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> If the prisons were focused on fixing the root problem in the criminals, as if they were some sort of refuge for edification, conditioning and correction then
by irahul 13y ago
> If the prisons were focused on fixing the root problem in the criminals, as if they were some sort of refuge for edification, conditioning and correction then a large body of the homeless would commit a strategic crime in order to get there so they can at least get three meals and an opportunity to move up in the world from rock-bottom.
1. Prisons as correctional center far outweighs some homeless guy pick-pocketing so that he doesn't have to die tired, hungry, cold, alone on pavement.
2. A homeless guy not dying on the pavement is a benefit in itself.
> prisons are a necessary evil to punish people who do not deserve rehabilitation, correction or edification.
People go to prison for a variety of reasons. Not paying your parking ticket or possessing 5gm of Marijuana do not qualify as "do not deserve rehabilitation".
> Like slavery in the 18th century, prisons are a necessary evil
Slavery was a necessary evil?
> It's my belief that jails are full of criminals because we don't understand the mental illnesses that brought them there.
1. You can believe whatever you want.
2. Stretch the definition of law and everybody is a criminal.
3. The spectrum of things you can go to jail for is so wide the belief that all criminal brains are wired the same way has a low probability.
4. The belief that "criminals" deserve what they get is how all sorts of draconian laws come into being. When the govt. says it tortured a few alleged terrorists, and you stand on the sidelines and cheer, you don't realize you are being instrumental in your own destruction. Tomorrow it can be you getting water-boarded, and the rest of us "good citizens" will stand on the sidelines and cheer.
- ceautery 13y ago>fixing the root problem in the criminals The root problem is the xenophobia of old white men. http://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/raceinc.html http://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/raceinc.html
- AnthonyMouse 13y agoHere's the problem with your conclusion. 2010 median income: White: $54,620 Hispanic: $37,759 Black: $32,068 http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104552.html http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104552.html You have to account for poverty before you jump to racism.
- eropple 13y agoWhat about when the socioeconomic game is rigged against you and has been for most of the last 400 years of American history? I mean, yeah, poverty is without question a factor--but stopping there feels disingenuous to me. Why are they poor? is then a relevant question, and I think that "because of the racism of old white men" is not the worst explanation I've heard.
- AnthonyMouse 13y agoOK, but then that's a different issue. It isn't racism in the criminal justice system, and it isn't the criminal justice system's failure. It's the failure of the rest of society. And even if it is racism originally, it's plausible that it's "because of the racism of dead white men." Two centuries ago they kidnapped millions of Africans and brought them here as slaves. Then they were freed without anyone offering to return them to their original communities in Africa or providing them any resources here to raise successful children. The legacy of that is not going away any time soon even if racism today were totally eradicated, because even in a society with greater upward mobility than we have now, poor parents will always be more likely to have poor children than rich parents.
- ceautery 13y agoRacism of old white men isn't my conclusion. It's been well studied, e.g.: http://www.naacpldf.org/files/case_issue/Duane%20Buck-FINAL%20Signed%20Paternoster%20Report%20%2800032221%29.PDF http://www.naacpldf.org/files/case_issue/Duane%20Buck-FINAL%... http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/arwhite/files/fallernathanwhite_voteridexp_may2013.pdf http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/arwhite/files/fallernathanw... http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1800840 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1800840 Also, your example of median incomes by race is a grand example of exactly what I'm talking about; thanks for that.
- melindajb 13y agoyour reply gives me faith in humanity.
- mercurial 13y ago> The belief that "criminals" deserve what they get is how all sorts of draconian laws come into being. When the govt. says it tortured a few alleged terrorists, and you stand on the sidelines and cheer, you don't realize you are being instrumental in your own destruction. Tomorrow it can be you getting water-boarded, and the rest of us "good citizens" will stand on the sidelines and cheer. First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the socialists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me. Martin Niemöller