Incarceration, Fear, the Future

Lately I have been dreaming of living in a more equal world. There was something about the New Orleans reality that spoke to me, because I firmly believe that when one person is imprisoned, we all are. And in New Orleans, the dire affects of such an unequal and racist capitalist society are incredibly obvious. I know it seems trite. i know that i could sit here and say people choose their actions. and yes. that is true. But also, we don't. When you are told you are worthless, or won't amount to much, when you are incarcerated, or not taught in schools, or caught in the pipeline from schools to prison. What do you think is going to happen?  Racism and Sexism explain these things. I wanted to live somewhere where it couldn't be ignored. That it is very real and very unsustainable for ourselves, no matter how much we may benefit from our race and class privilege. In the end, none of us benefit because we live in fear and lose our loved ones. All of us.

Is it like this because we had to balance out slavery with another form of slavery? There are more black men in prison than were enslaved in 1850. We have to learn from history because we are doomed to repeat it.

But, I don't want to debate that. I want to point out that it isn't like this in other countries. I live in the state in the country that has the highest incarceration rate in the world. I have seen how it tears apart communities and lives. How it destroys any sort of reprieve from violence in our lives and our hearts. How it is tearing me apart.

In relation to the world we are above, Rwanda, Cuba, and Russia. Talk about freedom, huh!

"According to the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College London, the U.S. currently has the largest documented prison population in the world, both in absolute and proportional terms. We've got roughly 2.03 million people behind bars, or 701 per 100,000 population. China has the second-largest number of prisoners (1.51 million, for a rate of 117 per 100,000), and Russia has the second-highest rate (606 per 100,000, for a total of 865,000). Russia had the highest rate for years, but has released hundreds of thousands of prisoners since 1998; meanwhile the U.S. prison population has grown by even more. Rounding out the top ten, with rates from 554 to 437, are Belarus, Bermuda (UK), Kazakhstan, the Virgin Islands (U.S.), the Cayman Islands (UK), Turkmenistan, Belize, and Suriname, which you'll have to agree puts America in interesting company. South Africa, a longtime star performer on the list, has dropped to 15th place (402) since the dismantling of apartheid.  - http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2494/does-the-united-states-lead-the-world-in-prison-population"

I'm also going to post a link to the Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate . So you can look at the statistics yourself.

The point is, while the world changed in the 80s and 90s. Downfall of apartheid and communism, and more importantly Dictatorships, but we went the other way. While America's politicians talked about freedom, we waged war on ourselves. And people stood by and watched it happen. Our parents sold us out to china. To prison. To a future that lacks not only economic security, environmental security, but even autonomy and freedom.

This is something I've been trying to find in myself. What the fall is that we are experiencing. For the sake of security, out parents took more than was their share. We don't have it anymore. Now what do i do?

I think i might move to Maine. I'd like to move to Denmark.

Rank	Jurisdiction	Prisoners per 100,000 population
-	United States	504
1	Louisiana	853
2	Mississippi	735
3	Oklahoma	661
4	Texas	639
5	Alabama	634
6	Arizona	567
7	Florida	557
8	Georgia	540
9	South Carolina	519
10	Arkansas	511
11	Missouri	509
12	Kentucky	492
13	Virginia	489
14	Michigan	488
15	Nevada	486
16	Idaho	474
17	California	467
18	Colorado	467
19	Delaware	463
20	Ohio	449
21	Indiana	442
22	Tennessee	436
23	Alaska	430
24	South Dakota	412
25	Connecticut	407
26	Maryland	403
27	Pennsylvania	393
28	Wyoming	387
29	Wisconsin	374
30	Oregon	371
31	Montana	368
32	North Carolina	368
33	Illinois	351
34	Hawaii	332
35	West Virginia	331
36	New Mexico	316
37	New York	307
38	Kansas	303
39	New Jersey	298
40	Iowa	291
41	Washington	272
42	Vermont	260
43	Nebraska	247
44	Rhode Island	240
45	Utah	232
46	North Dakota	225
47	New Hampshire	220
48	Massachusetts	218
49	Minnesota	179
50	Maine	151

Kindle, Ethics, and Dying Bookstores

Damn, my kindle is fly! Chris got it for me for Christmas. Guess what i did today? I was reading this article on rookie and the author mentioned a book that i NEEDED to read. So i typed it in an internet search, found a copy that someone had scanned and then I emailed it to my kindle. Now i have the book. WHA?

I don't know if this is wrong. I work at a bookstore, the last time the new bookstore sold it was on 3/6/2009. They obviously have not stocked another one. We have never had a used copy. So i could order it on ingram for me, which would cost me 9.80 with my 30% off discount. My bookstore would only make 1.40 off of me. Or i could buy it on Amazon for 7.55 plus shipping (which would probably be around 2-4) making it smarter to buy it from my bookstore if i didn't care about time. I could probably have it in 2 days from amazon and if i ordered it today with the bookstore, i would have it next wednsday. Do you see why bookstores are failing?

I could also go and get it at the Main library, they have two in stock, but the library closes an hour before i get out of here. its carnival and the superbowl and i dont want to go downtown. So i could have them send it to my branch in the bywater. It would take about 3 days. Then i could have it for two weeks. Will i read it in that amount of time? Im not sure. I'd like to, but i read several books at once so i take a long time.

here are my rationalizations:
1. Roland Barthe is deceased. He won't get a penny for his thoughts.
2. Trees. I like them. I like the idea of an electronic thing that doesn't kill trees.
3. Hopeful Ethics. I believe that all knowledge should be free. I know capitalism doesn't work like this. I believe that anyone hoping to really do something for education and thought and knowledge should be taken care of anyway. (food should be free. housing should be free.) I know that these hopeful ideas do not rationalize stealing.
4. What am i stealing? am i stealing?
5. I have it now. NOW. and i can read it as long as i like.

My favorite thing about the kindle is the idea of copyright.
If an author died before 1943, his writings belong in the public domain. Meaning that whatever i write, right now and try to sell only belongs to mine for a certain period of time. And long after my death, that writing belongs to you. Belongs to education and the general idea of knowledge.

Granted Ronald Barthe died in 1980. His writing is not in the public domain. Does his family get the money? Did he have a family? The publisher? I hardly think he is making anyone millions. Would they have gotten a penny from me anyway? No, I would have gotten it from the library. And if it was one of my favorites, only then would i buy it. To keep. To have as A Book Good Enough To Keep.