On Prisons

[DanaC]

Also, too, a British man speaking to the US's system of punishment, when the Brits have used the most inhumane systems of torture imaginable to punish people over the past several centuries, is fucking hilarious.

Those appalling methods of punishment were during the middle ages and a few of them stuck around to the 18th century. Want to know how American slave owners punished their slaves during that time? What happened to suspected witches in Salem? And how did Americans execute their prisoners during the early 20th century? Was it by any chance electrocution with their eyeballs melting down their faces and smoke billowing out from their heads? Oh yes, I think it was.

We don't torture people now. We don't even execute people now.

Not that our prisons are anything to write home about - suicides in prison are up 60% since 2006. Rape is not uncommon. The vast majority of our prison population are functionally illiterate and levels of mental illness are sky high. Prisons are full of people serving time for minor offences, whilst corporate offenders who broke our economy get away with a slap on the wrist and a small fine.

I think he did offer solutions - stop farming it out to private companies to make profits from punishment - stop jailing people for minor criminality including minor drugs offences and offer better care for the mentally ill. he didn;t offer that as a British criticism of America - he offered it as an observer's criticism of the system in which he now lives, married to his American wife (an army medic).

Or, you could go all patriotic and ignore any valid criticisms because it's a Brit making them, and slag off the Brits just to drive your point home. The fact that every point he made has also been made by Americans over the last few years notwithstanding.