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RealityVsUnreality 15 - 19 Feb 2009 - Main.PetefromOz
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When Prof. Moglen was discussing the wide chasm separating between what we know about the penal system and what really transpires behind prison doors, it occurred to me that this divergence between reality and unreality certainly isn't unqiue to the criminal "justice" system, and that the failure to bridge that gap often leads to a distorted understanding of human behavior in other contexts as well. In the case of the penal system, we witness some alarming absurdities: the father who thinks jail time will "shape up" his son, the politician who pads his resume with convictions, the prosecutor whose political ties pervert her duties as a public servant, and a community which thinks itself safer despite rising rates of incarceration and crime. These symptoms are no doubt worrisome, but I believe the same social forces operate in other cases as well. | | | 2. As someone pointed out, we do have choices; there are people who rise 'above' their environments. Clearly the point made here is that you may have a much tougher start if you start with an abusive family life, and that is something that certainly is not as widely acknowledge as it should be. | |
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< | I have to say those this is an interesting thread. My friend teaches in the Bronx (as I mentioned in another thread), and her kids truly have awful stories to tell about their home lives. Clearly they have some sort of choice about where they end up, but really, how much? | >
> | I have to say that this is an interesting thread. My friend teaches in the Bronx (as I mentioned in another thread), and her kids truly have awful stories to tell about their home lives. Clearly they have some sort of choice about where they end up, but really, how much? | | | -- AaronShepard - 19 Feb 2009 | | | -- LaurenRosenberg - 19 Feb 2009 | |
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< | What everyone has written so far is interesting, but if we are talking about reality, I can't help but think that what is missing from this discussion is a further acknowledgment of the homeless families we don't see on campuses, streets and under bridges in the community. Those of the sheer bad luck sort are more prominent than many realize or care to discuss. It seems that one of the problems of drawing a line between the reality of the problem and the misconceptions we have about groups of people stems from the very fact that the average person draws conclusions based on what is seen: we see the beggar sitting with the sign and change cup, we see the individuals curled up on grates in the hope of staying warm. What we don't see is the family who faces hard times, loses the apartment and ends up bouncing from shelter to shelter while trying to get life back to the way it used to be. Many of you expressed unease and dissociation with the homeless community. There's no question the cycle of poverty is continuous and makes it difficult to pinpoint a root, but I wonder if the reality we seek and the cognitive framework in which we approach this discussion change once we realize that the the one in search of shelter could be you or me someday. | >
> | What everyone has written so far is interesting, but if we are talking about reality, I can't help but think that what is missing from this discussion is a further acknowledgment of the homeless families we don't see on campuses, streets and under bridges in the community. Those of the sheer bad luck sort are more prominent than many realize or care to discuss. It seems that one of the problems of drawing a line between the reality of the problem and the misconceptions we have about groups of people stems from the very fact that the average person draws conclusions based on what is seen: we see the beggar sitting with the sign and change cup, we see the individuals curled up on grates in the hope of staying warm. What we don't see is the family who faces hard times, loses the apartment and ends up bouncing from shelter to shelter while trying to get life back to the way it used to be. Many of you expressed unease and dissociation with the homeless community. There's no question the cycle of poverty is continuous and makes it difficult to pinpoint a root, but I wonder if the reality we seek and the cognitive framework in which we approach this discussion change once we realize that the one in search of shelter could be you or me someday. | | | -- UchechiAmadi - 19 Feb 2009 |
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