Why would Stockwell Day want to spend billions of dollars on prisons we don't need? Doesn't make any sense. The crime rate is down and has been dropping consistently for a long time. So, when queried, Mr. Day told us that he is building these prisons on spec because of the huge rate of unreported crime. Um, sorry? Obviously, this makes no sense.
But what if we look at this in another context? What if it's not supposed to make any sense? What if this a tactic designed to make us feel a little more uneasy, to distract us? What if this government is trying to emulate another, equally scary, regime? What if Stockwell Day is doing his bit to be like the Dubya?
And just when you thought George Bush was finally gone. Here, there be his ghost. Fear mongering was a favourite tactic of the Bush administration, allowing Bush to encourage the people of his fine nation to wage (what I consider to be a largely personal) war, ignore real financial crisis in the making, and lock their doors against the monsters that lie without. Well, we now know that there were no weapons of mass destruction, no real external threat. We know that we should have been more vigilant and that banks can't be trusted. And still, the crime rate is dropping.
What was the result of Dubya's largely successful attempt to distract his public? Where there was no real threat before, now there is anger. Violent anger directed at the United States. Not that folks didn't resent the country before, but now? Well, now they're more motivated. Funny how we can create our own reality.
So, Mr. Day, I am inclined not to be distracted so that you can get your pet project built. Why not just admit that you were putting the funds where they're not needed and move on. I know. Instead of trying to scare me, why not spend some time trying to find out where the funds could really help? It's radical, I know. But I think you can do it.
And this way, you won't create a reality in which those prisons are filled. I don't want that future.
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