The Positivity Addict: Student Maturity Rising.

I chatted to Momsie Guru. (See earlier posts for more on who she is).

She said : "The most vulnerable students are the ones oppressing others and holding the whole of South Africa hostage".

"How can those who assault others, and threaten assault, be vulnerable?" Asked Mr Drollrimple - our local do-gooder who had popped in for a cuppa. He of course did not hear what Momsie Guru - the feline advanced being who resides with me, said. I pretend that I come up with these things, but it is really not me. Momsie assures me it is not plagiarism or intellectual property theft, because she is quite happy to provide these nuggets for free. Well, at least in exchange for meals, board and lodging which is provided uncomplainingly by myself.

"Well, Mo..uh" I so nearly revealed the secret, so lulled into serenity I was with Mr Drollrimple. He was a placator of great prowess so no-one has ever felt threatened by him.  "Oh, sorry, I was distracted." I said as I struggled to remember Momsie's exact words.  I had to make do with this:  "Those with a high desire for idealised, over-glamourised heroism think that rigid adherence to obstructionist and reactionary behaviours shows bravery, dedication, and selflessness. By using force and threats they become the oppressors. They lose their ability to be rational because they become addicted to the adrenalin and attention they get from their increasing extremism. Their whole identity is wrapped up in struggle politics so they feel they would lose face if they did anything less extreme. They are therefore vulnerable. Their whole identity gets trapped in a cycle of extremism."

"Ok, I get that". Mr Drollrimple nodded, disarming me from preparing what I thought was quite a formidable defense. He added more firmly "Are we not just saying that the shadow side of the masculine is perpetrator-hood, domination, oppression? That the 'light 'masculine is active -the explorer, venturing into unknown territory. To do that the light masculine needs to be firm, decisive, assertive etc. When it becomes distorted, those qualities become distorted in actions. No longer just decisive, but dominating and oppressive, no longer assertive but impulsive and aggressive and no longer firm but rigid and intractable,  to the extent of obliterating others?" He ended more with a statement than a question.

 I had to concede that his archetypal version seemed relevant when applied to the current waves of violence and intimidation across our land.

A bit strongly put, but I could accede to the overall notion. I often get a bit uncomfortable with the shadow and light aspects of masculinity and femininity because it seems reductionistic. How much it helps toward solution building was my concern. I also wondered what he thought about those who are forcing others to bend to their will by closing the Universities and forcibly pulling people out of lecture halls. Do they not realize the extent of the damage they are causing, or they do realize it but believe their needs to be more important than the rest of society? I know that 96  4th yr NMMU social work students spend 4 days a week working full day at various organizations, hospitals and schools in Port Elizabeth.

These vulnerable patients and clients that fourth year social work students have been attending to include children and adults who have been raped, people who are victims of crime, illness and injury, people  - including fellow students, who are in huge life crises and might be suicidal, to name just some of the issues that student social workers help with.

These organizations rely on students doing their practical placements and internships to provide a regular service to health, welfare and education organizations of South Africa.

My estimate is that in the three weeks of disruption and closure, at a minimum, 20,880 people connected with the work of our 4th year students have either directly suffered, or been seriously inconvenienced, as a consequence of the actions of the Fees Must Fall Campaigners.

This estimate looks at the number of clients or hospital patients that the students see per week, the family members and work colleagues of those clients and patients, and the staff of their practicum organizations - the hospitals, schools and NGO's who have been inconvenienced and disrupted by the disallowing of the social work students to attend to their duties.

This figure does not include the family members of the students who are seriously affected financially, emotionally and practically by the closure, the intimidation, violence and bullying.

It also does not include nursing, psychology or third year social work students in practical service who are also serving vulnerable, sick and dying people.

For arguments sake, let us use the same basic figure and add that as the estimate for 3 other universities with practical placements for 4th years social work students who have closed for the  3 weeks to date of intimidation and closure. That would mean that the Fees Must Fall campaign has at the least, for work connected with social work students only, affected 83 520 vulnerable people and organizations. This is not estimating the long term effects on the students, the organizations, the clients and patients who have been affected. This estimate  just looks at the disruption and suffering caused by 3 weeks of absence of services. The long term consequences are serious and in some cases, dire.

Analysing the problem has minimal value without looking at the solution.  I gathered my thoughts and said to Mr Drollrimple who was waiting patiently for my response; "You seem to be only blaming the victims here - the students who are protesting who perceive themselves as victims. Ok, some of the victims who are perpetrating against others because we cannot lump all protesters as doing harm. But what about the actions of the authorities?" I asked, my defensiveness now rearing it' s ugly little head.

" You are right in that analysing the transactions between the opposing parties is important".  Mr Drollrimple, ever respectful and caring in his responses, smiled encouragingly. "In this case, meeting a shadow masculine with shadow masculine does not work. Rigidity and might clashes against opposing rigidity and might. Never the twain shall have a spare moment to think rationally while they are all throwing stones or shooting rubber bullets. Extremism creates wars. The shadow masculine hates to lose face because then they must lose their identity as you said earlier; the 'hero'  version of self would say something like 'I am a rigid, bold, brave hero -sacrificing and not only standing up for my rights but yours too" This martyr eventually becomes the tyrant. Anyone not supporting the shadow masculine 'martyr hero' , is automatically seen as the enemy". He looked expectantly at me, as if I would agree entirely with him.

I might have done so, but his words sounded fatalistic. "Are you saying then, that these unconscious psychological forces and social roles leave everyone with little choice?".

"No". He replied firmly. " I am just pointing out that when people choose extremism for whatever conscious or unconscious benefit they feel it has for them, it has a natural tendency toward more extremes. It divides, polarizes and destroys".

Tiring of the misery of being dragged into extremism talk, I shot back immediately; "Well, knowing you, I am aware that you are far more conciliatory  and creative than that and you would have solutions to all problems".

"Aha. I have a few".  He affirmed. "You will have to pay me though. It took me 7 years of study that cost me a lot of money to get to these ideas and I am not giving it away for free! Otherwise, how do I ever pay off my student loans?"  He winked. I know that he meant that he needed more tea and biscuits.

Once tea was carefully brewed and some of it settled in his stomach, he began.  He said he was not interested at this point at looking how to create a way forward with the protesters, but rather, how to institute into the fabric of the University, a way to tap the talents of all students. I have written them here for your edification.

Tertiary Education Level.

• All students study free education models. Enlist every university department and field of study to ensure that there will be at least one week of teaching around free tertiary education for each year of study. One assignment will be required per student per year aimed specifically at examining local and global best models of this and creating a model for South Africa. This will ensure that every student participates in crafting a free education system, building knowledge and skill for the universities and creating graduates whose knowledge and skill can be further harnessed in the work place.
• Publication. The top 3 assignments from each department for each year can be published on the University websites to show transparency, promote student endeavor and share inspiring ideas.
• Graduate students do research on free education models. These students can be encouraged to do their masters and doctoral research on this topic.
• Departmental action groups. Every department and field of study commits to a quarterly meeting with staff and student representatives to collate knowledge and ideas from the student work. They refine these, and add to them to provide guidelines, models and recommendations for their department to take to a national meeting.
• Once yearly tertiary free education meeting. The national meeting will have student and staff representatives from each university with the best proposals from each department. It can take place via skype for those who do not have the funds to support travel, accommodation and venue costs.
• Best ideas Affirmed.The meeting will archive all ideas and decide on the best ideas to publish and take forward for the next year.
• National meeting minutes to be published on their websites. These developments will be taken into consideration each year to restructure assignments so students continually participate in the continual crafting of free education from the perspective of their field of endeavor.

Political, business and civil society involvement. Local politicians and businesses will be invited to lectures and the departmental level of engagement to share their knowledge and expertise together. They may then participate in the national meeting and mobilize resources and actions based on the recommendations.

"Wow",  was the most intelligent offering I could make after a long pause while I tried to digest what he was saying. Momsie had lost interest, diverted as she was by the neighborhood marauder cat sitting nonchalantly partially hidden by the tree branches on our garden wall. I was annoyed that she had removed her attention as I needed her help.

Valiantly, I marched into my own tangled jungle without her support.

"That certainly is a huge dedication of time, will, intelligence, and money to support the cause. I like it. I really like it." I blustered with a sudden rush of excitement to my head. Now I was really energized. " Oooh, I would love to design some assignments for this". I continued. " A simple traditional one would be, mmm let us see: 'choose two countries with effective models of free education in practice. Compare their political, economic, health and welfare performance to those in South Africa. Take care to compare the employment levels, tax structures and average household incomes. Conclude with recommendations for how SA may learn from these examples and begin implementing some of these practices to create free tertiary education here."

Momsie suddenly did a jig of delight to show she had heard and then apologetically slunk off to defend her turf against the marauder.

"I think I am a positivity addict", I said to Mr Drollrimple. "I think I will blame you for it".

He laughed and mumbled " More next week. We can discuss how these suggestions might be just doubling up existing structures, how it might help the young people who are losing control of themselves and how to help everyone get out of the drama addiction trap.  I now have a sugar rush and have to go and lie down. Byede bye" He waved drowsily as he exited, leaving me overflowing with curiosity and Momsie defending her territory by giving the marauder her 'death becomes you' glare.