Considering Gun Control #6: There was a recent article about a man who went undercover in a prison that had become privatized in Louisiana. It described the horrific mistreatment of the humans inside those walls and the self-regulating methods the prisoners and guards created to function—methods that would lead to more violence and corruption. It shows clearly why prisons should not be privatized.
These conditions are similar but worse than those experienced by Carl L. Harp in a Washington State a prison, forty years ago, for crimes he did not commit and where he died.
When people get out of these prisons they are more afraid of authority and feel they must have the means to protect themselves. Many feel desperate and believe they must have weapons. Many use drug and alcohol to self-medicate. They create a sub-culture that breeds more violence. Many become the homeless.
We are all humans, and if you don’t treat people like you would want to be treated then many of those abused will abuse others because it is what they expect and they live in fear—fear that is reasonable and justified.
All anger is based on fear.
Whistleblowers and protestors are being shoved into prisons like these. Someday it could be someone you love or even yourself if you speak up about an injustice.
The police and federal law enforcement were originally created in the late nineteenth century to take the place of the Pinkerton agency, a private agency designed for and paid by the banks and railroad owners to protect the banks money from those like the Outlaw Butch Cassidy. His family had lost most of their homestead to the wealthy in an unfair action and he was angry. Still, he never killed one person in his robberies of banks and railroads. He felt the wealthy exploited the working class and the poor and so was justified in robbing them. He often gave the money to the poor and working class ranchers who protected him.
Our current law enforcement’s philosophy is based on that of the Pinkertons. They employed brutal killers, like Tom Horn, who loved killing so much he was later executed for the death of a fourteen year old. There may be exceptions from time to time. Some of those in law enforcement do the right thing. But for the most part they are like the Pinkertons and these prisons are their domain.
On Facebook and Twitter people are outraged when they see an animal abused in captivity. Yet they turn a blind eye to the same treatment of their fellow humans. They close their ears to the evil. They convince themselves that the prisoner must deserve his punishment. But look again. Our laws are changing because Americans are witnessing crimes they don’t fully understand, like the incident in Orlando. They accept the painted version by the “artists” in corporate media, owned and controlled by the banks and the wealthy.
You are not protecting yourself or your loved ones by voting and supporting corporate prisons. And gun control will not stop the anger and the results of the anger that filter out onto the streets from the prisons or poverty. You reap what you sow.
Leave a Reply