I want to talk about suicide. What does suicide mean? Well to me and many others, suicide is when someone has given up on themselves and ended their life. Paid no attention to the loved ones they have left behind be it friends, family or children.
Now there are a number of types of suicide I believe.
• You have career suicide; this is when someone goes completely against the grain and speaks out their true beliefs knowing that when others hear them, they will never pay attention to them again.
• You have life suicide; this is when someone takes their own life or causes it to be taken by others (suicide by cop)
• Then you have a those who are so twisted by our crooked judicial and government system that they can’t get a job they can’t find housing so they commit another crime to go back to prison. Well that’s a form of suicide too isn’t it?
Then there is the job question? Why is it that the government can make an employer hire a African American, a woman or any other nationality but they will do nothing to make sure an employer gives a job to a person with a criminal record that is trying to reform!?
Jobs Employers cannot discriminate against race, creed, religion, disability or even sexual preference but they can damn sure discriminate against mistakes in your past.
On another note why are we making people pay outrageous amounts of child support because the custodial parent won’t get a job? That’s how it’s figured the less one makes the more the other pays. This is just another roadblock in the path to reform. I myself pay nearly 600 a month in child support for my son because the custodial parent will not find employment. I myself have a criminal past and am caught in the whirlwind of injustice.
Has anyone stopped to notice the way returning veterans are really being treated? The amount of violent crimes committed my veterans is outrageous. In a report done by the Army in 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-army-health-report-idUSTRE80J01C20120120 the report noted that of the army returning veterans from combat areas, many were involved in committing crimes and as a group, they account for a felony being committed every six hours and 40 minutes. Many of these crimes are sexually related.
“Soldiers suffering from issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, and depression have been shown to have higher incidences of partner abuse, according to the report.”
I do not blame the veteran, I blame a flawed system that could care less about the people they are supposed to serve and protect but instead, the people in control of the system, would rather work for their own agenda and load their pockets even more. Why not take the time to look at how all our rights are being swept under the rug and reform this? Take that money and put it towards making groups where veterans can go at every local community building (college, YMCA). How about ways to assist returning citizens in finding employment, and housing?
How many felons are out there who have been punished FAR beyond what is even logical in an attempt to make a judge and prosecuting attorney’s political position and public view look better? They often make decisions without any concern for justice or the protection of a person’s constitutional rights. Then when that same person is released after serving their imprisonment he/she can’t find a job or get approved for HUD housing. In many cases they can not even move in with friends or family or receive any other benefits because they are “marked”. They are marked by a flawed judicial and government system that couldn’t spell freedom much less understand the concept unless it was on their personal license plate of their brand new sports car. Oh yeah guess what you political terrorist, that license plate was probably made by a convict.
Let us build a convict return plan that create groups for them to go to, not mandatory but optional, employment and housing assistance, and stop the injustice and “marking” by our government. Right the wrongs and remember what freedom and constitutional rights mean. Stand up beside me and make this injustice end. Make it so that all citizens are treated equally in this country the way our Constitution was laid out and do away with all second-class citizens and return this country to the path of freedom. Stop the “Suicide” and be honest about the called “re-offense rates.
Now I want to take a moment and explain why I keep comparing veterans and felon inmates who are both attempting to return to society and function normally.
• Both see untold stress and are removed from all they know
• Both are thrown back to society without any reintegration
• Both are viewed by society as dangerous
• Both fight depression and suicidal thoughts and sometimes turn to criminal activity or drug/alcohol use
• Both need a plan for reintegration and socializing
• Both need employment assistance, housing assistance, etc.
• Both are having their constitutional rights severally trashed by our flawed government and injustice
These are just a few of the many reasons that I compare Veterans, and returning felon inmates.
I speak of Convict and Veteran integration plans that could be created and instituted with funds that would be saved from our criminal systems and judicial systems after they took the time to reform how they do things. Returning Veterans are provided with very little opportunities for things like a group beyond the military. As of now most veterans groups are at their local VA hospitals, but for many those are hours away. Why do we not have groups at local community colleges or other local buildings in the rural areas? These locations could include the YMCA, Schools, or County court houses seeing as how most rural counties have VA officers. Reformed laws would reduce the amount of time a person spends in prison as well as on probation and parole, leading to less man hours and work involved, which would relieve massive amounts of funding. Studies have indicated that any prison sentence longer than five years has been shown to further create the criminal class and goes far beyond the reforming of this person. There are certain criminals that may need to be watched more closely, but this is not the job of the public or Probation & Parole. Their job was not designed to monitor and find ways to send someone back to prison, although that is what it has become, it was designed to find ways to help a person to reintegrate safely and effectively and this goal needs to be brought back. These plans would include places for them to meet to have unbiased group interaction, to gain employment and housing assistance, to provide social networking, and transportation assistance to activities like group, doctors’ appointments, even grocery shopping.
Many Veterans and returning criminals have been found homeless and this needs to be focused on. Why not integrate subsidized housing for them, not homeless shelters, but housing? Giving the Veterans and returning criminals the chance to assist in paying for their portion of this also needs to be integrated in as well, but we must also remember that many cannot afford this due to extensive hardships. Let’s bring our soldiers home safely and return them to society, as well as give our returning criminals the chance to have a new life. With your help we can stop the injustice across the board and make our politicians stop stuffing their pockets by being “tough on crime” and require them to address the real problem which is helping them before a new crime is committed.
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