In a class meant for therapists working with inmates, a history of prisons from various worlds, especially earth, is given. Along with unfortunate examples of prisons, and prison-life, from Deregger worlds and the damage it does before people are rescued. -- Lessons
Deathworlders, especially, hold the belief that punishing a wrongdoer will prevent them from doing wrong ever again. This has naturally lead to the idea that some groups are genetically predisposed to crime. That, as we know today, is a logical fallacy. Every single individual who comes to that conclusion discounts the holistic approach to eliminating crime.
The display board shows one word. Stark black on white and in bold font. It says: DISPARITY.
Many crimes are acts of desperation. Some crimes are symptoms of desperation. If one's life is bleak, with no hope, and little in the way of healthcare; it is therefore natural to seek other means, and other escapes. Deregger worlds, especially, view the escapes as a cause rather than the effect. Then again, Deregger worlds look for any and all excuses to revive the practice of slavery on their populace.
To make myself clear, we need to define disparity. What makes the difference between a healthy, well-adjusted citizen and a desperate one who turns to crime? Here in the Alliance, we make certain that all citizens have access to adequate shelter, a full range of nutrition, and complete medical care. Everyone has the right to clean air, complete nutrition, and a basic education. They also retain the responsibility to maintain the air integrity and seek help when they need it.
As Alliance citizens, it is easy to treat these rights and responsibilities as background noise. Everyone should have this and, you believe, everyone does.
Let's look at Greater Deregulation Upper Northwest.
This is one of the longer-lasting Deregger worlds, constantly teetering on the brink of total collapse. Yet they remain stable, for sufficiently expansive definitions of 'stable'.
Here on Upper Northwest, the bulk of citizenry is constantly scrambling for existence between wage events. They have high infant mortality, low life expectancy, an indoctrination-based educational system and the most egocentric rhetoric of any Deregger planet. They also have the highest incidences of drug use, the lowest nutritional content of any meal, and an almost nonexistent presence of gender and sexuality equality known to intelligent life. So how do they persist?
Now the large word on the screen is: BLAME.
With someone or something to blame, they can get away with everything. They can claim it was someone's choice to become hooked on a drug. They can claim it was someone's choice to steal food or water. They can even claim that the downward spiral a citizen finds themselves in is the fault of ominous outside forces. With enough of a victim complex, anything is possible.
Now let's have a look at their criminal justice.
The screen switches to infographics that matches the lecturing narrative. Cartoon figures of humans, just enough to suggest their form, but not enough to give details.
Let's call this 'master criminal' John Doe. Ze has just been arrested for using the fictional drug 'spleef'. A concoction of pharmaceuticals pushed to hir by hir boss so that ze could make up hir work hours and pay for hir rent and meals this week. Mx Doe quickly became addicted and used the drug outside of work hours. Ze was caught on the 24-hour surveillance system and taken into holding.
Once a night in an overcrowded jail cell has passed, Mx Doe meets hir assigned lawyer. This lawyer does the bare minimum and tells Mx Doe to plead guilty so the courts will 'go easy' on hir. Mx Doe, not knowing any better, does what ze is told. Ze is then sentenced to forty years' indentured servitude and spends a majority of it wondering what it would have been like if ze had asked for a trial.
Once in incarceration, Mx Doe is given an abundant supply of 'spleef' and little else in the way of medical care. If ze survives incarceration, Mx Doe emerges into society with a permanent black mark on hir record. The former occupations once open to Mx Doe are now closed off because ze is a convicted felon.
Without residence, without a chance to earn, and without a regular supply of 'spleef', it is no wonder that ze turns to theft and violence to gain what little ze had lost.
Ultimately, John Doe becomes the next horrifying boogeyman to everyone else who hasn't been incarcerated yet. A dangerous criminal who was allowed to roam free because of an allegedly lax legal system.
We can see exactly where this went wrong. Starting with the necessity of an addictive drug to make it possible to earn basic upkeep. Here in the Alliance, basic upkeep is a right. None of us have to pay for such. Even those who need more upkeep than average have the right to it. We pay for this with community services for the greater good of all.
Of course, the Dereggers think this is the worst kind of oppression and paint it as dark as they possibly can. Anyone who isn't working until exhaustion is a 'freeloader' unless they're a CEO, of course.
That is, alas, time for this session. In your free hours, please explore the historical mindsets behind punishment-oriented rehabilitation and why it was doomed to failure. I also recommend you investigate and hypothesise how to fully reform a Deregger polity into more sensible avenues of action and reaction.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / yupiramos]
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[101 remaining prompts] Please don't send any more prompts for now. Thank you.
