I BEGIN: When there isn't any way and guide forward, when despite, self-delusional myths of existence, collective narcissism and its antagonistic pathology on the body politic, the default reaction, and this holds true across the breadth and depth of our Human Condition, is to dehumanize, to see something other in that other human, whose existence is what defacto defines the integrity of self-existence. What concerns me, because I'm a prisoner under Virginia's jurisdiction, is the unoriginal logic of dehumanization plyed by the Commonwealth of Virginia in its detention schemes. What also concerns me is how The Virginian, or People of Virginia ignore and are seemingly oblivious to the fact that if they are unseen, unheard and dismissed by each other in all forms and levels of interaction, it firstly is a result of their winking and nodding to the dehumanization of the Virginia prisoner. Let me qualify what in saying, nothing I'm saying is new, if there is any novelty to this work, its that of being a reminder, that attention to and is required of unforeseen consequences, when due to the myriad obligations and distractions of social interactions, relations and intersections we become that adage which our Vietnamese brothers and sisters have given us, "be mindful that when you go to slay the dragon you don't become it" or in this context accepting the dehumanization of humans who are imprisoned is in turn self-dehumanizing. Society i.e. the Commonwealth of Virginia are not built or constructed on the distortion of short sightedness, which is the operative of a type of world view, which the Virginia prison official and their allies are perennially afflicted with. Short sightedness whether in the Policy realm of Government and governance or in the world view of the individual Virginian, is always self-contradictory, because the assumption is its a pursuit of self-interest, which idealistically it is, but its also at the expense of that other adage, "the devil is in the details ". So for example the Virginia prison official wants to be respected, acknowledged and recognized as first and foremost, a Professional, secondly, a full and all around developed Human and citizen of Virginia and all of this materialized upon the job of a Prison Official. However, the reality is the Virginia prison official isn't respected, acknowledged or recognized by the People of Virginia save for allies who are also just as reviled, because what the People of Virginia recognize in the prison official is a corrupt entity who breaks and violates the law in the treatment of prisoners under their care and authority. It isn't that the People of Virginia are at odds with accountability and its various forms according to their social contract, which includes imprisonment, but they expect it is done under law and the uncompromising recognition of humanness. Here is an anecdote that was reported by one of the media in Newport News, Virginia, the occasion was how the Commonwealth of Virginia in the form of its Koncentration Kamp Red Onion State Prison informed a Mother of the death of her just turned 21 imprisoned son, who allegedly committed suicide, after the Mother had repeatedly called the prison, with none of the officials with the authority responding to her, finally a Nurse dismissed the death.
By William Thorpe
I'm William Thorpe Virginia exiled me to the Texas prison system. I'm solitary confined at the Wainwright Unit and if you feel any kinda way about this work contact me by Securus email using the Texas prison number #2261982
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