Comments on: The cost of a nation of incarceration
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- It is interesting to note that the article calls out the massive increase in prison populations, even though "...the crime rate has actually dropped by more than 40 percent..." in the last 20 years. How about flipping those statistics? With many more criminals behind bars, the "...the crime rate has actually dropped by more than 40 percent..." in the last 20 years. It is only a correlation - but it deserves analysis.
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- MOst of the prisoners are illegals yet we feed and house them! Which is more than they would have living on their own? They should be put to work on the highways and cleaning up the cities. How about forced military service?Inmates should not be able to get free education they should pay for classes just like we have to!
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- Prisons are a politician's tool. Here's how it works. While running for office they tell you 3 things. 1. I have family values - 2. I will eliminate waste & fraud - 3. I am tough on crime. Notice how they never tell you how much that costs.
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- we need to feel sorry for all people who commit crimes, Somewhere in their life that missed the normal parents of love, peace etc.
I beg the American School system (school Boards) to implement:
1. more high school senior education on 'parents'.
2. more pre-school education on social skills, peace, calm.
Pretty sad case of the amount of people in prison.
IF ITS drug related, then also, legalize drugs to given out only by 'hospitals' medical clinics where people can be identified and counseled to get off drugs.
Billionaires, millionaires... HELP ! School Boards.. wake up.. graduate kids who can contribute to society, not be a burden.
And finally, more time and money to 'social' government agencies to HELP Kids early.. so they don't do bad and go to prison !
SHAME ON THE BIG OIL COMPANIES and their profits.. HELP FELLOW MAN... commit random acts of KINDNESS !
CHurches... help your communities MORE !
Teachers... teach kids to HELP ! - Reply to this comment
- Adaptive. Now that is a concept. In all realms of our modern life, we have seemed to fall into the trap of uniformity. It is SO easy, in fact shamefully easy to create "standards" for every complex problem we face. These standards instantly become a crutch for people who should have some responsibility to THINK. With those convenient standards, highly paid individuals can just shut off their brains and follow the "guidelines" allowed by the standards. TRASH. This shameful phenomenon occurs wherever modern America faces a complex issue. Human life is complex on a micro and macro level. Adaptive thinking is required. We must evolve our practices, include adaptive thinking, or continue to look like idiots with beautifully crafted guidelines.
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- Finally.
Through the cacophony of noise including people screaming about a health care bill in which 95% has not even gone into effect yet, gun rights supposedly going to be taken away someday, birth control and Brangelinas' engagement...... here is a subject that we as Americans have been to much of cowards to talk about in a national debate.
We simply are too lazy or uneducated, uncaring and unintelligent to even TRY to rehabilitate ANYONE in the prison system. We claim we are exceptional in the world at many things like raising our children, knowing right from wrong and having the worlds highest morals and values yet we imprisoned children as you as 13 to life in prison without the possibility of parole because we are just not smart enough to know how to rehabilitate someone.
Best health care in the world!!! they shout at the top of their lungs but we don't have a psychologist who can help the incarcerated 13 year old.
We wonder why prisoners re-offend when they get out, we wonder out loud "What were they thinking?", yet it is no mystery when they have no job training, people skills and are 20 years behind on how things work. I imagine being in incarcerated for 20 years and then come out, try to get a job and have someone tell you about these strange new thing in society like- a book about Face that everyone uses, Tunes that belong to only I yet everyone shares them daily, an expressive group of people called Emoticons, telling your automobile to speak the directions for you,etc.
Yes, we are the USA, Americans, who stopped caring about the those on the margins of society, don't talk to our neighbors, love a good war, are lazy and unwilling to solve problems when yelling and screaming makes us FEEL like we accomplished something without...you know.... that stuff called hard work or getting sweaty. Often say "What homeless people?". A people who cry for our freedoms religiously but cannot understand anyone else around the world wanting the same things like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, a fair and just judicial system and one man, one vote. And calling our troops "Our most precious resource" while sending our children thousands of miles away to die alongside a road in the desert so we at home can feel our families are "Safe".
It is well overdue, this discussion about our prison system. Something we need the courage to confront, discuss in a civilized manner and then take action.
Maybe then we could get on to discussing other important things like-
Millions of homeless (including veterans, our most precious resource), a million runaway teens on the streets, 50 % unemployment, the highest rate of alcoholism and suicide among Native Americans ( more than any other ethnic group), 40 year old nuclear plants on fault lines (like Japan), etc.
And oh yes... those thing called superfund sites that we don't know who is fixing them, where they are at and why we are so lazy we have not done anything about them. - Reply to this comment
- It's easy to fix.
1. Increase entitlements. Forcing people to work for a living only makes them angry. Besides that, they may not vote correctly if they are allowed to make their own living.
2. We must step up instilling in children that they are not responsible for any ills that may befall them. Someone else is. - Reply to this comment
- Important piece.
I must say I would appriciate a little more vetting of statistics. Although everyone knows minoriities have higher rates of incarceration, I am sure that if one controls for socioeconomic status and unemployment these statistics look much diferent and would be far more meaningful.
Also interesting that the "cover picture" of inmates in bunkbeds in a gymnasium like space looks like many pictures that I have seen of army recruits in WW11 (cruel and unusual, I guess not so unusual) - Reply to this comment
- I am so glad to FINALLY see someone talk about the absurdity of Ronald Reagan's Mandatory Drug Sentencing (MDS). America needs to get real about its people's inability to self discipline and self control regarding drug use. When our schools teach us to sit down, shut up and obey here in the land of freedom and liberty, we will not raise people with self directive abilities. We never teach people how to direct that pursuit of happiness in healthy ways. Judges were leaving the bench years ago in protest of the insanity of MDS. We are paying for the war on our own people. Rich drug users go to rehab, poor to prison and we are paying a HUGE price for our hypocrisy regarding drug use. The American Medical Association and big pharma are the biggest drug pusher out there. Our policies are draconian and encourage a mentality that a drug can help emotionally and physically instead of teaching people other methods of wellness, yet AMA and big pharma are never questioned. We are such liars and money grubbers in this country that getting this problem straight will require years of reconciliation hearings.
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- $60k is a teacher's salary?!
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_K-12_Teachers/Salary
In which city, New York City?
http://www.good.is/post/american-teachers-do-more-work-for-less-pay-than-their-international-peers/ - Reply to this comment
