Prison. Have you ever been? Boring. Stressful. Ineffective. However, we've studied it and tried out many successful programs. Gardening, education, pets. We've tried lots of things to reform the prison system. Most of them work but get killed off by angry citizens that don't want to show any kind of mercy to criminals. The current prison system is built for revenge and that's all. People want revenge. No one wants to address the things that cause people to become criminals in the first place. Things like poor education, bad parenting, lack of empathy, or other psychological issues, poverty. Meh~ Just give me revenge.
Since we are on the verge of changing the world should we perhaps think outside the box when it comes to prisons? What if we teach adult education classes in prison so people leave with GEDs? What if we teach skills so people can learn a trade? Every time I watch This Old House on TV I see them saying the trades don't have enough workers. What if criminals pay their debt to society by actually paying their debt to society as volunteers? More community service and programs designed to teach convicts empathy and allow them to make a difference in the world so they don't feel worthless. Non-violent criminals only of course. This country has a plethora of psychologists who would love to volunteer to help design prison programs.
What if, when you leave prison you aren't saddled with the convict title forever? What if it falls off after a while. The smaller the crime the sooner your record comes clean again. Think of it as probation. After a while of being good, your criminal records are cleared. Rape, murder, child molesting take 30 years to clear, while smaller crimes like drunk driving, theft, drugs, clear earlier. Say, 5 years. Medium crimes like assault clear in 10 years. You get it. The judge sets the time to clear at the sentencing.
What if violent prisoners were to participate in these programs through virtual reality? They could be there without actually being there. That's new. That's outside the box thinking. There's no physical danger to the counselors but the psychological help still gets to the prisoners. Virtual jobs will soon be a thing in the real world. Why not in prison as well? The prisoner emerges with job skills and money to start a new life. It isn't free labor for anyone. That's the old world. They call those chain gangs.
In this new world of ours that we are creating does revenge still have a place? Should it? Do you want to live in a better world or the same one? Should the world evolve or just go digital? Many people in the crypto world are porting over the same evils that created the old world. They just don't know it. While in the real world everyone is fighting for a better world. Sadly, the powers that be love the old world and aren't giving it up. They're fighting harder than ever to make the world evil. I think it's time for all of us to open our eyes and make a decision. Do we want a good world or a bad one? Or do we just want to keep pretending to be victims so we don't have to get involved? At the very least we should peek outside the box and think about the possibilities. What would the world be if the bad guys win? What could it be? Maybe you have some ideas. How would you fix the world?