One of the core ideas of prison life is that it’s basically run by the people. All the crimes committed by the inmates are against the people, and from arrest to conviction and sentencing, every single step of the process is funded by the people as well. And that is where the irony is.
The majority of average citizens are taxpayers. And for the others, they are related to taxpayers in one way or the other. Minors have taxpaying parents. The elderly have taxpaying children, nephews, and nieces. In one way or the other, society is taking from every single person. And when a family accumulates, just how much goes to the government alone, it can be a whole lot.
But it’s much needed, because that money goes into the creation of infrastructure, the building of schools, and, as per this topic, the building of hospitals and the provision of a better healthcare system. A system that should be open to all citizens of the country, regardless of their status. But that’s where this becomes somewhat dark. I wonder just how I would feel knowing that someone who hurt my family is chilling in prison, eating food that I paid for, getting treatment for free, funded by my taxes and all the shebang! Meanwhile, well-meaning citizens like me- I don’t even know where my next meal will come from. I use over-the-counter drugs because I can’t afford to go to the hospital; it’s too damn expensive. But inmates get to enjoy all this?
But still, regardless of what we feel about this, there is still something called human rights. Regardless of what these guys did, we can’t just dump them in a cell and leave them to rot without feeding them or providing healthcare. If we allow that, how then are we any different from the criminals themselves? Yeah, we’re the ones funding it, but perspective really matters in things like this because, you know that as long as you have your freedom, there is basically nothing that you can’t do. Meanwhile, under lock and key, you’re limited by the confines of the prison in which you reside.
And then, let’s not forget that there are still a lot of people locked up in prison for crimes they know nothing about. They can’t be lumped up with actual criminals and made to suffer inhuman conditions just because the system messed them up. And then, there are those who are only there because they made mistakes. I’m not talking about those who knowingly committed crimes; I mean those who, by trusting the wrong person, found themselves embroiled in an illegal thing, leading to their arrest and eventual imprisonment.
Things happen. But even without all that, even if the system were perfect and only hardened criminals were locked up, I don’t think I’d be able to support withholding healthcare from them. It just seems too cruel. And there’s no justice in that.
Well, that’s just my two cents.
Watch My Engaging Stories on:
Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.