jail – David Vaszko's Blog

It is crime prevention week in America. I am sad that so many Americans are victims of crime. I am even sadder that so many families have sons, and to a much lesser extent daughters, who committ violent crimes.

Our law enforcement works diligently to do what it can to arrest criminals. The nation is improving in its ability to prevent crime.

Neighborhood watch groups are a part of this. There are many fine studies of what can and should be done to prevent crime and create fewer criminals.

There are issues though, that usually are not addressed. I will address them.

One is that Congress, as well as state and local politicians, love crime. It is safe to talk about.

It is also easy to talk about because if we have not been a victim of a crime, we know somebody who was, or we know somebody who is or was a criminal or we are enthralled about the crime show we watched last night.

Talking about crime and fearing crime have become two of America’s biggest pastimes. I keep hoping for the day Americans have the pride and confidence to stop emphasizing crime, to stop glorying in the brief sense of power they feel ranting about it.

Politicians prey on your fear, yet as more jails are built and more young men locked up we feel no safer. Our fear increases.

Few Americans are standing up to claim they are sick of being afraid and sick of all our jails and so many young men locked up.

I tell you that as president I know Congress has no intention of doing anything to end crime. Even if Americans loudly opposed the construction of so many prisons, Congress would not budge. We remember NAFTA.

I want you to think about what I say next. Today in America we for the most part, have meaningless lives. Look at our depression, our alcoholism, our promiscuity, our drug addiction, our suicides, our credit card debt, our expressionless faces.

Fear is our bond, our meaning. Crime is the catalyst for our fear.

I ask you: aren’t you sick of being afraid? Aren’t you embarrassed living in fear? A nation cannot be great if it lives in fear of almost everything like we do.

Sure there is crime. Of course you should be cautious. Since politicians have no intention of ending crime, American citizens must take steps to end it.

I do not encourage everyone to go out and buy a gun. I do not oppose it either, for it is an effort to prevent crime and it should be considered an appropriate response.

The things I suggest are not exciting but they will reduce crime. They will also make communities more solid and create trusting fearless Americans.

America needs to stop thinking more is better, that the purpose of life is to shop. How will this stop crime?

There will be fewer items to steal because people buy less. There will be fewer items flaunted, which means there will be less envy and less burglary.

Because there are fewer flashy cars and less flaunted jewelry, there will be less resentment and less bitterness and therefore less robbery and fewer assaults.

This is not rocket science. Americans lust to have criminals incarcerated. We claim they have to be responsible for what they do. But so do you.

Nobody will steal what you don’t have. Your car will not be stolen if you park it in your garage.

Get rid of your junk in the garage. If there are not streets filled with cars, there will be little for criminals to be on the prowl for and to use as cover for their stealing.

Do not scoff at this. In an urban culture, even at its most just and confident period, there is going to be stealing and there is going to be violence.

My recommendations decrease injustice and increase confidence. As I said, politicians will do nothing to decrease crime and have no intention to.

America needs to ask itself: does it want to continue to be relentlessly and needlessly acquisitive? Do you want to have motion detectors, burglar alarms and surveillance cameras on your property to protect all the things that do not make you happy? Our security makes us less secure, more fearful, more bitter, more vengeful.

Ours is supposed to be the land of the free. This is still true to a small extent politically – you probably are not going to be arrested. But it is not true psychically or spiritually.

I ask you America. Do you want to be free? Are you willingly to do with a lot less so you can love each other?

In closing, I have been talking to you with the same sense of toughness you have when you rant about crime. Unlike you, I feel no false sense of power and am heartsick there are so many young people in jail.

Dear Jim,

Hace buen tiempo as they say in Spanish.

I’m sitting outside at my favorite coffee shop. There’s no wind. It’s not hot. There aren’t too many people.

I just read the New York Times. I enjoyed it. There was a good report about the City of New York’s efforts to find apartments for its’ 60,000 homeless, and the opposition that the city receives. The opposition especially does not want shelters for men in its’ neighborhoods.

I can’t blame them, but most of the homeless are men, at least here in Sacto. What is America going to do? Our city council just approved a 16-20 bed facility for terminally ill homeless people. That is a great idea.

Also in the NYT were letters in response to an article about a college student who committed suicide. Of course the university gets blamed for the death.

People say that professors should say something to a student who has started to behave strangely. But what is a professor supposed to do?

He would say that he isn’t a mental health professional, that he would be stepping out of his domain. He might also say his students’ problems are none of his business. If a courageous and empathetic professor approached a student who seemed to be on the edge, the student might curse him, or sue him for being nosy.

We complain about the invasion of privacy by the government and business, but we want universities to keep tabs on their students’ mental health.

It would scare me as a college student if I knew that the software that reads my papers for class sends a report to the dean when I write: I am lonely.; They should throw the scum in jail.; I get plastered every weekend. It’s a gas.; If somebody breaks into your apartment you should be allowed to kill him.; There’s nothing wrong with spanking your child.

The more we try to monitor people’s mental health, the more mentally unhealthy we become. Who can I trust if any negative, angry, lust-filled, profane statement might be interpreted by the authorities to mean that I need help – forced prescribed drugs or required counselling?

It’s a double whammy for people who are on the edge. You don’t want to tell your family and friends you are suicidal because you don’t want to burden them.

Yet you can’t trust the mental health profession. It keeps an electronic record of all your appointments and what you revealed about yourself. That’s scary because all your information can be sent to insurance companies, hospitals, and police departments with the click of a button.

So We’re here to help, but Our neighbors are watching you. And We report all suspicious persons to the police. And Smile. You’re on camera.

I think I said this before – no wonder people don’t seek help. We are trained to be afraid. If we were not a police state there would be good mental health. There would be more trust – of yourself and of others.

Remember last year when I wrote to you about the new building for the natural foods co-op? I told you it made me feel good because of the natural light, healthy electric light, and a great view of the sky from the outdoor eating area upstairs. What I was saying was that it was good for my mental health. I really needed the shot-in-the-arm.

But now I hate it. Like one of my friends said, “It’s so yuppie.” Now they want to sell hard liquor, just like all the stores they think they are different from.

We keep talking organic in America, but we are so full of fear and alienation and anality that we are light years away from an organic state of mind. However we might get an organic police state.

You will have a view of the mountains and eat organic beans and rice when you are in jail for something you didn’t do. The mountains and organic food will help your healing process.

I feel like I am in jail. Crazy people feel trapped. We are exiled in our own country.

Sorry to bitch Jim.

Love,

Dave

Tag: jail

The President Speaks: Crime prevention

Friday, May 18