The Crime of the Punishment

Flinging open the door and slapping her keys down on the hall table, Sue said, Well, I think that you are dead wrong on that. How could you possibly say that? This isnt the late 19th century, populated with workhouses and debtors jails. How nave could you possibly be? Sure things are sugar coated and people have been trained and conditioned to not see it. But it is all still here and has been on its way back since the first Bilderberg Meeting. Several states have instituted debtors prisons at least in practice. People are arrested for not paying a bill and their bail just so happens to match the amount of the bill. I still think that the prison system works to keep bad people away from us. They did something wrong and they need to pay, replied Bill knowing that he was in for a big one. I just feel that if the emphasis was placed on the causes instead of it being more as a reactionary response, there would be no need for prisons. I still say there will always be bad people. Possibly, but well never know until we try because people are like most creatures and tend to latch onto the easiest explanation. How so? I mean that I agree with you to a point, but I would really like to know your insights, said Bill looking for a glass in the cupboard. Well, like for example that Obama is singlehandedly driving the country into the ground. There is a multitude of members in our government and if you believe organizations like the New Majority Agenda.org which is a smear campaign launched by Steve Law or Different Direction.org which Cheney has an inside connection, you would believe that all of these members or our government are powerless to do anything. I definitely agree with you on that one. To me, it says that either they are totally powerless which if anyone has ever taken U.S. History courses, Civics courses, or just sat down and read the Constitution would know that is not the case. So it tells me that either they are just sitting back and allowing Obama to destroy the country which shows a tint of treason through their inactivity. Essentially, they are just collecting their pay. Or they are in collusion with Obama letting Obama take the blame for what is actually their desire or they are complete idiots. It is truly amazing that you can grasp such a complex concept like that, but you cant see what I am talking about.

Well, I do try. It is like the financial crisis we are in. Someone announces that it is all because of mortgages going bad. Everyone immediately jumps on that band wagon. It is easy. It makes sense. It is because other people are just trying to get their homes for free. It is always bad people and the ones losing their homes are the bad people. But my question is what caused the mortgages to go bad? Exactly, that would be the true cause of the economic crisis. We both know that it has been years of ever increasing corporate influence and capital flight from local economies. Both are difficult concepts to get your mind around so people latch on to the easiest which would be that some people are just not paying their bills not that due to the loss of capital in their local economy and continual corporate greed, people just cannot stay afloat; one emergency room visit that is denied by your insurance will ruin you. One emergency of any type can destroy you. Sudden changes in the economy can leave you strapped for cash. Yeah, think about it. I remember that right before the massive layoffs and foreclosures, gas shot up over a dollar a gallon. People were having a hell of a time filling up their cars and having money left over to pay bills. Utilities went up. We were told that they would be going up only 10 to 30% which was not a big deal but the actual situation for me was that my electric bill shot up from around $40 a month in the summer to up over $120 for the same months and I even reduced the amount of electrical appliances I used. Between the two you see prices going up everywhere. Individual disposable income disappears and it is hard to make ends meet and pay your mortgage. That is what I remembered before the housing market crisis. I do too, responded Bill, I also remember that very little was said about gas or utilities shooting through the roof. Everything was blamed on people not paying their mortgages. I also remember that very little was done to help them, but no one could help the rich fast enough. Sue sighed, And now the houses that were legally stolen are being sold off to investors to be used as rental properties. It is just far more profit for the rich. Same as Obamas public works Ideas. How so? asked Sue with a knowing smile. It worked for Roosevelt because his programs employed thousands of companies. Each company had hundreds of workers. Bosses werent paid nearly as high of wages as they are now. What is your example of the wages? CEO of Wal-Mart makes 18 million a year. His average employee makes 12 dollars. Which if you figure it out, the average employee makes less than a little over one tenth of one percent of what Wal-Marts CEO makes. Now Wal-Mart does employ over a million employees which means that a huge amount of money is being recycled into the local economy but the plain truth is that most of Wal-

Marts best customers are its employees which goes to keeping Wal-Mart strong. By the way, his income represents the income of 721 fulltime employees; a nice paycheck for doing very little. Now back in the 1930s, Roosevelt had to enlist the work of thousands of companies to build dams, roads, schools, hospitals, and other things of public interest. Back then, incomes were about $40 a week and the owners of all of these little companies that created fierce competition had to keep their incomes competitive. Lets say $50,000 a year when most magazines only cost a nickel. That means that the average employees income represented approximately 4% of the bosss income. Which translates to the bosss income equaling 24 of his employees. What does all of that mean? asked Sue Most of the money was injected in the part of the economy that drives the economyblue collar and low level white collar demand. Nowadays, most of the money is being sucked up by huge corporations. You figure for every dollar that is infused into the system around 70% will go to the top six percent of the income earners. In Roosevelts day, unlike at Wal-Mart, people didnt spend most of their income at where they worked. I wouldnt go to my construction company that was building a dam and shop there. I would take it home and buy things at an amazing amount of mom and pop shops. Thus keeping the money spent on you by the government in the local economy helping to spur growth. Most of the money today is being spent on large companies that employ huge machines to do the work with small crews; meaning most of the money is going to the companys higher ups income and bonuses. Exactly, said Bill with a smile. So what you are saying is that if most of the effort went into the part that drives the economy instead of helping the rich get richer, things would be better? Yes, said Bill thinking that the rest of the argument was in the bag. So why wouldnt my idea about prison reform work? All I am saying is that instead of letting a young child grow up in some urban nightmare with dismal hope of getting anywhere legally, put a true effort on giving that child real opportunities beyond the world of gangs and drugs. So you are saying that no one is born thinking that I would like to become a drug dealer or murderer? That I may become that as a reaction to my environment? Exactly, said Sue with a checkmate smile, I feel that we are filling prisons because it is far easier and less expensive than actually going after what causes crime. It is a sick form of triage. We want to save money for the people who truly matter such as the CEO of Wal-Mart so it is cheaper just to allow these individuals to suffer and fend for themselves in an environment that could be fixed. Some will make it but most will languish in poverty. Some will snap and do the crimes. We then label them as bad people and lock them up creating important jobs for the richs sons and daughters by being prison wardens or directors of social programs which major companies will prosper from by creating fear and

division in the sheep and collecting contributions they can write off for tax purposes for themselves from the sheep that work or shop at their businesses. So what you are saying is that there might be a strong possibility for us to greatly reduce the prison populations by instead of reacting to the symptoms we go out after a goal of curing the disease by investing a true effort in low income areas and giving the children and the people something else to look for that is real instead of gangs and drugs as a way out? Not just that, people need to realize that we are all in this together. What I do, can actually affect many others. Take a look at that show Secret Millionaire, you have millionaires that want to do good to feel good about themselves. It is great. For a small investment they can pat themselves on their back for the rest of their lives and have bragging rights to their buddies. They are doing nothing but just throwing some money at their guilt. Yet, it is their greed and pursuit of more for them that is creating the need for handouts. It is pretty much the same as Catholics of the pass buying indulgences or Christians paying off their guilt in the collection plate. They are not doing anything real for anyone. It is like the nobility of old Europe and Asia; people were taught to look to them as Gods representative, people were taught to think of them as heroes who risk their lives to protect the peoplethat is what fairy tales were; just propaganda to glorify the thugs that lived off of the labors of others under the guise of protecting the people. Who were they protecting the people from? They were protecting the people from other thugs who lived off of the labors of others who wanted more and more just like themselves. If people could be truly educated as to what is real and what isnt, I think that there would be some major changes in Washington, the business world, prisons and the world around them. Do you think that they are reducing education to control us even more? Im saying that in the pursuit of individualized greed we are letting millions of nobodies be sacrificed. Im saying that it doesnt matter how many are institutionalized or are on subsidies as long as I get my money and plush lifestyle. I pay my taxes and nobody cares about them because they are bad people. Remember, Hitler was created; he wasnt born a monster. In fact, he didnt kill millions, it was the people of his nation who were taught to look out for themselves and so what if millions of nobodies who had been identified as BAD were sacrificed; everything was their fault anyway. But what about controlling us through denying millions a solid education? I wouldnt doubt it. I read a book once which was all about drugs and drug use through the years. The author concluded his book by saying that his greatest fear about illicit drugs is that the governments would legalize them. He was afraid that they would have a flock of sheep that is easily controlled by keeping them stoned; again still using the same Triage of prison to weed out problems and rams. Just look at the magnitude of our landfills or how much is thrown out every day; we have been taught to just throw it out if it is a problem. Yes, if someone does something bad, they should be punished but what I am saying is if we were more involved with our communities, if we all played a role in raising our children, if fathers spent more time doing things with their kids instead of teaching them to just sit around and watch sports like actually playing the games with their kids instead of putting so

much energy in supporting someone else in becoming a spoiled millionaire who will make the gossip headlines when they cheat on their wife or torture animals in dog fight betting. I am saying if the next generation is brought up with a true emphasis on the fact that we are all in this together and gave them a truly rounded education, things would be drastically different. We might actually be able to bring down barriers. We might actually be able to reach across lines. We might actually become less and less dependent on those in power now. But that would all require a major investment of effort and resources which may be more than the prison system. Plus, those in power would lose their scapegoats. Imagine if I could count on my neighbors and they could count on me. We might be able to reduce the role of government to an irritation of something like just some white noise. I think that is what Jesus meant by render unto Caesar that which is Caesars and render unto the Lord that which is the Lords What does that have to do with anything? asked Bill with an incredibly bewildered expression. What he is saying is that soldiers and groups of people were loyal to Caesar because he paid them. He ruled them. He made them dependent on him. It is a very subtle way of dividing and conquering. Value is placed on material things. Caesar controls the material things and provides opportunities for others to get these shiny, flashy things and he does grant them. Individuals in pursuit of these things such as money, gold, comfortable lives, status, or whatever motivates them such as even becoming the next Caesar, will sell out everything that has true importancei.e. that which is the Lordssuch as loyalties to friends, family, and community to get their shiny, flashy new things. I think that I see what you are saying. The Gracchi Brothers wanted to create a society in which all, especially those that did all of the labor. Well, the development of the early part of the empire did create some unique problems with the pursuit of individual greed. As lands were conquered, slaves were acquired. Those that could purchase slaves to run their estates and left many without jobs or source of income. I mean why pay for the labor when you could with a small investment of the purchase price and subsistence pay for the slaves enjoy a far superior profit margin? Sounds a lot like the preaching of Thomas Malthus which fueled the beliefs of the early industrialist in an attempt to keep the supply of labor high and thus wages low. Many in Rome had little and were getting less and less as the economy experienced capital flight from the lower levels to the upper crust. Pretty much what is happening today, but it is the fault of the poor who were taken advantage of. That is precisely what I have been saying, said Sue as she continued, The Gracchis wanted to introduce legislature that would help all of these destitute people get on their feet. Instead of being a burden on the Roman society, they would have a marvelous opportunity to become an asset and contribute. But the loyalties werent to Rome but to Caesarin this case Caesar didnt exist yet, so it was to the ones who provided the shiny flashy things and that which was the Lords, your friends,

family, and community were cast out the river and the Gracchis were murdered and thrown into the river by those in pursuit of gratification from those with the money. I could just imagine people looking past differences, working with, and helping one another. I think I understand. If you give a child a well-rounded education on all levels, if people worked together to find solutions for their unique experience problems and obstacles, if people truly pushed themselves to grow and to think, if they really challenged themselves, prisons and a lot of our social problems could be eliminated or reduced to a minor inconvenience. If we gave up the lures of Caesar and embraced the teachingsall of the teachings of the Lord and that which is the Lords we would be embracing each other. Very well put; but the only problem with that is that those who live a plush life would have to work. Just like post plague Europe when the population had dwindled and the cost of labor went through the roof. The nobility in fear of each other and the fear of actually having to work gathered up all those who were enamored by that which is Caesars and subjugated the labor to the point of creating serfdom. Another excellent example; you are doing well, grasshopper. When I see someone being arrested, or standing in line to collect handouts, I dont see a problem. I see the symptom of the problem. I cant help to think what that person could have achieved if a true investment had been brought into their lives while they were growing up. Whats worst is seeing them with children knowing that that child has even far more hurdles to crossover than their parent because of the mistakes of society in pursuit of loyalty to Caesar. Well, the true loyalty which the real Caesar discovered belonged to that which was Caesars and not to Caesar. Its that loyalty and the distractions of entertainment and the whats in it for me attitude that divides and conquers us while that which is the Lords unites us. Dont forget the fear of the bad people. It is all just bread and circuses approach of ancient Rome to distract the population and keep the sheep happy so that they could keep raping the herd one at a time. It is amazing that they didnt remember the lessons of Aventine Hill. Well, Caesars things werent as shiny and flashy back then, responded Sue with a playful smile. Well, the plutocracy better have their little servants in Washington and the state houses doing their jobs. Just think, if they could cut education even deeper to just math and reading and put more emphasis on the flashy shiny things and professional sports, they would be able to open vast labor camps making the herd even more dependent on the rich just like feudal Europe again or late 18th century

France, said Bill with a whimsical smile, United we stand and that includes helping our neighbors to avoid the pitfalls of life that creates criminals, divided we are intimidated like at most companies. Thats right, conflict of interests means basically, that we want you all to not form true friendships and be loyal to the interests of the company. Just think that with the way they have cut education and have us all dwindled done to a docile herd of sheep, attempts like New Majority Agenda.org or Different Direction.org to manipulate and control would actually start working. Kiss me, you fool, said Sue lunging at Bill.