December 2nd Post

I was glad that this week we continued to focus on prison reform/abolition, as I feel that it is such a complex topic that warrants a great deal of thought and foresight. As mentioned last time, the idea of abolishing prisons to the “uninitiated” so to speak is abhorrent, as the mind inevitably goes to questions of “what will you do with the murderers and rapists” and “what other choice is there?” I find now that prison abolition may be the way to go, as this week’s materials have made it clear to me that the prison system is a self completing cycle of the system of White supremacy, in that through the horrible conditions of prison, the separation of families, and the dominance in society, the prison industrial complex creates the conditions that lead to the crime that it purports to bring justice (read vengeance) to. This systemic analysis that questions even the basic premises of our society is indicative of a Marxist view in opposition to a traditional liberal or conservative analyses. A moderate seeks the understand the ways in which the system must be shaped to serve the people, but even those well meaning liberals who seek reform fail to see that it is the structure itself that creates the problems we must remedy. A traditional Marxist perspective is unique from mainstream though in how it recognizes the narratives that moderates accept as unchanging to be wrongful constructions of those in power, and can and must be taken down to stop oppression. This ability of prison abolitionists to see the system beyond how it is desired to be seen is representative of the influence of Marxist thought on radical civil rights activism, and can be very effective in allowing for the proper responses to such large scale systems.