Yet another thing in my continuing rant about things that don't make sense...
This was on NBC news tonight:
1 in 100 Americans behind bars, report finds
Ok, so I'm all for "do the crime do the time". But how much of our money is being used to REHABILITATE some of these people, and how much of it is just building holding tanks? I also get that, according to this report, it's not more crime but tougher sentences that are causing the crisis (not sure if tougher sentences are truly a deterrent to crime - that's another post), but how many of these people would be better off on work release, paying taxes, wearing one of those tracking bracelets, than sleeping in an over-crowded prison gym?
How many of these people would be criminals if they could make a living wage doing dignifying, edifying jobs? (Maybe not many - why work if you can make money selling meth - but that's a thought I had.)
Don't know if I really had a point, was just shocked that 1% of America is in jail. That's almost twice as many people currently in jail as currently live in Nebraska.
My New Theme Song
This originally came out in the '80s, I found it while going through a bunch of old cassettes. I think it applies even better today:
It's okay to murder babies But we really ought to save the whales
We're putting criminals in office 'Cause it's way too crowded in the jails
T.V. is our teacher now The schools are overrun by thugs
And children skip their innocence and graduate to sex and drugs
Right is wrong and wrong is right
White is black and black is white
I think I just lost my appetite
Stop the world I want to get off
CHORUS
Stop the world I want to get off
This is too weird for me
Stop the world I want to get off
I get the definite impression
That this isn't how it's meant to be
Fear is taking over Anxiety is on the rise
You can feel it in the air You can see it in your neighbor's eyes
The working man is desperate He can't support his family
And we could pull the nation Out of debt for what We spend on locks and keys
And even suburbia is under attack
They're all buying handguns Trying to fight back
There's a vigilante picnic In the cul de sac
Stop the world I want to get off
CHORUS
I've just got to find a planet
Where they're interested in sanity
BRIDGE
I wish I had some spaceman gear
I swear I'd fly away from here
I cry to God this fervent prayer
"Oh, please, just take me anywhere
...Don't leave me here"
We take our loftiest intentions And engrave them all neatly in stone
And once they're safely up there We'd prefer that they just leave us alone
Cause it's the law of the jungle With distinctly carnivorous vibes
We may dress up in tuxedos But we function like Germanic tribes
It's the age old sin in a modern day
From the club of Cain to the laser ray
But now we can blow everybody away
Stop the world I want to get off
CHORUS
I've just got to find a planet
I've just got to find a planet
Got to find a planet where
They're interested in sanity
Stop The World
Written By Randy Stonehill
© Copyright 1984 by Stonehillian Music & Word Music (a division of Word, Inc.)
(ASCAP)
Official Link: http://nifty-music.com/stonehill/7lyrics.html#Stop
Music Home Page (Includes Real Audio sample of this song): http://nifty-music.com/stonehill/
It's okay to murder babies But we really ought to save the whales
We're putting criminals in office 'Cause it's way too crowded in the jails
T.V. is our teacher now The schools are overrun by thugs
And children skip their innocence and graduate to sex and drugs
Right is wrong and wrong is right
White is black and black is white
I think I just lost my appetite
Stop the world I want to get off
CHORUS
Stop the world I want to get off
This is too weird for me
Stop the world I want to get off
I get the definite impression
That this isn't how it's meant to be
Fear is taking over Anxiety is on the rise
You can feel it in the air You can see it in your neighbor's eyes
The working man is desperate He can't support his family
And we could pull the nation Out of debt for what We spend on locks and keys
And even suburbia is under attack
They're all buying handguns Trying to fight back
There's a vigilante picnic In the cul de sac
Stop the world I want to get off
CHORUS
I've just got to find a planet
Where they're interested in sanity
BRIDGE
I wish I had some spaceman gear
I swear I'd fly away from here
I cry to God this fervent prayer
"Oh, please, just take me anywhere
...Don't leave me here"
We take our loftiest intentions And engrave them all neatly in stone
And once they're safely up there We'd prefer that they just leave us alone
Cause it's the law of the jungle With distinctly carnivorous vibes
We may dress up in tuxedos But we function like Germanic tribes
It's the age old sin in a modern day
From the club of Cain to the laser ray
But now we can blow everybody away
Stop the world I want to get off
CHORUS
I've just got to find a planet
I've just got to find a planet
Got to find a planet where
They're interested in sanity
Stop The World
Written By Randy Stonehill
© Copyright 1984 by Stonehillian Music & Word Music (a division of Word, Inc.)
(ASCAP)
Official Link: http://nifty-music.com/stonehill/7lyrics.html#Stop
Music Home Page (Includes Real Audio sample of this song): http://nifty-music.com/stonehill/
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