Save the banks, kill the schools.

I sometimes forget where I am. I am in the system: capitalism, and I am probably the worst capitalist. I grew up in a lot of different countries with different systems and I was able to understand their systems, for the most part, a lot better than I understand capitalism. This is the reason behind the military member and their families moving so frequently because supposedly, if not moved, their loyalty will remain with that specific general, country, etc and they will adopt that ideology. Once again, it is rooted in history. I love being American. The Americans that I know are very tolerant of different cultures, religions and ideas. The best part about capitalism is that artists can profit from their work. I cannot stress the importance of the arts. I think critically about most song lyrics, visual arts--television and advertisements, and musical compositions. One thing that I fail to understand, however, is how to think like a true capitalist--money-centric. I am still building on that.    

Being in a capitalistic society, it should have been immediately apparent that the bail out money would go to the banks, instead of the schools, but I have always believed in doing the right thing, and that seemed very wrong to me.

Kanye West, who obviously gets it, wrote in his song, "Power": "the system's broken, the schools closed, the prisons open," and that is the most succinct way to describe what is happening. America's incarceration rate is so high that we have private prisons. That, in my opinion, is probably one of the worst ideas in the history of this country because it is an incentive to incarcerate people. How else would the prison profit? Whenever "overcrowding" is stated as the reason for Lindsay Lohan and other celebrities' reduced sentence time, I have a suggestion: utilize the private prisons! In a private prison, "the more the merrier!" Imagine if those private prisons were instead homeless shelters, orphanages, or shelters for victims of domestic violence. That is how I imagine things, but this is capitalism and private prisons are good for business. I still believe that criminals should receive a reasonable sentence and rehabilitation services, but profiting from prisoners seems like a conflict of interest.

Congratulations, Lindsay! I dedicate so many blog entries to you. I do truly hope that she gets help, though, and every other addict in the world because it is the rehabilitated that can help the current and future addicts. I do believe that she received special treatment and that is my major disagreement. A wrong will always be a wrong. There is no justifiable reason that some have been prosecuted for lesser crimes and she has received such lenient sentencing.

I have known people that have been to prison. I used to be very closed-minded about a lot of issues, and then, through a self-imposed exposure therapy, I opened myself to many different ideas and people. What I learned was that the only way that most people discover someone has been to prison is through a background check, job application, or disclosure. The better looking someone is, e.g., Lindsay Lohan, the less likely it is that one will suspect that they have been to prison. Hollywood employs known prisoners regularly and it is one of the best paying industries in the country. I wonder if their applications ever have a check box for if the applicant has been to prison or been found guilty of a misdemeanor. . . Save the arts, or the arts may save a prisoner. Ironic.