Letters to the Editor
-
I think MOST people who fail fail for reasons that are fairly specific to their own condition
And trust me I'm the first person to scream for 'law enforcement' reform, sentencing changes and upending the whole system. But by and large MOST people who screw it up screw up because of something they did or did not do, willfully. We can quibble about why people go to jail and for how long but we can't argue that people DO in fact take drugs, break into cars, drop out, get pregnant, are lazy, too proud and a million other things that cause them to fail. We can help them, we can punish them less. We can be reasonable.
But seriously, don't go to court stinking of whiskey when you're there to answer for a DUI. Don't be a 10th grade drop out. Don't smoke crack. Don't beat your pregnant 16 year old girlfriend. Don't get tasered. Don't skip on probation. Don't rob people. Wake up everyday you have work and go to work. And if you need work, get up everyday and look for work until you have a job. Don't smoke weed on the job. Don't steal from your employer. Don't lend your cousin your trailer to cook meth. Don't throw bricks at someone's house. Take your meds. Don't sell them. Dress your kids in the morning feed them breakfast and get them on the bus. Make sure they have coats, and lunches and when they come home some ugly uncle isn't there to molest them.
We have come to the point I'm afraid where functioning at all is optional and doing the right thing is a breakthrough. It's not a breakthrough, it's your damn job. For your kids, for you. It's ugly and dreary and hard work. It can be depressing. It's your responsibility as a human being with self respect and dignity and humanity to be thus. Black, White, no matter. If you're trash you're trash. And unless and until you are seriously ill or handicapped that's your life to manage through.
Poverty is a ugly word. It should be.