but to those I interact with on a daily basis.

Not So Alone

 Lordy don't leave me
All by myself(x3)

Good time's the devil
I'm a force of heaven(x3)

Lordy don't leave me
All by myself(x3)

So many time's I'm down
Down down(x3)

With the ground

Lordy don't leave me
All by myself(x3)

Whoa, in this world(x3)

Lordy don't leave me
                All by myself                      

Alright, this is about the fourth time I restart this blog, but now I'm sure of what I want to write. I decided to write on Moby's "In This World" song because it represents a lot of myself and how I view certain aspects of my life. I like the idea of having a soundtrack to my life, rather than having a single song cover my entire life because that would be impossible to do. I have a rough idea of when I first listened to Moby's "Play" album, not recognizing or understanding the meaning of a majority of the songs, what drew me to it was the fact that my oldest brother liked it(someone who I idolized a lot at a young age) and the fact that it had a few songs I found extremely catchy(i.e. body rock.) It wasn't until I was in high school that this song became part of my music collection on my mix Cd's, obviously I went through a lot of emotional stress in high school with my anxiety issues, where I felt like I was on my own without a person there to help me. I don't feel I completely understand the meaning of the song in a literal or metaphorical sense, but I have certainly applied myself to the music and how I relate to it.

In a literal sense, the song is about having a high source, higher power, a "God" of some sort being with me whenever I am down, alone, unrecognized or non-existent to the world around me. From my earliest memories I know I was raised Catholic, but I was never a fan of Sunday Mass or church in general, this applies to other forms of Christianity because I've been to other churches and am still not interested. The one thing I did come away with was the belief that there is something bigger than me, bigger than all of us, a "God". Whenever I would be a low point in my life, I would come back to this song and think about the idea that there is something or someone out there with me, so I am not all by myself.

There are a lot of music videos out there, but I feel that Moby's "In This World" video is another aspect of this song that I can relate myself to in some ways. The has aliens that are trying to get recognized by people and make friends, but they are continuously ignored and unrecognized, that is until the end of the video when Moby waves to the little aliens. I particularly like this part because I think the aliens were given a glimpse of hope in their search which leads them to create a larger "Hello" sign. In my life, I have been continuously in the search for a purpose, answers, and definition, many of which have been failed attempts, but every now and then I find a glimpse of hope that has me going back for more, not giving up on myself and coming back more knowledgeable than the time before. This is a quality that I am stuck with, I always like to think that there is hope out there, even when I am down with the ground.

The video means a lot to this song and something that stands out to me is that the aliens stick together, like a structure of friends that stick together even when times suck. This is another aspect of the song and video that I enjoy, not just the idea that there is something out there that I am unaware of watching over me and making sure I'm not on my own, is the idea that I have a small amount of really amazing friends and family that are by my side even when shit hits the fan and there seems to be little hope left. This is what stands out to me the most, the fact that I am not by myself, even when I feel like I am.