> The elision here, I think, is the result of the ambiguity of the
> discussion as it exists in this list, some of the participants in
> which are talking about abolishing the prison system as it exists in
> the US today (and replacing it with, presumably, a kinder, gentler,
> much less crowded prison system), and others of whom are talking about
> getting rid of incarceration categorically.
Wow. You haven't read *anything* us abolitionists have written if those are the distinctions you see.
Because - abolition of the prison system is about eliminating the racist, classist, corrupt system which sends people to which are - in the USA - houses of torture (aside from one or two alleged "country club prisons").
You need to ask yourself: "what problem is the US prison system, as is, currently solving"? Given what it actually does, one might conclude the problem would be "how to control minorities and the poor", or perhaps "a way to turn the undesireables into profit", or even "a way to manufacture life-long criminals so as to justify the police state".
But you're worried about the incredibly small number of people who, were it not for poverty, racism, and the drug war, would be criminals anyway - psychopathic baby rapers or something? Are you saying you can't imagine *anything* other than the US prison-industrial complex as a way to deal with these small number of people? CC is getting a bum deal by people laying into him for writing a snide email calling everyone unimaginative. Fsck it, he's right.
I guess if you aren't a minority, poor, a random victim of a police setup, politically disruptive, etc. etc. - the prison-industrial complex in the US is a, um, small price to pay to deal with the Dahmers and Gacys. :/
Matt
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Free your mind and your ass will follow.
-George Clinton