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CRIME, PUNISHMENT, AND JUST-U.S. (Part 1 of 2) How ironic! While preparing to celebrate Independence Day, America owns the world’s highest prison rate (2.12 million incarcerated with 21% of them unsentenced), has “permanently” striped 5 million citizens of their voting rights. This  created private/for profit prison opportunities, offers select companies’ contracts for inmate daily essentials (e.g. toothpaste, underwear, cloths, shoes, cheap labor), and even manipulates both the census count and its fund allocations (N.Y.C. inmates are counted residents of the particular town the prison is in). But, with a 500% crime increase over 40 years, incarceration is not an effective means of achieving public safety. “The broad effects which can be obtained by punishment in man are the increase of fear, the sharpening of the sense for cunning, and the mastery of achieving the unmet desire (Nietzsche); therefore, punishment can tame/break a man, but does not make him better (hearted).” So “Laws and institutions are like clocks that must be occasionally cleaned, rewound, and reset to fit true time (Beecher)” and the nature of a crime. Emerson hints “crime and punishment grow out of one stem. Punishment is the fruit that, unsuspected, ripens with the flower that conceals the pleasure, or urgency, of the crime.” Gibran adds “the murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder nor the robbed not blameless in being robbed.  The righteous are not innocent of the deeds of the wicked and the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon … to then speak of he who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger and an intruder upon your world.” Right? Wrong! “The weak and the wicked cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.” And though “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, bad people will find a way around the laws (Plato).” Point! “Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all (Aristotle).” But “any punishment that does not correct but merely rouses rebellion in whoever has to endure it is a greater wrong making those who impose it more guilty in the eyes of humanity than the victim on whom the punishment is inflicted.” So, let us put it all into perspective and move on to a conclusion in next month’s issue. Read More From This Writer All Post Food Government Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Peace People CRIME, PUNISHMENT, AND JUST-U.S. (Part 1 of 2) July 16, 2021/No Comments POST TITLE (CAPITAL) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus Read More HOUSING TERMITES June 16, 2021/No Comments HOUSING TERMITES The apple does not fall far from the tree, just as  Feudalism had kings, nobles, vassals, and lords, Read More RECKLESS AND IRRESPONSIBLE May 16, 2021/No Comments RECKLESS AND IRRESPONSIBLE Local epidemics and global pandemics are not new. Causing mass hysteria and death, viral threats test human Read More Load More End of Content.

The apple does not fall far from the tree, just as  Feudalism had kings, nobles, vassals, and lords, capitalism has corporations, elected officials, regulators, and land developers. Their common goal: Distribution and management of land and resources among low/middle income tenants (peasants and indentured servants). But do not feel helplessly sad and afraid! Get relentlessly willing and able! Call transient residents’ “cockroaches” that come to enjoy a season of the night life and go, each time leaving apartments subject to further rent hikes. Call land developers’ lethal “termites” that come, see opportunity, plot long-term visions, and without the early intervention of qualified exterminators, proceed to execute a methodic plan to settle and expand with permanently devastating consequences on community demographics and existing infrastructure. But a bug is a bug! Flip the switch and watch the light of truth send the night feasting players scrambling for cover. Warning!  “Less all be willing to admit self has become no more than expendable staple to exploit for personal hedonistic gain; life sustaining essentials (as land water and air) cannot be allowed to be a commodity in the for-profit economic market of capitalism”. Since the First Housing Act of 1934, combating unjust declines in urban low-income housing, foreclosures, and homelessness has been ongoing. Pressured by the NAACP and other community organizations at the time, the 1965 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) initiative was enhanced by the 1968 Fair Housing Act effort to manage not eliminate the ongoing national housing crisis. Even subcontracting local non-profit housing organizations like ACORN (1987) has fallen short of the mark. Point! Without sound relocation plans urban development is not urban restoration but a process of disinvestment, displacement, and replacement of whole communities gentrified to near genocide like the Native American: The road to hell is layered with good intentions and outward appearances. Is “Give me your tired your poor your huddled masses yearning to breathe free – the wretched refuse of your teeming shores – send these – the homeless tempest – tossed to me – I lift my lamp besides the golden door” a national creed or curse? With entering Condos and Co-ops ousting low-income units, housing is a bombshell no one wants to consistently address on the stage of daily crisis. Many initially well intended programs have secured realty profiteering opportunities while eliminating or penalizing much resident fight back strategies. Squatter rights and homesteading programs converting vacant lots into gardens and abandoned buildings into restored apartments were reduced to auctions favoring realtors with deep pockets. Repair (landlord violations) and deduct (expenses from rent) laws are near outlawed. Tenant advocates were marginalized by “lawyers only” in housing court.  But as far back as 1839 organized mass anti-rent movements continue to periodically spring up to squash evictions and solicit rent reductions. Having already delivered realtors major defeats in 1907, 1930-40, 1960-1970, New York residents have set this May-June to deliver the termites yet another blow. Newsflash! Today’s housing shortage for low/middle income families is both shameful and criminally negligent. The housing deficit is 2.5 million. Allocating near 50% family income toward rent make 2-bedroom apartments impossible. Section 8 and housing vouchers help landlords maintain rising rent. (nlihc.org) shows how much you need to afford a modest apartment in your state. So, seize the present moment to look and decide! Stand together or continue to perish on your own. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics BETTER LATE THEN NEVER: WHY NATIONAL WOMEN’S MONTH! April 17, 2022/No Comments BETTER LATE THEN NEVER: WHY NATIONAL WOMEN’S MONTH! Women! Ha! What are they good for? Ha! ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! For starters, Read More “LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD” February 17, 2022/No Comments “LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD” Wow! February! Lovey dove time for couples to share flowers, chocolates, dinner, special gifts, and of Read More FOR WHAT’S ANOTHER NEW YEAR January 17, 2022/No Comments FOR WHAT’S ANOTHER NEW YEAR The New Year is a worldwide celebration mainly full of parties, costumes, drinking and resolutions Read More Load More End of Content.