'Department of Corrections' is a lie
Yesterday I was out picking up litter and one of the items I picked up was a discarded letter which had been mailed from the Arizona Department of Corrections. "Corrections"? What a tragic joke! Just imagine if government departments were expected to be truthful when choosing names. "Corrections" would not be a part of the name in that case since nothing could be farther from the truth.
Very few who support the concept of imprisonment actual want "correction"; they want 'punishment". "Punishment" does not mean the same thing as "correction" no matter what abusive parents may claim as they prepare the belt. Euphemisms only hide the evil. The fact that most of those so punished do not deserve it only adds to the travesty.
Who do they think they are fooling with the word "corrections" in the name? Does anyone actually believe that anything, particularly the inmates' behavior, is being "corrected"? Or is it more likely that their behavior is being corrupted and made worse by exposure to more experienced and more "hardened" thugs (on both sides of the bars). Rather than "Department of Corrections", it is the "Department of Corruption"- in every sense of the word at every possible level.
The absolutely disgusting practice of putting non-violent innocent "drug users", "tax evaders", or other victims of "mala prohibitum" edicts in prison beside the violent initiators of force and thieves often turns people who previously had no aggressive proclivities into a new army of people who now have a "criminal record" and nothing to lose.
Obviously not everyone who was wrongly kidnapped by the "justice system" and tossed into the "correction" facilities will become an aggressor or a thief. Many people of strong principles are able to get out of "criminal university" without being corrupted. How many people really have principles strong enough to resist, though?
The corruption doesn't end there. The administrators and guards too often succumb to temptation and use their power in ways illustrated by the Milgram experiment. They also use their position to enrich themselves by providing services and goods in the prison's black market. Being inside a corrupt system corrupts a substantial percentage of those who come in contact with it.
Government seeks to expand the corruption, along with the inherent profit and power, but it is time to put an end to it. Once and for all.
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