Fun Fact #36: Over 1% of the US adult population is behind bars

It's pretty common knowledge that the prison system in the US leaves a lot to be desired. Harsher punishments and sentences mean that the current prison population is at an all time high. A new non-partisan study reports that more than one in 100 adults are behind bars. This new record high makes the US a clear front runner in prison population rates; China, with a far larger population, comes in second. States are spending about $50 billion a year on corrections.

The statistics regarding minorities are even more mind-boggling: "One in nine black men ages 20 to 34 is behind bars. For black women ages 35 to 39, the figure is one in 100, compared with one in 355 for white women in the same age group". More than 10% of the young black male population is in prison.

The increased prison population could be attributed to a variety of things, there's no single dominating factor. But, as a future law student, one argument is particularly interesting. The amount of defendants who actually utilize a "true" trial has greatly diminished; most people are not tried in front of a jury of their peers (no matter what Law & Order would like you to believe). Many defendants choose to take the deals offered to them by judges (even if they are innocent) because they fear that turning down an offer would result in harsher sentencing if they're found guilty during a trial. Going to trial is risky; there's no guarantee regarding the outcome. Therefore, more defendants are probably going to prison (even for short amounts of time) than there would be if most defendants chose the trial route. And this could contribute to to the increased incarceration rate that we're now seeing.

The statistics I quoted would be somewhat acceptable if our correction system worked, but, fun fact, it doesn't work. A high percentage of people who come out of prisons just go right back in, it's a sad cycle. The violent and dangerous criminals should obliviously be incarcerated, but what about the non-violent offenders who make up almost half of the prison population? The article suggests that "less-expensive punishments such as community supervision, electronic monitoring and mandatory drug counseling might prove as much or more effective than jail".

I consider myself to be a moderate. I don't believe in letting all the non-violent offenders run free or anything like that because I realize "non-violent" may very well just mean "not caught doing anything violent". But something needs to change and I hope that our new president will be up to helping the states with that task. Spending billions of dollars to imprison someone, let them out, and imprison them again just doesn't seem like the best bet.

Fun Fact #29: Politics can be utterly confusing

I don't really know what I think should happen with politics. Things are really messed up right now and I cannot imagine anyone coming in and making everything "all better". People talk about the Clinton days as though they were the best times ever, the glory days of our recent political history. But people were complaining and bitching about things then too, politics was just as dirty and fake then as it is now. The Clinton days just look good relative to what Bush has done.

I think the vast majority of Democrats would be more than content with either Obama or Hilary, but I think they're also going to be disappointed. People are expecting huge changes and, as you say Gabe says, that's just not going to happen. Massive changes, the kinds people are are naively demanding and even thinking are going to happen, are way more of a risk than any politician will be willing to take. Big changes can be met with success but they can also be be met with total failure.

People say that Obama is not part of the "political elite" and his presence will shake things up, but I think that's total bullshit. He may not have started as a member of the "elite" but he sure is one now. He's smart and he knows our country wants an "outsider" but that he needs to be an insider to be elected. There's no way the Washington power players would be willing to accept someone like him if he wasn't going to play by their rules. Politics is all about playing the game correctly and Obama has proven to be a master at that with vague statements that provide assurance and hope but no actual promises or plans.

Democrats will get the same outcome with either Hilary or Obama. They'll be happy with finally having a Democrat as president for awhile but soon their hopes for something different will be crushed and they'll realize it's the same as always. Our country goes through cycles; right now we're in a downswing and people will get all excited when the economy inevitably picks up again whoever is in office will be praised and glorified. But our economy will start to falter again and then that person will be vilified.

Also, people seem to think that the President holds more power than he (or she?) actually does. The President is the figurehead of our country, the actual power lies in the cabinet that they pick and the officials that they appoint. And Hilary and Obama will probably be drawing their choices from the same, small pool of Democratic elites.

I would like to see changes, like some form of universal healthcare, but I just don't know how possible they are. The universal health care thing seems to be more of a dream than a reality and I will be amazed if it actually happens. It will take an amazing amount of compromise between all the key political players to even get something feasible on the table.

People often ask me what I would do and how I would change things, but, the truth is, I really have no idea. I don't even know much things can be changed. I don't even know if I like Hilary or Obama better. I really like following politics but it's not because I'm passionate about one candidate or another, I do it because I like watching the "game" that politics have become.

Fun Fact #24: I don't want to get burned

The upcoming election has caused a lot of attention to be focused on my generation, the Millennials (ages 18-29), as we make about 20% of the registered voters. People are saying that our participation in the election could make or break a candidate like Obama. And while that is certainly a notable fact, I find the articles that seek to analyze the various attributes of the Millennials to be far more interesting. I like to compare the overall analysis of the group to myself and other Millennials that I know; it's almost like reading a horoscope, some parts seem right on but other parts just are just painfully off base or seem like idealistic thinking.

One of the better articles I've read was one MSNBC, "'Youthquake' Shakes Up Electoral Politics". I personally feel that the article does a nice job of looking at the various anxieties that seem to shape our generations views. People often wonder why our generation is not taking to the streets to protest the war, but I think that the lack of extreme protesting (at least relative to the social movements of the '60s) can be partially attributed to the growing focus on domestic problems that we're just watching get worse. We've seen our parents get burned by the economy and we don't want that to happen to us. These excerpts from the article summed up a lot my personal feelings about the current state of affairs.

They grew up during the greatest period of wealth creation in modern history, but watched their elders consume resources and run up deficits as if the party would never end. Then came the dot-com crash, terrorism, war, climate change. Epic uncertainty informs their world view. When asked to name the issues they care most deeply about, bread-and-butter concerns such as the economy, health care, and education routinely rank high.

As the government and employers shift more responsibility for benefits like health care and retirement onto the shoulders of individuals, many Millennials see themselves as unwitting victims. Although that trend has been building for decades, this may be the first generation to fully feel the great shift of risk in their bones.

Millennials, like many Americans, may have lost faith in the political Establishment, but they have utter faith in themselves and their wiki-inspired abilities to get things done.

People often ask me why I'm so "obsessed" with getting everything done so quickly and taking the most practical route (often at the expense of something more fun or exciting). A lot of people with a year to kill will travel Europe or do something exciting, I chose to work for a real estate company in Pittsburgh where I'd make good money but live a dull life. The article above discussed many of my reasons.

I've watched people get burned when they're too idealistic. I believe that I can achieve my dreams, but my dreams are based in reality. I'm not pretending that I could magically become a Supreme Court Justice, that just isn't in my reality. I want to do great things in my life, but everything is just so full of uncertainty.

People jokingly mock me for saying that I'd be willing to work for various "evil corporations", but I totally would assuming they offered me a benefits package and salary that would allow me the financial security that seems to be becoming more and more of rarity in today's world.

I consider myself to be a Democrat. I believe the health care and educational systems in our country are in dire need of repair and that we need to do something to revive the middle class. But I also believe we need to watch out for our own well-being because it looks like we're not going to have anything to fall back on but ourselves when the going gets tough.

Fun Fact #18: I'm neither obsessed nor overly judgmental of obese individuals

I want to address my apparent "obsession" with obesity and my seemingly severe judgments of those who struggle with it. This blog is just meant to be a way to communicate with people I don't talk to that much anymore (at least relative to when I lived on the West Coast) and that I see even less. I just write about whatever is on my mind, no matter how stupid or inane it may be. And what is on my mind is often influenced by things that stand out for me...whatever they may be.


Pittsburgh is not a healthy city. People don't work out as much as they do in other places I've lived and finding healthy food can sometimes be a relatively big ordeal. They even put French fries on their grilled chicken salads, I feel as though that fact alone says a lot about the city. Therefore, as one may guess, I've seen a lot of obese people here. More than I've ever seen before and it's a sad sight. I fully realize that some people are obese due to medical problems or other issues beyond their control, but the vast majority aren't. Most people are obese due to their own personal choices, and I don't feel guilty for writing down my reaction to them here. And remember, when I say obese I mean obese, I'm not just using the word as an exaggerated substitute for heavyset or chunky.

The cities that I've lived in on the West Coast, for better or worse, are big on health issues and physical fitness seems to be more of a priority there. Sometimes it's taken to a dangerous extreme and people diet themselves into skeletons. If I were in LA right now, I'd probably be writing about all the disturbingly thin people that I see on a daily basis. Obese people inevitably stand out in a crowd, and therefore I write about them, since I write about things I notice.

I personally believe that physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle are exceptionally important, but I would have noticed the same things that I now notice in obese people even before my health kick. When people are so heavy that they need a scooter to get around or they take up two seats on an airplane, people will notice them and judge them. I see that as inevitable, and whether or not that's a good thing can be left up for debate.

Plus, I'm a judgmental person. I always have been. I'm not going to pretend that something doesn't bother me when it does. Obesity is something that I fully admit to judging harshly, but that's because I believe it is, in most cases, the result of poor personal decisions. I also admit that out society is one that makes junk food far more accessible and far cheaper for the majority of people than healthy food. Numerous people have heard my "fun fact" that a Twinkie is cheaper to produce than a carrot. And while that's definitely a large part of the obesity epidemic, I believe, that in the end, individuals still choose what they put in their mouths. Society has obviously contributed to the problem, but all the blame cannot lay squarely on its shoulders.