"People of the prisoner class have really, really bought into the capitalist dream. But they were too unlucky, ill-educated, unfortunate, or born in the wrong p

"People of the prisoner class have really, really bought into the capitalist dream. But they were too unlucky, ill-educated, unfortunate, or born in the wrong place to have all the things that society has told them they should have. They were taught from a very early age: You can have it all, not just the wealth but the stuff. Trainers [sneakers] are a big deal, watches are a big deal, cars are a big deal." I'd say this is fraudulent writing but it would be stating the obvious since written by someone literally convicted of fraud. The "stuff" comes before wealth for most people in all systems but it is actually in socialist societies where personal wealth does not generally exist that the acquisition of basic consumer goods is given central significance, gifting them becomes an accepted and expected way to get people dispensing nominally free or fixed-cost social services to deliver first preferential and later merely adequate service.