Why do we worry so much over the welfare of prisoners? Why do we bother when the welfare of the innocent children and the homeless are so much worse? I ask this because it bothers me that callous criminal scum get better treatment in a prison than a homeless child. It is no wonder the system is so overcrowded.
Of course, I am not an avid supporter of prisoners getting a daily beating with a Singapore-style cane or the amputation of limbs. I do, however, find it quite ridiculous that most prisons have an air conditioner, but there are schools in this nation that are dismissed early because they have no air conditioning and the heat becomes unbearable. I find it hard to swallow that most prisons have state-of-the-art exercise equipment, but schools cannot afford paper. It makes me just plain angry to think that prisoners get such nice treatment while kids sit in hot classrooms or live in cars.
It also angers me just a bit that people are making such a big deal about the war prisoners at Camp X-ray in Cuba. These people hate Americans. Donald Rumsfield described these people as “bad, evil” people. They wanted to harm innocent Americans because they don’t agree with our free lifestyles, our values or our religious beliefs. We have them in a place that is almost like paradise, compared to the caves in which they were living in.
From photos of Camp X-ray that I have seen, this camp looks much nicer than a dark, cold cave. The people get to have some time in the warm sun. They get to pray and worship just as they did before they were captured. They get three meals each day-I am almost positive that wasn’t a luxury of cave life. These people have it better in that prison than they had in the caves, even if they did get a daily beating from some massive, malicious guards. It bothers me that these extremely dangerous people even still have a better place to be than a homeless person with nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat.
The truth is, if someone wants to get heated over human rights and living conditions, they should look in other places. Look in the homeless shelters, or in downtown areas where people are mentally ill and starving. They don’t get the help that the prisoners do. They are forced to live in cars and under bridges, raise five or six children there, become addicted to crack and live a sad life wondering each and every day if they are going to eat one meal.
Prisoners have better lives than most of them deserve.
It should be not worth worrying about to ensure they are being treated “humanely.” Here, we should worry more about the living conditions of the homeless and the poor inner-city kids who aren’t receiving the education they deserve.
Fix these problems at the base level, then worry about prisoners.