Outstanding tunes to close a great article. Since you started with the math I'm wondering now what would happen if we gave every non-violent incarcerated person the average cost of keeping them inside for a year and paroled them for the balance of their sentence. The same concept would work if we used the money spent on incarceration and deportation to teach and house the people who so desperately want to come here to enjoy the benefits of such freedom as we retain, but, as you pointed out, that was tried but Mikey the MAGAt buckled under pressure from Felon47 so we won't know for at least two years. While we're on the topic, we could try using the money budgeted for drug interdiction and control to treat, counsel, and otherwise support addicted users and see if the Portuguese or Dutch systems work at scale. The formerly filled prisons could be turned into solar and wind farms or substations thereby making a positive contribution to society and the environment instead of being the eyesore pollutants that they currently are.
Brilliant! Dave, your brain is a marvel of ingenuity and logic.
Just imagine investing treatment instead of imprisoning. The latter has not worked. So naturally we keep doing it again and again. FSM forbid that we learn from other country's successes.
Thanks for a terrific comment.
BTW, as technology makes more and more jobs obsolete, we'll need a UBI. I'm sure the oligarchs and tech bros will want to help with that. /s
Thanks Bill. BTW, Muck is not a libertarian. One of the cardinal tenets of libertarianism is the pair opposition of liberty and responsibility; Muck and Trump alike are libertines, seeking freedom from all responsibility and, whenever possible, the ability to put the responsibility on someone else. Like conservative, liberal, progressive and, for that matter, fascist, libertarian has become a corrupted and essentially meaningless term; more of a pejorative than anything else.
I hate that what used to be clearly definitive terms have been warped. I am fiscally conservative. In my mind, that means careful and not taking crazy ass risks with money. Yet, I wouldn't use the word now because conservatives now advocate discrimination, death and debacle.
Back in the day when you called someone liberal minded, it was a high compliment- no matter your political persuasion.
Not sure what's worse. The perversion of our culture or the wreckage of our language.
I could not agree with you more about the need for these workers. But the people in this administration (I won’t use his name) are racists. They want white women to have more babies to deal with the coming demographic cliff. I’m glad I’m not of childbearing age.
I'm trying not to let my sadness over the cruel actions of this regime stifle me. Every day has been more horrifying than the next, but I will continue to speak out against every inhumane action. Keep speaking up and informing us, Bill!
Thank you, Bill. Reminded me of an old tape I have of the Sandpipers album - one of the first I ever bought. That we need all these immigrants (and none of them are 'illegal') has been painfully obvious for years. We just have half the country too stupid to realize it. Coupled with the tariffs, the economy is headed for the toilet.
Outstanding tunes to close a great article. Since you started with the math I'm wondering now what would happen if we gave every non-violent incarcerated person the average cost of keeping them inside for a year and paroled them for the balance of their sentence. The same concept would work if we used the money spent on incarceration and deportation to teach and house the people who so desperately want to come here to enjoy the benefits of such freedom as we retain, but, as you pointed out, that was tried but Mikey the MAGAt buckled under pressure from Felon47 so we won't know for at least two years. While we're on the topic, we could try using the money budgeted for drug interdiction and control to treat, counsel, and otherwise support addicted users and see if the Portuguese or Dutch systems work at scale. The formerly filled prisons could be turned into solar and wind farms or substations thereby making a positive contribution to society and the environment instead of being the eyesore pollutants that they currently are.
Brilliant! Dave, your brain is a marvel of ingenuity and logic.
Just imagine investing treatment instead of imprisoning. The latter has not worked. So naturally we keep doing it again and again. FSM forbid that we learn from other country's successes.
Thanks for a terrific comment.
BTW, as technology makes more and more jobs obsolete, we'll need a UBI. I'm sure the oligarchs and tech bros will want to help with that. /s
Thanks Bill. BTW, Muck is not a libertarian. One of the cardinal tenets of libertarianism is the pair opposition of liberty and responsibility; Muck and Trump alike are libertines, seeking freedom from all responsibility and, whenever possible, the ability to put the responsibility on someone else. Like conservative, liberal, progressive and, for that matter, fascist, libertarian has become a corrupted and essentially meaningless term; more of a pejorative than anything else.
I hate that what used to be clearly definitive terms have been warped. I am fiscally conservative. In my mind, that means careful and not taking crazy ass risks with money. Yet, I wouldn't use the word now because conservatives now advocate discrimination, death and debacle.
Back in the day when you called someone liberal minded, it was a high compliment- no matter your political persuasion.
Not sure what's worse. The perversion of our culture or the wreckage of our language.
The two are like conjoined twins, you can't have one without the other and each makes the other more effective/devastating.
I could not agree with you more about the need for these workers. But the people in this administration (I won’t use his name) are racists. They want white women to have more babies to deal with the coming demographic cliff. I’m glad I’m not of childbearing age.
I'm trying not to let my sadness over the cruel actions of this regime stifle me. Every day has been more horrifying than the next, but I will continue to speak out against every inhumane action. Keep speaking up and informing us, Bill!
Playing for Change had me sobbing! I never knew all the words. So powerful! ❤️💔
That was a good read. Thank you, Bill.
Terrific article!! I totally agree.
Best,
Rob Rubin
Thank you, Bill. Reminded me of an old tape I have of the Sandpipers album - one of the first I ever bought. That we need all these immigrants (and none of them are 'illegal') has been painfully obvious for years. We just have half the country too stupid to realize it. Coupled with the tariffs, the economy is headed for the toilet.
Thank you, Bill, correct on all points, and a shout out to your 'friend' "AI Pi"
Well thought out and expressed. I like your AI buddy. Keep it up.