[ExI] The Total State

[Lee Corbin]

Joseph writes

> [Lee wrote]
> > [Amara wrote]
> > > 3)
> > > "The Best Prisons that Money Can Buy"
> > > http://www.aleph.se/andart/archives/2006/02/index.html
> > 
> > let me indulge in (and exult in) a little bit of hate speech
> > and thought crime (while I can still get away with it)...
> > 
> > Consider that in California prisons... In order of [population],
> > are Hispanics, whites, and blacks.
> 
> One wonders what the standard of living in those
> California prisons is,

The question is wrong---unless it's kept in mind what
ethnic group in a certain prison is ascendant. Even more
important is where an individual lies in the pecking order.
Unlike "outside"---where the law is to protect the weak
from the depredations of the strong (except in Texas)---
"inside" there is no law, except the law of the jungle.

The result is that there, the very worst creatures are in the
most powerful positions, while, God help us, anyone
remotely like those of us here participating in this forum
would be a forlorn and helpless victim, utterly at the mercy
of the big tough bastards and gang leaders And Keith did
write that while one may find fellow prisoners with some
humanity, not so the guards. (I'm probably exaggerating
just a bit, or he was.)

> compared to, say, southern California's large cities.
> Or Mexico's small villages. Do the prisoners get more
> calories per day?

I'd be guessing, but probably more calories than in *some*
small Mexican villages. Actually, the prisoners probably
receive *fewer* calories than all the tubbies on the outside,
because of their ample time to exercise, all the free equipment
provided for that purpose, and the well-balanced nutritious
meals prepared for them.

But don't forget the free health care!

> Do they suffer from disease at a lesser rate? Is there
> a difference in literacy rates (with the educational
> opportunities in prison)? 

I don't know. There is probably some obvious way that
certain diseases correlate with being in prison, but I can't
think of what right now.

Lee

> I'm by no means suggesting that being a felon in the
> U.S. is preferable to freedom as a Mexican peasant.
> But perhaps there are some mitigating factors that
> need to be considered here when looking at raw
> incarceration statistics...