Dear Michael -- Now that the United States is being identified by how cruel we can be instead of how caring we can be, I’m writing to you as the only other person I’ve found championing how Norway handles criminal justice and incarceration. As we are creating concentration camps, the segment about what Norway does, in your wonderful film, Where to Invade Next, shows the the benefit to their society from treating criminals in a humane way.
“An expansive, hilarious, and subversive comedy in which the Academy Award®-winning director confronts the most pressing issues facing America today…an eye-opening call to arms to capture the American Dream and restore it in, of all places, America.”
With the deadly path humanity is on and Norway’s secret to life in plain sight, can we talk about tuning humanity into what we know? I’m thinking of getting Substack to encourage their writers to pass on the info. What else?
For my subscribers, here’s a post that told the whole Norway tale: This could be a game changer.
Here’s what Norway gets from most prisoners being good citizens after they are released, compared to most Americans who reenter society still being crooks.
From Reviewing the Recidivism Rates Between the United States and Norway:
Recidivism is a released offender relapsing back into criminal behavior. Recidivism rates in the United States, where punishment is the primary goal, continue to rise. Inmates released from U. S. prisons recidivate at up to 70%. Whereas Norway, where there is an emphasis on rehabilitation and restoration, is closer to 20%. The United States has struggled with high recidivism rates for decades, which gives rise to debates concerning the effectiveness of our prison system and the contrast between punishment and rehabilitation. Norway is seen as a leader when it comes to low recidivism.
“Prison is designed to break one's spirit and destroy one's resolve. To do this, the authorities attempt to exploit every weakness, demolish every initiative, negate all signs of individuality--all with the idea of stamping out that spark that makes each of us human and each of us who we are.”
― Nelson Mandela
Some elemental Norwegian thinking:
The maximum sentence for any crime is 21 years.
Humans in cages become wild animals.
Punishment is being away from family.
Uniforms aren't required.
Windows don't have bars and the grounds are beautiful.
Inmates use sharp utensils for prison jobs, like woodworking.
"The relationship with some inmates, it's kind of like a normal friendship," one guard explains.
Michael, for another aspect of us being wrong-headed about crime and punishment, there’s Karla Faye Tucker becoming the angel of a Texas prison who was beloved by prisoners and guards. By the time of her date for execution for the heinous crime she had committed fourteen years before, she was not the same person. Her body housed a being who was not a criminal when they injected it with lethal drugs.
From Texas Woman Executed After Final Appeals Rejected Pickax Killer:
Karla Faye Tucker, the “Pickax Killer” turned born-again Christian, died of a lethal injection Tuesday night, closing a long fight for her life as a crowd outside the Texas death house prayed for her soul. Tucker, 38, became the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War and only the second in the United States since the resumption of the death penalty in 1976, after international interest in her cause and generating appeals for mercy from figures including Pope John Paul II and religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.
It had become increasingly clear that despite Tucker’s efforts to show she was a changed person, notably in televised appearances on 60 Minutes, Robertson’s The 700 Club, and on CNN, her quest to have her life spared had failed. The state Board of Pardons and Paroles, which could have commuted her sentence to life in prison, voted 16-0, with two members abstaining, to deny her request. “May God bless Karla Faye Tucker, and may God bless her victims and their families,” Gov. George W. Bush said after declining to grant the stay.
Do you see what I see about what great teachings these would be for getting our off-the-rails country on track? With the Democrats not having a vision, this would be it, a humane society where everyone gets the treatment the Statue of Liberty attests to that America is giving.
You have the cache to be a hero for our time, where your down-to-earth persona has you being one of us instead of someone to blindly follow. I even could see you putting up a flagpole we all could rally round to get all of us in something together, where we would go from being gadflies to becoming a force. Can we talk about such things?
Here’s me in Substack Notes. I urge you to have a look at comments I’ve made to get immersed in the unique point of view I argue for.
This Substack is looking to a revolution. You could say an evolution, to a next phase of consciousness where we act from our interconnection as one humanity. Stay informed and be alert for how to be contributory.
One way is to get my Suzanne Taylor’s Now What? Substack seen.
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There has to be a space for people to change, to learn and to rehabilitate. We are so quick to judge and to jail. Criminals are running our country and good people, or people who want to become good people, are stuck in a system that the criminals control.
Suzanne, I Loved your sentence: You could say an evolution to a next phase of consciousness where we act from our interconnection as one humanity. I am with you on this. www.selfandrelationshipmastery.link. Let us empower the children in a new paradigm.