It’s reactive politics. Departments of Corrections all over our country are trying to build empires of their prison systems. To do this, the public at large are trained through the media to stay frightened that crime is everywhere. Then the idea of getting tough on crime changes to get tough on criminals. Punishment and revenge excite the law-abiding, tax-paying public. Making sure that when the "bad guys" get theirs, that it is simply a whole lot of nothing.

The weather is changing; it’s getting cooler. Part of it, I enjoy. I like the part of being cool outside. The part of living in close quarters with so many other inmates is nasty. Many of them will not take showers very ofter, if at all. Most of them want to sit around half-naked and whine about how cold it is. Usually the blacks are bad about this kind of attitude and behavior. So heat is turned up and people begin to stink. I think many of them feel more at home when that happens.

I can remember years ago when the blacks had almost chronic odor problems; some poor blacks could shower and be stinking again ten minutes later. Now, it seems that whites are more likely to suffer this dilemma than are blacks or other minorities. This might be a good argument for body chemistry reacting to social stress. Most whites in prison are mistreated by blacks much like negroes were mistreated years ago. It seems as though they have reversed roles with their racial oppressors.

It seems that the secret to "survival" seems to be to develop the skills to think positive. It can be very depressing to dwell on the negative. I have said many times, when I was much younger, that if I ever lived to be an old man, I wouldn’t be a grumpy old man. So I try to embrace that philosophy as I continue to become an old man. It’s not easy in this environment.

...environment for prisoners and prisons, it may become impossible to stay positive without being considered a lunatic by both the

"Cops and Robbers" (Guards and Inmates). It would become increasingly easier to be victimized by both factions. That probably sounds pretty negative, but it is realistic. I realize there are similar pressures out there in the larger community, but there are seemingly more avenues, naturally, of positive diversion from the oppressive per se. All in all, it is certainly something worthwhile to pray about.

My highest hurdle in trying to reach a higher level of tolerance for frustration is that I don’t like the idea of being "tortured" to satisfy a bunch of rabid politicians and their reactive constituents, but I haven’t that much longer to live anyway. I pity those who are young and just starting out on their life sentences. May God have mercy on their souls, because mankind certainly won’t. It isn’t because mankind isn’t capable of mercy; it is more that instigators, governed by rage and hatred, will lead large masses of humanity away from mercy and compassion for the offending members of it’s society. But nothing new there, if you study history of mankind.

There was a time when Christians aspired to truly "walk the walk; beyond simply talking the talk" of Jesus Christ. These people tried to "forgive" those who trespassed against them, and entertained the notion that people were basically good and that "bad" behavior could be changed in human beings. Now the crime dramas in the media has pounded into the viewing public’s minds and hearts that a criminal can only behave like a criminal. A liar can only lie; a thief can only steal; a murderer can only murder; a rapist can only rape, etc.

This is no more true than the concept that a "good" person can only be good. When someone who was thought to be "good" goes astray and does something "bad," then they are thought to have been a fraud all along in their prior "good" behaviors.

With the same strength of argument that most behaviors--"good and bad"--are learned, such would hold true for the concept that learning can bring about corrective change with...