Intro
Two people I knew by sight from the University have been put into prison. They are being called “political prisoners” while the media, their families, friends and coworkers say they have been “unjustly imprisoned”.
**Funny/Sad note: As I searched on google for the word Justice, the first result was a clothing store.
This drove me to think about what it means to be justly or unjustly imprisoned (all feelings aside).
Outlines
When the world was still new, wrongdoers were killed or maimed. This still happens in some places: Thieves get their hands cut off, prostitutes get stoned, murderers are murdered. Society decides what to do with their wrongdoers, but most importantly WHO these wrongdoers are.
The Law is just a hint: everywhere around the world thieves, murderers and traitors are punished in one way or another. But there are other criminals, like adulterers, protesters, downloaders or music, weed smokers, ‘shroom eaters, tax evaders and the like. The REAL question is WHY they are wrongdoers for this particular society.
We the People
It’s important to make the difference too, that there is the STATE and there is the PEOPLE: what the people believe is not necessarily the same as what the State wants them to believe. Half of North American Society is, has been or will become a drug user, and most of them will not go to jail for it. Society will not persecute them, but the State will. A murderer, a rapist, a thief, on the other hand, will be put to justice by the people themselves if the State doesn’t get there on time. No one wants a violent, irresponsible neighbor.
Let’s go back to that young man and young woman who have been “unjustly imprisoned”. The Intelligence Corps of the State picked them up at their homes for being the heads of a civil association who teaches young kids from public schools about international politics, international law, international debate. One very prominent head of the Government called said organization “a threat”, and ever since all their members have been chased out or put to jail.
Putting aside all irregularities of the incarceration process, let’s focus on their crimes. For the Government, they are loose cannonballs. They are dangerous subjects who must be taken out of circulation, lest they cause any more harm. But, what is this harm? Unless there is some hidden part of this, according to the head of Government himself, the HARM is in the distribution of ideas that undermine the morale of society: they are keeping the ghost of capitalism alive.
See it Raw
How much of a crime is this? (All emotions aside). For the parents of these young people of course they are unjustly imprisoned. They see no harm in spreading their own ideas. But what if someone came to my all-vegan house and offered freshly fried, crispy bacon to my children? What if, after I said: please, don’t offer this bloody, sinful deliciousness to my children, because I would like them to remain respectful of the life of animals. And after I had said this, a group of people came often to my house to teach them about the benefits of meat-eating in a world wide scale. What can I do about these people?
They are, of course, a threat, and I don’t want them inside my house. I would never open the door for them and I would take extra care in indoctrinating my children even deeper on the benefits of a vegan diet and the massacres committed by meat eaters.
The Fact of the Matter is...
This is not a house, but a country. And people in power are not our parents and do not get to decide what we believe. Furthermore, those lecturing about the benefits of capitalism, are not outsiders, but also sons of the same house, people sprouted out of the same piece of land.
I seriously doubt people from the communities where these children are being taught about international political endeavours would chase the members of the organization with sticks, stones and blazing fires, trying to make them pay for the harm they are doing. This means that they are enemies of the State, but not of the people.
Why is this not the same thing? After all, DEMOCRACY means literally the “Government of the People”.
On a side note, this is the main problem with the theory of Feindstrafrecht, or Criminal Law of the Enemy [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feindstrafrecht] . Interesting theory but not yet applied, because: who is the enemy of whom nowadays?
So, back on the main line, were those two young people “unjustly imprisoned”? What do their neighbors say? What do their rulers say? And why, oh why, is there a difference?
Simón Bolívar said that ignorant people confuse vengeance with justice. But I think justice is to keep those irresponsible and violent at bay, to keep the innocents safe. I suppose the real question is who is who, in the end.