Incarceration Nation

[senorsalvia]

Was thumbing through the latest issue of Mother Jones (good mag imho)  yesterday...  There was an article detailing how the U.S. has become the country with the fastest rise in numbers of people jailed etc etc..  Now, I'm sure most are aware of all the prison overcrowding/expense/recidivism etc...  What made this article really stand out was the documentation that tells that AmeriKKKa now holds one out of every four people locked down within the entire planet!!!  That's truly mind boggling in its freedom and economic implications....  Good read if anyone is interested....

[Stonehenge]

It shows we are doing something wrong.

[senorsalvia]

Something horribly wrong to my way of thinking....  I think that this is a true example of just how sorrowful and how much a reactionary nation the US has become....  I mean really now, when a nation such as ours can sit on such a supposed high horse, be judgemental concerning other nations, shooting off at the mouth about "freedom"  about "equality", and then put into captivity 1 outta every 4 people that are denied their freedom...!!!!  To me, it truly appears as if we have lost touch with a fundamental concept of reality....  I mean, I could get into a big tirade about how we throw our military might around/wate money/destroy the planet/and on and on....  It goes back to the old cliche   "Why do ther countries hate us"?   Believe me folks, it aint 'a cuz of our "freedom"..........   Jeez, sometimes I get so disgusted at this stuff that I feel like finding a flag to piss on! :cry: !!  Or, better yet, any number of elected officials.........

[Syd]

Sure we are doing something wrong, show me someone who isn't.

[senorsalvia]

Sure, we are not the only country that does wrongs, but I think that you miss the point...  The bottom line is that the U.S. has been speeding headlong down a quite destructive path for the last couple of decades...  On one hand we hear the leaders crowing about how we are the greatest/most free country on earth/yadda yadda,  and then  on the other hand we see our incarceration rate is astronomical. our leaders commit crimes with impunity...  We are most definitely not the most free country around....  What about Canada???  They don't run roughshod over thier people like the US rulers do....  Yeah, sure, we are still hanging onto our claim of economic superiority (by the barest of threads);  but that too, is falling apart.....  I can not see how anyone with a normal amount of intelligence and truthfullness would attempt to claim that good 'ole AmeriKKKa is the be all, end all bastion of freedom/democracy/social engineering,etc....  Nope....  The "American Ideal"  The American Dream" is gone, repeat GONE!!!!!!!!!!!

[Syd]

You sow a beautiful garden but there is no rain in sight.

[Stonehenge]

I think the main reason for so many in prison is the stupid drug laws. Canada has some stupid laws, all countries do. Ours are getting worse and worse.

[senorsalvia]

From my readings on the issue, it is a direct reult of the W.O.D. that  has caused us to be the 'incarceration nation' that we are...  The get tough policies that resulted in 100 to 1 ratio sentencing in regards to cocaine versus crack has been cited repeatedly as the primary cause of overcrowding the prisons and bankrupting the states budgets...  Notice that an ever increasing number of folks are calling for a parity in sentences, irregardless of whether the drug is coke or crack...  More and more folks from all strata of society are deciding that the overall cost, both societal and ecoonomic, are making the WOD unsustainable.  It makes me shake my head in amazement and disgust as I notice that we may well be seeing the beginnings of the demise of the WOD;  not for enlightened societal consciousness reasons, but just because it is becoming more and more impossible to sustain such an onslaught on so many folks due to simple economics....  Guess we should all pause and take a toke, whilst giving thanks to OPEC, Osama, and Enron, for bringing on the economy that will lead to significant changes in the WOD :roll:

[JRL]

Economics always speaks the loudest here in our formerly great nation.
Around here the cops got way to much real crime to spend much time on us potheads. We have a real problem here with police staffing, there is just not enough money to create a police state.

[senorsalvia]

Ha,,,,  Well, there you have it...  If there's not enough money to form and mantain a good 'ole fashioned Police State, then we really have fallen down the economic tubes eh???........Karl Marx must be turning over in his grave.........