Stephan: This is not only an accurate depiction of the American Gulag, and I know personally its description is accurate, but this is how the United States appears in the most prominent English language paper in Europe. This is the way people now think of us. We really have to stop lying to ourselves about our exceptionalism being a positive asset. Our exceptionalism is now mostly on the negative side.
When I was a young man and working for National Geographic circa 1962, I traveled and every place I went, being an American was a plus. People went out of their way to be nice to you, in thanks for what we had done in World War II and the reconstruction and Marshall Plan years that followed. Now they read this, and see the images of Ferguson.
One of the mysteries of history is that we seem to have completely forgotten the lessons of the Marshall Plan. Imagine what the Middle East would be like today if we had emphasized life-affirming assistance instead of war.
Credit: Alamy
Jail is not supposed to be where you put the mentally ill or those too poor to pay bail. Nor is it supposed to be where African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians go for crimes that don’t land white people behind bars. But that is what they are increasingly becoming.
The primary purpose of jails, unlike prisons, is to be a temporary holding space where those who are a danger to the public or are a flight risk can await court proceedings. But they now hold many who are neither. Too often, jails are warehouses of low-risk individuals who are too poor to post bail or too sick for existing community resources to manage.
Many jails today are being asked to do the job of mental health institutions, even though they lack the resources and expertise to treat people suffering from mental illness or substance abuse. Research shows that serious mental illness affects an estimated 14.5% of men in jails and 31% of women – rates […]
Link to full article has been updated.