America is Moving in the Right Direction

            The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Act” was finally deemed unconstitutional. Lately, it seems that America has been making a lot of progress in the rights of minorities. For example, Obama was elected president. Now homosexuals can openly serve in the military.

            Although we are making progress as a whole, there are still those who refuse acceptance of minorities such as African Americans and Homosexuals. Though it is now legal, I think that there will be many problems for homosexuals in the army. Unfortunately, bigots can be found everywhere and I’m sure that homosexuals won’t be treated equally to heterosexuals serving in the army.

            Even though women are allowed to work, they still are treated like they are unequal to men. Women receive lower wages, and they have to work harder to achieve the same things. We still have a long way to go, but we are getting there slowly as we have shown with electing Obama and deeming acts, such as the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Act” unconstitutional. I hope we can continue to make more progress.  

Upper Class Life Expectancy Higher Than Middle and Lower Class

Upper class citizens tend to live longer than the middle class citizens. How long a person lives is affiliated with many things.  A few of these things are diet, access to medical facilities and treatments, living conditions, and stress. People who make more money are able to afford better quality food. They also have better access to medical facilities and treatments, and can afford more sanitary living conditions. On top of that, people who make more money may be able to work fewer hours, take more vacations, and sick days. On the other hand, people on lower incomes can’t afford top quality foods, medical facilities and treatments, and living conditions. They may not be able to take sick days. All of this builds up and is a big reason why upper class citizens tend to live longer.

I also noticed how the difference between male life expectancy of upper and middle class changed from 1986 to 2006. My teacher explained that Upper class incomes skyrocketed, middle class incomes stagnated and health care costs also skyrocketed. I know how hard it is to pass laws, and I know how hard Obama is working, but I feel that more has to be done to make health care more affordable. 

The Death Penalty

            When I was younger and everything seemed so clear cut, I believed in the death penalty. To me there had been four types of people; “really good people”, “good people”, “bad people”, and “really bad people”. I felt that really bad people, people who took the lives of others, deserved to die. However, as I got older and learned more I realized that things weren’t so black and white and that most things were various shades of grey. For example I learned that not all bad people went to prison, and not all people in prison were bad; and people who did good things weren’t necessarily good, and good people didn’t always do good things.

            I soon found that I had mixed feelings about the death penalty. On one hand, I believed in it because there are people who are too dangerous to be in this world; people who derive pleasure from killing others. These people cause so much suffering. The loved ones of these victims normally suffer for the rest of their lives. So why should people who inflict so much pain be allowed to live? On the other hand, killing these murders won’t bring the people that they have killed back. There is a difference between vengeance and punishment; and two wrongs don’t make a right.

            After debating on this matter with my teacher, I seemed to lean more towards the outlawing the death penalty side. He brought up some magnificent points. One was that the American government was created to protect, not harm the citizens of America. The penal system was created to correct behaviors; killing the person doesn’t exactly correct their behavior. The other point was the cost of keeping inmates on death row. Many inmates are there for years before they are finally “put down.” There is also the cost of all the appeal made in this time period. These trials cost lots of money, money that could be spent on other things, like education. He then told me to read Nicholas Kristof’s article Framed for Murder?

            After reading Kristof’s article my view shifted all the way to outlawing the death penalty. The article tells about Kevin Cooper, an African American ex-convict, who is now being tried for the death penalty for murdering a white family. All the evidence points that he didn’t do it, yet he is still being tried for it. Bill Clintons’ White house counsel, Lanny Davis said, “My simple theory: heinous brutal murder of a white family and a black convict. Simple as that.” Unfortunately, for many it is as simple as that. Juries have been proven to time and time again to be more likely to convict a person of color than a white person.

            Kristof is right, “No system is fail-safe.” Unfortunately, killing an innocent with the death penalty isn’t exactly a “whoops, my bad” mistake. It is something that never can be undone. For the reason that the system is not fail-safe, the death penalty should be outlawed.  

Georgia Prison Strike

            On December 9^th the biggest prison strike in U.S history was carried out in seven Georgia state Prisons. Five days later and four prisons still remain in lock down. Inmates acquired cell phones by buying them from guards and organized a peaceful strike. Inmates refused to work or leave their cells until their demands were addressed. The demands included better medical care and nutrition, more educational opportunities, payment for the inmates labor, more just parole decisions and an end to cruel and unusual punishment.

            Elaine Brown, the founder of the new group Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners Rights, and former chair of Black Panther Group, talked about what life was like in Georgia State Prisons on DemocracyNow. Some of these conditions are overcrowding of prisons and cells, no activities besides the work they are required to do (which they are not even paid for, lack of any basic human conditions, bad food, poor health care, lack of nutrition, and no educational opportunities. Work in the prisons includes cleaning floors, cleaning bathrooms and shower area, maintaining prisons, and yard work.

            It is arguable that the work done in prisons goes against the 13^th amendment, which outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude. Though it can also be argued that these prisoners committed a crime in which they are now being punished for. Even so, the role of the American government is to protect the rights and interests of the American People. The penal system was created to help those who did wrong and help them become law-abiding citizens.

            Providing education for inmates would help make the inmates law-abiding citizens. Education would give the prisoners the tools they need to turn their life around and get a paying and honest job. Right now the economy is in such a bad state that it hard for even citizens with a clear record and a good education to find jobs. In my opinion, many people turn to crime because they don’t have the tools they need to survive in the real world. Of course, there are some exceptions.

            Not paying inmates for the work they do and only giving them $25 when they are released from Georgia State prisons makes it hard to survive, especially if they have no money or a job. Sending these ex-convicts back into the real world with not enough to survive is pretty much setting them up to fall back into crime.

            Being surrounded by violence, especially violence incited by guards, doesn’t help the inmates at all. It creates anger and more problems and doesn’t get them into the mind set to be a law-abiding citizen. Even though prisons are supposed to help create law-abiding citizens it seems that the prisons are actually pushing the inmates back into the realm of crime. If some of the demands were met that the prisoners made, I think it would go a long way in helping them become better people. I also think that the fact that these prisoners staged a peaceful strike instead of a violent strike should be rewarded.

Information from: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/14/prisoner_advocate_elaine_brown_on_georgia