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‘Tis a far far better thing to rehabilitate and educate the nation’s incarcerated than to write them off and discount them completely as productive members of society. I would also argue that it’s a far better thing to provide low-cost housing and housing subsidies for families who cannot afford the ever-skyrocketing cost of living in this country than to let the same families huddle together under highway overpasses or in overcrowded short-term shelters. I’m even willing to advocate that we help these families feed themselves with food stamps so they don’t have to hang out around the dumpsters near the dining halls on campus hoping for something edible to bring home.
Our nation was founded in the pursuit of freedom and equality, which is great, but more importantly, our state has a long and honorable history of taking care of its own. People ‘from away’ continually remark with amazement, and a bit of envy, about Mainers’ community spirit and our dedication to ensuring that every Mainer gets what they need. That’s what it ultimately boils down to, an adage I’ve repeated countless times to kids and co-workers alike: ‘Fair is everyone getting what they need, not what they want.’
Not everyone in this state needs the same things, but most of us need something. For the past 10 years, the state of Maine has provided me with the quality education I need to achieve my goals in life. For others (maybe your parents or grandparents), the state has provided prescription drug payment-relief. For Mainers whose jobs in mills or factories have been outsourced, the state has provided job and skills retraining. We all have different needs, and the people of the state of Maine decided long ago that helping our neighbors satisfy their basic needs is as essential to the spirit of Maine as lobsters, moose and tourists are.
That being said, if you don’t agree with where your tax dollars are being spent, do something about it. Call, write or arrange to meet with your legislator – or better yet, get a group of your disgruntled buddies together and head to Augusta or Washington, D.C. to advocate for the more appropriate use of your tax dollars.
Before you engage in a disgruntled diatribe on the wastefulness of funding things like education for inmates or housing for low-income citizens, consider whether you want our state, our nation, to be exemplified by uneducated, unfed, unhoused, unmotivated and unhappy delinquents, or productive members of society who have the basic tools and resources available to succeed in their lives. I’m looking at you, Joseph Audette.
Sure, at first glance it may seem like a bummer that inmates have an easier time getting a college degree than your average middle-class student at the University of Maine. On the other hand, contemplate briefly whether it is better to provide an inmate with a college education while they’re in the slammer, or to leave them to simply live off the government for however many years without contributing to society in any positive manner.
Post-secondary education programs in state and federal prisons, and the college financing opportunities available to inmates, provide an opportunity for inmates to change their lives and their roles in society. Providing educational opportunities for inmates reduces the incidence of repeat offenses by the inmates as they redirect their energies from socially detrimental to socially constructive activities.
For many inmates, especially those serving sentences for petty offenses related to drugs or robbery, crime is the preferred occupation in a defunct social hierarchy where everyone, including the government, writes you off after age 16.
Education and job training are the tools necessary to help inmates look beyond their traditional economics to socially acceptable forms of employment. These programs are part of a greater commitment to our state and our country to ensure that our citizens are among the happiest, healthiest and most productive in the world.
Gabi Berube is fourth-year anthropology and psychology double-major.
Bangor Daily News