"Incarceration nation" is the slogan of the hour. In the pages of every liberal paper, you can't go more than a few days without some earnest editorial, or some quasi-editorial masquerading as a "news story," telling us that we have too many people in jail. All this jailing is expensive, inhumane, and counterproductive. For these reasons and more, we should curb the use of imprisonment.
Almost always, the people writing this stuff are careful to add something to the effect that, "Of course, there are some really dangerous people who need to be incarcerated." The reassurance of sanity is pasted in to persuade us that our opponents want the much-heralded "balanced approach."
But one must wonder. The emotive engine of the anti-incarceration movement is more deeply rooted than its ostensible arguments. It's the belief that the United States is a Bad Country -- driven by racism, inequality, privilege, greed and inhuman callousness. If you don't believe me, go to any Ivy League school and look at what's posted on the bulletin boards as you walk down the hall. Then look at some of the more "innovative" course offerings in the catalog.
So is a mere curbing of imprisonment what they actually want? Hey, look, every now and again, the mask slips.
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