A More Perfect Union

You’ve heard about the military-industrial complex. Have you heard about the prison-industrial complex? One in a hundred Americans are in jail. You know a hundred people. If none are in jail, consider those who stand on the other side of average. Johnny, we miss you.

Speaking of prisons, you’ve probably heard about Abu Ghraib. I want you to look at some pictures taken there. Expect blood, shit, unhappy genitalia, and healthy young women smiling over dead bodies—you know, reassuring evidence of the harsh but justifiable means that keep our world safe from cruelty and pain.

I want you to look at those pictures because I want you (friends, family, acquaintances) to think about how things like that came to happen. I don’t claim to know, myself, nor am I particularly interested in ascribing blame, but the fact that such events took place, in any context, really bothers me.

(We now return you to our regularly scheduled program of AppleScripts, LDraw, and, apparently, math!)

Posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008. Tags: society.