I'm Just Saying...

I know that its been a while since my last post, and the delay isn't due to my hectic life. Then again, I suppose that prison life can indeed be hectic. Sadly, this is not the case. Prisons come in two flavors: hellholes and voids. A hellhole prison is one where stabbings, staff assaults, and other unsavory activities are a daily occurrence. These prisons do exist in the United States, but mostly are located in third world countries. The other type of prison, the void, is where the Division of Correction exerts such control over every aspect of day to day life that anything that could be dangerous is removed. By dangerous, that means anything that could cause spontaneous smiling or laughter has been removed from recreation, education, and the food. Guess what kind of prison I exist in?

I don’t like to complain about prison life for a variety of reasons. The first is the most obvious reason: If you don’t like how they run their prisons don’t be a criminal. I’m stupefied when I hear murderers, robbers, and other assorted tough guys whine about the quality and quantity of food, or not being allowed to watch “R” rated movies on the in-house CCTV. My personal belief is that the loss of freedom, something so important that it was mentioned second in the Declaration of Independence, is punishment enough. If I’ve harmed another human being so grievously that I must by segregated from others then how does the infliction of harm on me serve society’s goals?

Punishment is an anachronistic, foolish, and self-defeating policy that only appeals to society’s lowest common denominators. It’s hard to explain to people why dehumanizing prisoners is counter- productive (not to mention grossly hypocritical) to the goals of reformation. On the one hand as a Native American I do understand the inner drive to watch this world burn and to engage in the extinction of the white race. That’s a wee bit extreme but from time to time I get those urges. This desire to get even, for revenge not mere retribution, is human. I get it. I also understand that ultimately this is completely wasteful, a denial of everything this world could be.

I swing wildly between the two viewpoints: hugs and kisses for all or lay waste to all I see. I don’t know where the pendulum will come to rest, but if history is any guide then at some point in the future I’ll be free. What type of man do you want to look in the eyes when the bars are no longer between us and no one is there – the man filled with compassion an empathy for others whose first impulse is to laugh and smile or one that is filled with rage and resentment, devoid of self esteem, and with nothing to care about, or cared by, has nothing to lose?

I have no easy answers. Prison is hard and it should be. Prison should not make people worse and it does. It needs to evolve on a thousand levels from how its run to how it responds to the needs of the inmates, the community, and the needs of society. Bigger minds than mine are needed. Punishment is an anachronism. Reformation is a concept we all mouth toothlessly, unable to marshal the sophistication needed to be better human beings. I know I’ve misspent my meager reserves of potential but I still have a desire to not only be a better human being but to live in a better world.