TheLastManInAmerica

“These walls can a have strange affect on a man.”

                    Morgan Freeman in “The Shawshank Redemption”             

 And so Morgan Freeman’s character, Red, explained how prison and prisoner sometimes come together in a twisted sort of Stockholm Syndrome. At the time the story of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption took place, this was a scary thought and it’s easy to understand why. In those days being a prisoner meant losing your freedom; it meant being locked in a cold, dark cage with only books and thoughts and a leering hulk of a cellmate to keep you company. As it is today, being a prisoner almost means having more freedoms that the law-abiding citizen.

            There was a time when, if convicted of a crime, a criminal repaid their debt to society through hard labor that helped to improve the community which they chose to live outside of. Back breaking work done in skin searing heat, digging ditches and building roads; this is where the convict made his amends. After all, the bank robber, the rapist and the murderer have all taken something as part of their crimes. And when thought of in that context, is even the hardest of labor a satisfying recompense?

            Today, we seem more intent on giving to the prisoner as opposed to them giving back to us. They enjoy luxuries on the inside that some people on the outside don’t have the means to afford. In cells that more often resemble college dorms, all across the country inmates are allowed television sets with cable, paid for by means of yours and my tax dollars, respectively. Convicts also enjoy internet access without their bills jumping from $24.99 to $59.99 after the first three months; not to mention those pesky installation/cancellation charges! Once again, this service is complements of you and me.

            So where is the dissuasion from becoming a criminal? It’s almost as if you’d strive to get caught! I, personally, can choose either to get up at 3 A.M  every morning and hop a bus for thirty miles where, upon arrival, I work for eight hours to hop a bus back, making it home in time to eat and go to bed; or I can go on a meth-fueled rampage, raping and pillaging like a Nordic warrior then, once caught, be shipped off to my rent-free room where I enjoy free, prepared food, watch Maury Povich by day and the Sopranos by night, log on to ESPN.com to check the daily scores and whine that the biggest inconvenience is a cold, metal-rimmed toilet.

            It’s not even as if daily life changes that much for criminals. Any casual watcher of the History Channel or MSNBC has probably seen a special on gangs behind bars and how federal detention centers become battlegrounds for gangs to wage war. Even leaders of gangs are able to communicate with those on the outside, ordering hits and continuing to run operations while in jail. Instead of being chained together, tarring sun-scorched pavement, criminals have stumbled into a perverted twilight zone where up is down, black is white and accommodation is found for breaking the law. Lesson learned: Crime Pays.          

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