For those of you who have followed this blog over a period of time I apologize for lack of posting’s lately but I was involved in a horrible auto accident a few months ago and it took not only it’s physical toil but a mental one as well. To top it off I have always felt that having lived in the worse federal prisons this country has to offer for an extended (25 years) period of time that there was nothing which could cause me to break but believe me going to physical therapy is like consigning yourself to Attila the Hun or some other torturer.  I cry every Sunday night in anticipation of Monday, again on Tuesday for Wednesday’s sessions, and again on Thursday for Friday. I mean this from a guy who has been beaten by sadistic prison guards and lived in the woods while on escape without food for days without shedding a tear. The moral is if hurt heal thyself for therapist are evil people by nature

Enough of that for I’m sure there are those of you who have dealt with much worse. My sympathy goes out to you.

During my convalescence I have watched and read the news as never before and it puzzles me as to how they can continue to allow the unemployment rolls to grow and say on the other hand they want to really reduce the recidivist rates. It appears as if the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. An old cliché but true none the less. Its time America recognizes the prison industry for what it is, a private industry where prison laborers are paid slave wages  while incarcerated and then released with few if any skills and nothing to certify he/she is qualified to actually compete and especially with  competition being what it is today. How can there be a real expectation that one will not recidivate or at the very least become re-involved in doing what he/she knows to do best? Crime! As in the past I repeat “no-one leaves prison with the thought of returning in six months or a year” but realistically what are the odds of success without employment? Yes, more parole and probation officers are hired and ex-offenders end up homeless for those who really try and stay out but for those who do go back to the street they are eventually re-arrested for more serious crimes. The general thought is that since one is an ex-offender and going back for a really extended period of time why not take that chance and go for it? You might get away.

On the other hand isn’t it time the governments began to understand that college courses don’t teach how to deal with people returning to society and their problems? One way would be to ask those being released what their real needs are and finding ways to provide just that until one learns the necessary skills to survive on the street and be a real productive citizen?   

Unless something is done soon we will have as many prisons as we do schools and since those convicted of crimes have no voting rights in most states who will contest the real wrongs? The legal enslavement of the underserved population.