Solitary Confinement – The Horrors of our ‘Correctional’ System

Even though international governing bodies have condemned the use of solitary confinement since the 1990s, it is still a common practice in many prisons all over the United States. Currently, an estimated total of 80,000 to 100,000 men, women and children are isolated in closed cells for 22-24 hours a day – for periods stretching from days, weeks, months and even years.

Reasons to place a prisoner in solitary confinement are not restricted to serious violations – talking back to a guard or being caught with contraband are often reason enough to be ‘put into lockdown’ or ‘thrown in the shoe’. Did anyone say ‘Milgram’?

There is a reason international governing bodies condemn the practice: because it basically amounts to torture. The physical and psychological effects are horrifying. Mentally sane inmates often come out of solitary confinement with serious psychological disorders, violent behavior and suicidal tendencies. For those who were already suffering from mental illness, being confined to isolation only exacerbates their conditions.

Is this the purpose of our prison system? To break people, to strip them of their sanity or push them further into misery? Does that benefit the prisoners? Does it benefit society when a prisoner has served his sentence and has to re-enter society as a less functional being than he was before incarceration? No matter the crime they have committed – if we sanction the use of torture – are we not criminals all the same?

We make a big fuss over the CIA’s torturing practices, but don’t realize torture is happening on a daily basis to thousands of people in our so called ‘correctional facilities’ and ‘judicial system’.

The Living Income Guaranteed Proposal is based on the principle that all should be able to live a life of dignity. All… that includes prisoners. When we treat people like worthless pieces of s*** - what is going to happen? Is it going to heal them? Will they find peace? Will they repent for past transgressions? Or will it make them into that which we treat them as?

In other words – if we want to be able to continue calling prisons ‘correctional facilities’ – we better reinvent them and do an entire overhaul of the prison system. Archaic ideas of justice need to be thrown out the window and central should stand the fostering of understanding and the correction of harmful behaviors. If not – let’s be frank and call them ‘torture facilities’ – but how can we ever hope to live with any shred of dignity if we stand for that?

Join the discussion on Living Income Guaranteed – take the world in your hands and ask yourself: What needs to happen for all to live a life of dignity? What needs to change? Changing what is here starts with formulating solutions. Do you have any ideas? Let’s hear it!

Read More

Fighting for Survival - Where is the Right to Life?

“The leader of a violent gang that controlled life inside one of America's most notorious jails testified that he directed guards motivated by sex and money to smuggle in drugs and cellphones and facilitate attacks on inmates who challenged his authority.

Tavon "Bulldog" White described a culture of corruption inside the centuries-old Baltimore City Detention Center, led by a gang that has its own language and laws and authorities. The Black Guerilla Family's hierarchy includes a "minister of education" who quizzes members on gang literature and a "minister of finance" who manages the profits sent by cellphones from behind bars.

The gang's smuggling schemes even fund the bail that frees gang members who can't pay to get sprung from jail, he testified this week.

Gang leaders, not guards, are the ultimate authority inside the jail, he said.”

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/inmate-sex-drugs-cash-fuel-jail-corruption-27348277

I really suggest reading the entire article as the snippets of stories being told in it are quite astounding. This is not the synopsis of a TV show, but an example of what actually takes place behind the walls and fences of a prison – it goes beyond what anyone could imagine scripting for a movie or a show. When jail time is seen as a solution to crime, this is the results we start seeing – not only do gang members ‘go back’ to a life of crime, they continue the same participation and behavior for the entire time of their incarceration. Now – I don’t mean to say it is like this for everyone. I’m sure there are those individuals who get a wake up call from spending time in prison – or in other words, who actually use that time to reflect on their lives, what they’ve done, who they’ve become and whether that’s really who they want to be.

But when criminal behavior is the result of lacking the financial means of doing anything else with one’s life, then being in prison is unlikely to facilitate any form of personal transformation – because they know that once they get out, they’re back to where they started,  however much they may want to change – their opportunities in life do not.

Reading some more on Baltimore, it’s clear that it is a city that is struggling with a high crime rate, in a second article, I came across he following:

“Interviews with community leaders and residents show that few are looking exclusively to police for the answer. Though many believe street-level officers should be more visible and work to strengthen ties in the communities they police, most point to jobs as the only way to reduce gun violence.

"A lot of these cats got dreams — they don't want to do this [drug dealing]," Lawrence Davis, 35, of the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood, said as he looked on at the shooting near City College. "There aren't enough opportunities, and this is all they know."

City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young said police need to boost foot patrols. But he placed much of the blame for the increase in violent crime on the economy.

"Until we're able to create employment opportunities for our citizens in Baltimore, and to address the drug problem that we have in Baltimore, I don't see where we're going to really get out of this," he said.”

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-12-29/news/bs-md-ci-year-end-crime-20131228_1_violent-crime-batts-lost-year

Can Baltimore wait for employment opportunities to be created to reduce its level of violent crime? Can we continue to entertain the illusion that it is possible that enough jobs can be created for everyone who needs one with the increasing tendency to replace jobs through labor saving technology? When the root of the problem is the need to survive then the immediate solution is to provide these means. Every other measure comes second – because those measures would facilitate a transition towards a new life – but no new life can be written if the right to life is not recognized in the act of giving a living income when no other source of income is available.

Visit/read:

http://livingincome.me
http://livingincomeguaranteed.wordpress.com/the-proposal/
https://www.youtube.com/user/LivingIncome
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/117690749220880074672
http://www.twitter.com/LivingIncome

And watch:

Read More

Day 214: Guns, Nuclear Weapons and Human Stupidity - Win-Win Solutions with Equal Money

It seems that the more technological advances we make, the more stupid we become. How many of us do our mathematical calculations on paper, or in our heads like we were taught in school? Barely anyone, most have lost the skill since there's calculators doing it for us. But apart from this obvious example, we can observe the devolution of the human intellect in the development of nuclear weapons. And not only the first development of them - but the continued development of nuclear weapons after they have already been used twice - both times showing the absolute devastation these weapons cause, not only for those hit at the specific place and time - but also for generations to come and for the environment - and thus, seeing that we all live in one big eco-system that is the planet Earth - for everyone.

The use of nuclear weapons is an absolute lose-lose situation. It's the most stupid thing we could ever do. Nuclear warfare is the fast-track road to ending life on Earth. How is it that we have the intellectual capacity to design such things as nuclear weapons - but are unable to see that designing something you can't use is a complete waste of resources. And the justification is always that the weapons are there to deter another from using them. Really? A weapon that exists with the sole purpose of making sure it never gets used?

The same logic applies to owning guns. Apparently gun-owners all claim to be peaceful, non-violent beings, never intending on using their guns - but it's THE OTHER that might use THEIR GUN and so we need to be able to protect ourselves from THEM.

Both are examples of the prisoner's dilemma. The best way of avoiding nuclear warfare or gunfights - would obviously be to make it so that no nuclear weapons or guns are available to have such violence take place. In that - everyone would have to cooperate and agree to no longer produce such weapons or make them available. As soon as such weapons exist - distrust enters the picture - where, instead of cooperating with each other, each one will turn to fend for themselves. In that case - everyone will want to make sure they have the weapons to be able to protect themselves in case someone else wants to use theirs.

After so many centuries - and after so much apparent evolution we still haven't figured out that the win-win solution is to ban weapons altogether and to stick to the agreement to not have objects that are designed with no other purpose than to destroy Life. Or maybe we still haven't grasped the meaning of win-win solutions - where everyone comes out with the best possible result. Or maybe we believe that there is no way we can win if there isn't a loser involved as well - where we think we can only measure our own success or well-being against another's failures or misfortunes. 

How many more people and family members need to be lost in gun fights and wars before we realize the simplest truth: that as long as there are killing machines, someone will end up using them and others will get killed by them. If not because of an actual threat, then because of a perceived one. Take Pritorius as an example - who shot his own girlfriend because he was so terrified of someone breaking in.

We suggest that with the implementation of Equal Money - weapons and any object with the sole purpose of harming Life - are banned. Trust cannot be developed as long as each one is distrustful of others and only trying to fend for themselves - trust can only be developed when you first take a leap of faith, a leap of fearlessness. We think that if we are distrustful, that it protects us from fear - but distrustfulness in itself IS FEAR. So - we need to take a leap of fearlessness to create a platform of trust - and not accept or allow fear campaigns to influence us into thinking and believing that we are in imminent danger. Please - use common sense. Fear will get us nowhere - cooperation will.

Related articles

• Day 351: Desteni, Equal Money, Zeitgeist and Occupy Wall Street
• Day 348: The Global Mind - Scientific Farming (Part Three)
• Day 340: What is Authority?
• Day 352: Occupy Wall Street and Zeitgeist: Can the 99% Count?
• Day 336: Democracy and Capitalism are the Redistribution of Wealth - (Part Two)
• Day 343: The Internet is the Global Mind (Part 2)
• Day 333: The Jesus Message is Not a Religious Message
• Day 349: The Message of Jesus
• Day 305: Reeva Steenkamp - Collateral Damage in the War between the Haves and the Have-Nots
• Day 335: Democracy and Capitalism are the Redistribution of Wealth - (Part One)

Read More

Day 164: Equal Money Capitalism - Preparing the Road for Change

Note: The EMC is an entirely new project that was started 3 days ago. We’re at the moment in the phase where we are brainstorming by answering questions. It’s a messy process – but an effective one to get all the relevant points addressed. So – also note that points will evolve and change as we go as we are not setting things in stone, but on a journey towards designing the EMC. The principles upon which EMC is based are laid out in the previous blog-post. From those principles, we work our way towards what life in EMC would practically be like and how the system will function from an economic perspective.

CHILDREN

When a child is born, the parents' company/companies will allocate an equal profit share for the child - which will be added to the parent's profit share. Every parent will have a company - because everyone will be employed.

UNEMPLOYMENT / FULL EMPLOYMENT

If unemployment exists - the government must step in to create jobs where possible - because employment is a basic human right.

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

The government will still play a role to provide everyone with their basic human rights such as healthcare, education, housing, sanitation, roads, employment etc. So - the government will fund these points through taxes. The only tax that will exist are the value-added tax on products - this will be part of the labelling of products - where it'll show the percentage of the price that goes to tax and for what the tax will be used. There will be no need for an income tax to redistribute income in a fair way - because income will be distributed fairly from the get-go.

WILL VAT GENERATE ENOUGH INCOME TO PAY FOR ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE: SANITATION, CLEAN WATER ETC?

VAT will be added to each product in a way to make sure there is enough within the common pool of money - which is the tax - to ensure all the basic rights can be provided. Also consider that with all military expenditure falling away - there will actually be quite a substantial amount of money available to governments with which to fund these projects.

DEBT

In terms of debt - whether it will be erased at the moment of implementation of EMC: all debt will be forgiven - it was not real to start with in any case.

MENIAL TASKS

All the jobs that no-one will want to do will disappear - the same point to the EMS applies- technology will have to be developed to replace those points - like self-cleaning toilets and stuff like that - it already exists.  All jobs of slavery that one wouldn't do if it weren't for the need to survive will go *poof*.

Initially, some jobs which are not nice will still have to be done, as the specific production processes to create particular technology/machinery has not yet been adjusted during this transition period. So for a moment, those jobs will still have to be done until the transition is complete - this will become part of the compassion department because you are doing it for the betterment of everyone. These type of jobs can be rotational in nature.

ROLE   OF EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM WITHIN EQUAL MONEY SYSTEM

EMC is a transition to EMS - though it can still be seen - once an EMC is in place, whether it is desired/necessary to transition to EMS. In the end - the result is what matters, and this is always Equality and a Life Worth Living.

ABUSE

Abuse is psychological disorders as it harms innocents and we will prevent harm in every way possible, corruption will be very difficult in EMC. Remember the profit share motive is not one that allows boundless profits--it allows equal profits based on a life value.

OVERSIGHT IN EMC

Within EMC the principle will be that everything is to work in harmony with each other. Therefore - dependent on which level a point of disharmony occurs, it will be addressed accordingly. If there is a worker within a company that is not acting in a way that is best for the company as a whole - this point will be addressed by a tribunal within the company. If it is an entire company that is behaving in a disharmonious way - it will be addressed by government departments.

PRICING

Pricing on products will no longer be based on expensive or cheap-- or making profit --but rather sustainable pricing that ensures enough money in circulation to make the system function effectively.

Profit is not to be understood in the same way as it is now. At the moment - profit is what is left after wages have been paid and production costs are covered. Within EMC - there will be no wages - your profit will be your wage. So - every time a product is scanned when it is bought - the computer sees what percentage of the price is allocated to whom - and immediately the money-allocation happens accordingly. So - there's no need to wait a year to calculate profits - it will be immediate.

Related articles

• Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit
• Day 259: Give Happiness, Get Happiness
• Day 162: EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM - The Way Forward

Read More

Day 158: Prevention is the Best Cure - Equal Money System

Prevention is the Best Cure

Decision-making within an Equal Money System will adhere to the Constitutional Principle of ‘Prevention is the Best Cure’. This implies that with every decision made, all possible ramifications, consequences and outflows must be considered in order to design the policies and regulations in a way that do not cause unnecessary harm to the current or future generations of plants, animals and humans.

The moment disharmony exists, it indicates that the point of disharmony was not adequately prevented. Becoming aware of such a point of disharmony places us in a reactive mode. A reactive mode always takes place after the harm as a result of disharmony that has already occurred, and thus, it is in essence ‘too late’ as the harm cannot be undone. To design a regulatory political system based on reactive measures is therefore unacceptable, as it implies that we wait for harm to take place before action is taken. Currently, policy and regulations are mostly based on the interest of select groups. This causes harm to manifest on other levels that were not included in the equation, causing us to continuously be in a reactive mode as we attempt to correct the mistakes of our past. This is why it is so important to always design policies and regulations according to the Principle of What is Best for All, as it will enable us to prevent disharmony before it occurs.

Obviously, taking action before harm takes place also reduces the amount of resources that go into correcting mistakes and dealing with the consequences of carelessness. A simple example is nutrition. There are countless ills that are currently caused through inadequate nutrition, among which are diabetes, heart conditions, cancer, impaired cognitive functions such as memory capacity, and so on. Treatment for such ills requires a whole range of resources and is time-intensive. If the source is corrected, which is the diet, the ills are prevented as well as the need to use up resources for their treatment.

Initially, policy making will still largely involve correcting the mistakes of our past, as there were many, and thus many consequences. However, as we progress as a global society within the ability to prevent disharmony and to direct all matters in a harmonious way, we will be able to bring children in the world knowing that we’ve taken all preventative measures to allow them to live a life without harm. And thus, the principle of fear as it is now part of society will have been addressed and will no longer form part of our co-existence.

Related articles

• Day 154: The Application of Justice in an Equal Money System
• Day 156: Honoring the Right to Life in an Equal Money System
• Day 150: Voting Responsibility and Tight-Knit Communities in an Equal Money System
• Day 147: Constitutional Equality and Voting in an Equal Money System
• Day 155: Constitutional Equality as the Rule of Law
• Day 157: Growing your Own Food and Equal Money
• Day 151: Media, Law and Information Accessibility within an Equal Money System
• Day 148: Policy Initiation and the Role of Administrators in an Equal Money System

Read More

Day 155: Constitutional Equality as the Rule of Law

Jury of One’s Peers?

A system of justice from the perspective of having to evaluate and assess what must happen when a person is in a mental disorder, and therefore disrupting society, through a Jury of One’s Peers, is not an effective procedure. The effectiveness of peer-review lies within the expertise and level of skill of those reviewing. A procedure through a Jury of One’s Peers based on a selection of citizens from a broad spectrum of backgrounds (race, nationality, gender, education) in no way whatsoever ensures the effective evaluation and assessment of a person’s disorder and decision of specific correctional facilitation. The only point such a jury of peers serves, is to provide a broad spectrum of bias through which a person’s behaviour resulting from mental disorder is assessed.

The assessment of a person’s behaviour ought to be based on a very simple pattern: is the pattern that one is living that which is Best for All Life or is it Not? As such, the legal system won’t be as much a system that is governing or regulating according to the laws that exist – as most of the laws will cease to exist in an Equal Money Justice System. The justice system will operate very simplistically. You will have your primary constitutional law and you will have your management regulations – which together form your guidelines according to how man co-exists in harmony.

At any time when behaviour deviates from the principles and guidelines to sustain harmony in society, one will go through a process of origin identification and correctional facilitation by experts.

The Less Laws, the Less Crime

“The more laws are written, the more criminals are produced” – Lao Tzu

The focus of Justice within an Equal Money System will not be that of criminalization, it will be a matter of harmony or disharmony. A harmonious society cannot create criminals, because crime as such does not exist, and can only be the result of the laws in place creating it. Laws dictate what is legal and what is illegal. In a society where regulations are formulated according to the principle of what is Best for All, there will be no reason to step ‘outside’ of the law. If ‘illegal’ behaviour does take place, it is not sufficient to merely label the behaviour as ‘criminal’ and attempt to ‘force’ the individual to comply with the law, or simply remove them from society. Instead, it requires to be re-assessed whether the regulations in place are indeed Best for All. If the disharmony is not a result of the existent regulations, the disharmony requires to be corrected on an individual level.

Therefore, there will be no criminals – criminals only exist as the result of a disharmonious society, where instead of looking at what is in the Best interest of All and assessing people’s behaviour within the principles of harmony or disharmony , laws are designed to protect certain interest groups and thus by implication excluding others

There will thus be only One Law, as the Rule of Law as the Constitution based on Equality and what is Best for All Life. All other guidelines will be in the form of policy and regulation, which will be required to be laid out within the utmost specificity. Within adhering to specificity and clarity to the utmost level, no space is left for the interpretation of law or policy. If at any stage it turns out that a door for interpretation was left open, this would indicate that the law or policy is not good enough and will have to be specified to close the gap. As such, there will no longer be a need for lawyers as ‘experts’ on law or courts for the purpose of interpreting the law. Education within the Equal Money System will provide everyone with the necessary reading skills to be able to effectively read and assess laws and policies for one self – at the level that it should be assessed, so all can be on an equal ground of understanding and clarity.

http://equalmoney.org/wiki/Justice

www.equalmoney.org 

Related articles

• Day 154: The Application of Justice in an Equal Money System
• Day 151: Media, Law and Information Accessibility within an Equal Money System
• Day 150: Voting Responsibility and Tight-Knit Communities in an Equal Money System
• Day 148: Policy Initiation and the Role of Administrators in an Equal Money System
• Day 147: Constitutional Equality and Voting in an Equal Money System
• Day 149: Credits and Levels of Administration within an Equal Money System

Read More

Day 154: The Application of Justice in an Equal Money System

Identifying the Source of Disharmony for Correctional Action

Within an Equal Money System the meaning of justice stands within the context of the maintenance of harmony within society. Therefore, injustice will entail the correction of points of disharmony. Whenever an individual or group of individuals is living in disharmony, and thus, will cause disruption and harm within society - an assessment will be done in terms of the origin of the disharmony.

If the disharmony is caused by inefficient management guidelines or institutional structures, then this inefficiency requires to be addressed on managerial or institutional level to correct the disharmony. Because in such event, the disruptive behavior of the individual or group of individuals is a reaction to a disharmonious environment - and thus, in removing the cause of the disharmony, the behavior will be corrected.

If the disharmony originates within the individual, it will be assessed whether the behavior is deliberate and a form of spite, or whether the condition is medical.
In the event that the origin is deliberate spitefulness by the individual, a social intervention will take place by experts. Because - understand that the moment one causes disharmony within society, one is in breach of the basic constitution - and therefore, one will no longer have the protection of the constitution, because one is breaking it. And, thus, from a certain perspective, one is breaking the law. However, the issue is not that one is breaking a law, but that one is breaking the harmony of co-existence - which means one is causing harm and such harm mus tbe prevented. Therefore, experts with the necessary level of skills to be able to assist, will take action through taking the individual through a process of re-education.
In the event that the condition is medical, where the dysfunctional behavior is caused by a chemical imbalance within the human, the correctional intervention will be centered around re-establishing the harmony within the physical make-up of the individual.

Correctional Facilitation

Within the current system we speak of 'correctional facilities', but what is actually being referred to is a building where we can lock-up criminals who now have to 'serve time' as payment for their mistakes. Thus - the term 'correctional facilities' is inappropriate as not enough - if any - emphasis is placed upon the actual correction of the disharmonious behavior.

Within an Equal Money System, disharmony will be addressed through facilitating correction in every possible way - which is what correctional facilities are supposed to be about. The focus will therefore not be upon punishment and revenge - as these actions in no way facilitate actual understanding, which is necessary to effectively correct the disharmony. As such, these measures only take into consideration those who were on the receiving end of the harm caused by the disharmony through making them feel 'safe', remunerating them for losses experienced or giving them a sense of satisfaction through vengeance. Obviously, this implies that the way the justice system currently works does not consider what is Best for All, as the well-being of the individual in disharmony is not equally considered. The justice system requires to address points of harm and disharmony in a way that is sustainable and actually aids the society as a whole. Punishment and revenge are merely quick-fixes to temporarily resolve a point of conflict, but don't ensure the prevention of further harm. 

Related articles

• Day 150: Voting Responsibility and Tight-Knit Communities in an Equal Money System
• Day 151: Media, Law and Information Accessibility within an Equal Money System
• Day 147: Constitutional Equality and Voting in an Equal Money System
• Day 148: Policy Initiation and the Role of Administrators in an Equal Money System
• Day 149: Credits and Levels of Administration within an Equal Money System

Read More

Day 132: Namibia is On to Something

Namibia's wildlife was under great threat from poachers during the 1970s and 1980s, resulting in many species facing extinction during that time.

The poachers were mostly not organised criminals selling various body-parts of the animals for profit as is a common problem facing wildlife in other countries - they were mostly indigenous Namibians living on communal lands, for whom poaching was often the only means to feed their family. They hunted the animals for food.

This problem of poachers has virtually been eliminated and currently, NImibia has the largest population of free roaming black rhinos and cheetahs, an elephant population of 20,000 (coming from 13,000) and 130 lions (coming from 24).

So - what happened?

In simple terms - those who were previously poaching animals, were hired to become game guards. This provided them with the income they previously lacked, that enabled them to feed their families without the need to hunt wildlife. The project has been a huge success, partially because the ex-poachers simply have the best skills and experience in tracking wild animals - skills and experience they required to hunt the animals.

Previous attempts from the Namibian government to 'come down hard' on the poachers with severe sanctions had no results - because despite an incentive to change their behaviour, the cause of the behaviour was not addressed, and thus the criminal activity persisted.

The Equal Money System predicts that if everyone is provided with the goods and services he/she needs to live a dignified life, that crime will drop extensively. Why? Because it immediately addresses the need for crime - which in many cases is a lack.
Certain forms of crime originate from internal conflict, which is misdirected unto others. This point will be addressed through the transformation of the labour system, where each one will only require to work for a limited amount of years while completing their internship, after which labour is strictly on a voluntary basis. Considering that work conditions are often the source of dissatisfaction in people's lives, as well as the fact that working takes up most of people's time, robbing individuals of the needed time to address their inner world and experiences. With sufficient time and support, individuals will be able to take responsibility for their inner world, removing another big source of crime.

So - yes, Namibia is on to something - so is the Equal Money System - go check it out.

Related articles

• Day 114: The World is Our Legacy
• Day 128: What Is Nature Worth To Us?
• Day 129: Copy Right Scam Revisited
• Day 124: Desperate Borrowing Behaviour
• Day 130: Market or Government Failure? No - Human Failure

Read More