Have you ever heard of the phrase “this place is a prison”? It’s quite a common expression, you can hear many people refer to certain places as “prisons”. It’s mainly used to describe places where you aren’t free to do anything or are forced to do or follow something that you don’t want to do. See the pattern? Prisons are the embodiment of control. They aren’t meant to help people, in fact it’s really rare that they do. People only learn how not to get caught for next time or just to avoid the police altogether to avoid going to jail.
As seen in the documentary The Strike, they show how isolating and dehumanizing prisons can be, specifically solitary confinement. In the video, they interviewed real inmates who survived 30 years in solitary confinement where their only decent human interaction was the hand that gave them breakfast, lunch and dinner. Why would anyone want this and wouldn’t it just be easier to not get in trouble? That would be the ideal scenario for most but that too isn’t always up to the supposed perpetrator. The prison system is a whole web of racism, classism and biases from the police when arresting.
Prisons aren’t meant to help prisoners be rehabilitated and get help. They are meant to trap and control those who are seen as a threat to the public. There were many inmates in The Strike that were in the SHU just for being suspected of being gang members, even if they were or not, there was no in-depth investigation and they were guilty until proven more guilty. Everything comes back to control. Control of the public, control of immigrants, control of businesses but this is for our own good to have these people locked up, says the government. In reality, it will always be to just throw them into prison then maybe investigate the crime but otherwise, you’ll never leave even if you’re innocent. Just a sweep under the carpet to tell people that they don’t care about your circumstance, they will prioritize their reputation and to keep the public blind to everything happening in prisons. It’s easy to trick people into thinking that they are free if they never see these injustices but as seen in the documentary, if people are actually aware of these problems there can be major changes to come which would break the illusion of freedom that we are given to break this cycle of control.
