The State of Prisons

            The article, “U.S. Prisons Myth vs. Mayhem” by Frank Trippett examines the state of American prisons and what can be done to correct its shortfalls. A major problem with American prisons is the outdated idea that prison reduces criminality in society and that it reforms prisoners through tough justice. Studies have shown the error in this assumption as recidivism and violence take a toll on society and prison alike. Trippett asserts that the unchecked violence in prisons harden non-violent criminals and make them more likely to be released into society with normalized anti-social tendencies and behaviors. Instead, he suggests, prisons should abandon the traditional hard attitude and look for ways to improve inmates in order to change them in a lasting way.

            My view on prisons is that it should be used as a last resort for violent criminals who display no hope for reform. For non-violent criminals and first time offenders, I believe in incarceration away from their more violent counterparts, and a sentence based more on rehabilitation rather than straight punishment. I also believe that for better rehabilitation and lower recidivism, correctional officials and local communities should jointly work out projects to keep non-violent offenders occupied and allow them to pay back to the community. Akin to Chinese “Reform Through Labor”  theory, (Without the political brainwashing and human rights abuses), allowing the offenders to work in the community allows them to channel their energies into something constructive and helps train them with technical skills and discipline that would be useful when they return to society.

            One interesting things I learned from this article is the diversity in prison conditions around the country. I have heard many criticisms of the prison system as being too soft on prisoners and allowing prisoners too many luxuries, while some prisons are deemed unconstitutionally bad. This phenomena probably comes down to money as well. I won’t be surprised if these “soft prisons” are located in more affluent areas for a certain clientele of prisoners while the unconstitutionally bad prisons are meant for the rest of America’s convicts.

Compassion and the Counterinsurgency

            In the wake of gang violence, it is easy to feel anger towards gangs and demand greater power to force the gangsters into submission. The problem with this line of thinking is that anger and violence often breed more anger and violence. In the case of gang violence, calling for more force or retaliation against the offending group can kill the gangsters responsible and decrease gang activity, but it can only keep the peace temporarily. A more permanent solution to the gang problem is to understand where these gangsters come from, who they are, and how we can eliminate the problems that cause gangs to form, or in other words, be compassionate. An prominent example of using compassion over force is the strategy of counterinsurgency. Like gang warfare, an insurgency is composed of a relatively decentralized group of cells who use guerilla tactics against the established authority. The basic idea of counterinsurgency is that insurgents cannot be beaten by force of arms, but by winning the hearts and minds of the people. Humanitarianism and outreach programs are utilized to dissuade possible insurgent recruits from joining, and small unit force is used against only the most violent groups. By using purely force to stop gangs, the remaining gangsters and members of the community view the attacking party as an enemy and will go through great pains to retaliate against the police or other gangs. By having compassion and helping to fix the community, the need for gang protection and membership will fade as people in the community can enjoy relative security and peace can be maintained over the long run.

           

Protecting the Wealthy, Attacking the Poor

            An example of how poorly funded education protects the rich is the lack of action to help the poor. Many ghetto schools described in Jonathan Kozol’s book, Savage Inequalities, lack the basic supplies needed to run a school, and he asserts that “If they had given Head Start to our children and pre-kindergarten, and materials, and classes of 15 or 18 children in elementary grades, and computers, and attractive buildings, and enough books and supplies, and teacher salaries sufficient to compete with suburban schools…then it might have been fair play” (173). A primary problem with this lack of basic supplies is that it puts ghetto students behind their suburban counterparts because they are expected to conform to modern educational standards using yesterday’s equipment. But the greater concern is the lack of money to attract new and more competitive teachers. Without a renewed investment in teachers, tenured and less motivated teachers are all that the school can afford, while better teachers are pulled away to better and higher paying jobs which contributes to growing class sizes and a less efficient learning environment.

            Another example of how low educational funding can help the wealthy is that less educated ghetto students provide less competition to suburban students in jobs and college. In Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol explores society’s expectations of ghetto children when a businessman says, “No one expects these ghetto kids to go to college. Most of them are lucky if they’re even literate. If we can teach some useful skills, get them to stay in school and graduate, and maybe into jobs, we’re giving them the best that they can hope for” (93). In the eyes of business, society, and education, students from the ghetto are not the equals of suburban students and should not even be given the opportunity to rise above their class. In this reasoning, the “good” suburban students are meant for college and high paying careers, while the “bad” ghetto students are destined for bottom level jobs, clearing the playing field for upper class students. By separating students and creating such insurmountable inequalities, the wealthy have created an educational barrier that will help safeguard their class for years to come.

            Education has traditionally been the great equalizer of the classes, and as a result, has been suppressed and neglected by stratified societies. Throughout Savage Inequalities, many poor school officials argue that with the adequate funding and reformation, students from the ghetto have a chance of competing with their suburban counterparts. Through quality education, students regardless of color have a better chance of attending college and obtaining careers that can pull them up from the ghetto to a higher station in life. In addition, quality education can teach the working poor to fully recognize the injustices that they suffer and change it for the betterment of themselves and their class. Education for the working class is essential for a more equal society, and as a result, jeopardizes the wealthy class who will do all in their power to suppress it.

            Those most affected by poorly funded public schools is obviously the poor students from the ghettos. In Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol highlights the differences between suburban and inner city curriculums when he observes, “Many urban high school students do not study math, but ‘business math’- essentially a very elemental level of book-keeping. Job specific courses such as ‘cosmetology’ (hairdressing, manicures), which would be viewed as insults by suburban parents, are a common item in the segregated high schools and are seen as a realistic preparation for the adult roles that   16-year-old black girls may expect to fill” (92). Many ghetto schools across the nation exist not as institutions of upward mobility and learning, but as training centers for bottom level positions at best, and dropout factories at worst. In these schools, rather than teaching the students to take charge of their lives and aspire to greater goals, they determine the students’ social and economic roles and enforce it with little room for compromise.

            Another group that is seriously affected by poorly funded public schools is the working class as a whole. Historically shackles and walls divided the working class and the ruling class, but today, they are separated by education and the lack thereof. In Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol examines the separation of the suburban students and the inner city students when he writes that, “[Suburban parents] see the poorer children as a tide of mediocrity that threatens to engulf them. They are prepared to see those children get their schooling in a metal prefab in a junkyard rather than admit them to the beautiful new school erected for their own kids” (75). By separating students and segregating them into greatly inferior schools, society is taking great pains to keep the poor in the ghetto while coveting quality education for themselves. This act of selfishness and class warfare helps build a wall to defend the lifestyle of the wealthy from the ghettos of the poor.

            In the battle for quality education for the poor, the rich also have a stake in the fight. In Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol records an incident when a student recalls her treatment in a white neighborhood and she relates the following, “Fairview Heights is a mainly white community. A friend of mine and I went up there once to buy some books. We walked into the store. Everybody lookin’ at us, you know, and somebody says, ‘What do you want?’…Its like they’re scared we’re going to rob them. Take away a privilege that’s theirs by rights” (38). Contrary to many beliefs, the rich do not deny education to others out of spite, but out of a deep-seated fear that their place in society will be threatened if the poor stand on equal ground. Every hurdle that has been thrown towards improving poor public education helps to ensure the comparatively superior performance of wealthier schools, and every ghetto student that fails in the ghetto schools represents one less competitor in the college and job market. 

            If big business and the wealthy continue to have a hand in public education, the citizens produced will be simple commodities in a heartless capitalist machine. In Jonathan Kozol’s book, Savage Inequalities, he captures the views of the corporations when a Chicago businessman confides, “Besides…these bottom-level jobs exist. They need to be done. Someone’s got to do them” (93). It is no secret that the sole purpose of a business is to make money, and that people, no matter what, are simply assets. By denying quality education to poor public schools, businesses are making an investment in the potential labor force that they can squeeze from the student population. By keeping and training poor students to be future bottom level workers, they have effectively made a system that produces cheap workers that are endless in supply.

            A society that allows businesses to influence and educate their students is a society that will place profits over the people’s welfare. In Jonathan Kozol’s book, Savage Inequalities, he describes the money saving strategies of the plants surrounding East St. Louis, “When the plant gives off emissions that are viewed as toxic, an alarm goes off. People who have breathed the smoke are given a cash payment of $400 in exchange for a release from liability” (19). In many areas in the country, the ideals of “might makes right” and “survival of the fittest” have created a society that considers any means to prosperity acceptable. This has led to the exploitation of poor communities who cannot resist or regulate these powerful corporations.

            Should the corporations exercise control over public schools, we can expect many of their decisions to place money before the public good. Jonathan Kozol describes the unbridled power of corporations in Camden when he writes that, “The major industries, apart from RCA and Campbell’s are a trash incinerator, and a sewage treatment plant (neither of which pay taxes to the city), scrapyards (there are ten of them) and two new prisons… 55 million gallons of the county’s sewage comes into Camden every day… [And] the incinerator tower… will add its smoke to air already fouled by the smell of sewage” (179). In many poor colored communities, the populations are generally seen as expendable people, and have their communities poisoned by industrial waste with little to no public outcry. By the corporation’s worldview, the profits that their operations generate from these communities far outweigh the ecological and social problems that they impose on the people.

Education and the 1%

            Providing education to the rich while denying it to the poor has traditionally been a favored tactic of those who seek to keep the poor in their place. Even in the modern day, we see history repeating itself as schools serving the lower classes consistently fail to properly educate their students and instead, prepares them for the life of the proletarians. The Chinese philosopher, Confucius, one said that “When the people are educated, the distinction of class disappears” (Confucius). By this he means that education, not money or lineage, is the sole root of class separation. When people are uneducated, the rich and powerful can delude and exploit them, but when the people see the world for how it is, they have the opportunity to choose their paths for themselves.

            Another issue with denying quality education to the working poor is that ignorance is the blue pill that prevents the people from seeing the world clearly. Without a proper education, many people don’t understand the greater picture of the world, and do not act to change their situation. As is in the case of many poor communities in America, the people do not believe that their situation can possibly get better, and resign themselves to the hand that fate dealt them. By doing this, the people accept the status quo, normalizing failure, and making change difficult in the long run.

            But perhaps one of the greatest motivations for stopping quality education to the working class is that it helps to raise a generation of low-skilled and cheap workers for big businesses. The greatest argument for a good education is that it allows a person the opportunity to choose a better life for themselves, and be eligible for skilled and higher paying jobs. Without such an education, the peoples’ lives are set as they are molded into whatever the corporations need. From the coalmines of Virginia to the workhouses in London, the practice of corporate stifling of education has kept workers in their place, and continues to do so in the ghettos of Chicago and East St. Louis. By allowing this act of class warfare to continue, we condemn our fellow Americans to the mercy of corporate interests.

After researching many of the Bay Area’s low-achieving schools, a strong pattern began to emerge. Within the Bay Area, the majority of failing schools are located in high population areas with low average incomes, and high crime rates such as Oakland, East Palo Alto, and Richmond. In addition, some cities with very affluent and very poor citizens such as San Francisco showed a high number of failing schools as well.  In contrast, the districts and counties with the least poorly performing schools were the more affluent and safe areas such as Marin County. This association between wealth and school performance strongly suggests that money and a safe environment are important factors in a school’s success.

           

           

Good Evening Everyone! Over this weekend, I researched the lowest achieving schools in the Bay area, and found some interesting results. It seems that many of these schools are clustered around large population areas that are made of lower income residents, and have relatively high crime rates. Many of these lower performing areas, such as Oakland, Richmond, and East Palo Alto also have environmental concerns stemming from hazardous waste and urban decay. I also found that areas with very affluent and very poor residents such as San Francisco, tend to have poorer performing public schools. This is likely because many of the more affluent residents opt to send their children to private schools, and therefore spend more money there while the working class has to make do with the public schools they are dealt with. In contrast, Marin County, a very rich area, has very little failing public schools and has been able to maintain the standard for public education. The theme of class inequality found in Jonathan Kozol's book, Savage Inequalities, is very relevant in this situation. In some parts of the Bay Area, such as East Palo Alto and Palo Alto, the differences are enormous. In a manner reminiscent of East St. Louis and St. Louis proper, one side of the 101 freeway contains nice and expensive suburban homes, while across the street, is the poor and crime ridden city of East Palo Alto. Another similarity between the book and the situation in the Bay Area is the conditions in Richmond's West Contra Costa Unified School District. Much of Richmond was built as a war industry town in World War II, and when the war ended, the need for war material ended with it resulting in empty factories and massive layoffs. As a result, urban decay and chemical contamination has become an issue for the area in recent years as the city attempts to clean up the remnants of the war. The city is also in deep debt, and has neglected to provide safe and hygienic facilities for schools, resulting in an ACLU lawsuit against the schools' deplorable conditions. The similarities between today and the book are chilling to say the least, and serve as a solemn reminder that the fight for equality is far from over.

Of the many problems that poorly funded public schools face, few are as damaging as the schools’ short-sighted financial and educational priorities. In many schools, the thought of investing extra money into the teacher pool is seen as a waste of precious resources and the money is instead used to maintain the pool of substitute and tenured teachers. Due to this practice, many young and enthusiastic teachers are not hired or retained by these public schools, and they are crowded out by the cheaper substitute teachers and tenured teachers. The negative effects of this is tremendous; since the best and brightest instructors are excluded from the system, the school makes do with teachers who are unwilling or unable to make a meaningful difference in the students’ education. In Jonathan Kozol’s book, Savage Inequalities, he explores the nature of these schools’ inadequate staff when a teacher observes that “The school board thinks that it is saving money on the subs. I tell them, ‘Pay now or pay later’” (63). By the schools unwillingness to invest the funds available into quality teachers, the performance of the school as a whole suffers. Without good teachers to make a meaningful difference in the students’ lives, the money that is saved on sub-par teachers will be insignificant compared to the human capital wasted in a failing school.

The consequences for the disturbing trend of college cramming for mercenary reasons are vast. If we continue to discourage other educational and career paths in favor of brand name institutions, we will fill our colleges with students who are unwilling or unable to succeed in such an environment. It is a well-known fact that pressuring someone to do something against their will results in dissatisfaction and discontent. When forced to do something, a person’s motivation decreases and attitudes sour, creating an environment that is detrimental to a learning environment. Furthermore, by pushing students to conform to the orthodoxy of college attendance, schools close the doors on other great possibilities for the student. For students who aspire to be mechanics, firemen, or artists, the paths to their goals lie in other places, and there is no need for them to pursue a goal that they have not set for themselves.

A side effect of college cramming is the commercialization of education and the transformation of education into business. In recent years, college recruitment has skyrocketed in aggressiveness and pervasiveness. High school seniors and juniors are habitually flooded with college advertisements while college names and icons are branded on clothing and signs everywhere. But more reflective of colleges’ commercial nature is its shameless robbery of students and parents alike. With registration fees, rising tuition, and student housing costs, colleges are making little effort to hide their greed; and with the increasing demand for a college education, they certainly have the market cornered. If brand name education continues to be recognized and glorified by school and society alike, this issue of today will certainly be the nightmare of tomorrow.

If the trend of brand education continues, the commodification of education would certainly become a bigger issue in the future. During my junior year in high school, my teacher handed out a flyer that attempted to convince us students to go to good name schools. According to the flyer, going to college would ensure a bright and rosy future with more money than a high school graduate. After reading, I thought to myself, “Has education really become just a means to money?”. Education is and always has been a civic duty for citizens to remain free, but over time, it has become a commodity represented by SAT scores and diplomas to elevate status and income. By submitting to the labels of degrees and certificates, we are striving for the badges of knowledge while neglecting the search for true wisdom.      

Good evening everyone! After watching the TED Talk Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning Revolution, Some of the things that stuck with me was his assertion that today's education is based on manufactured conformity and allows little time or energy for passions and individual growth. In his speech, he elaborates on how many schools push students into college without bothering to see if they are ready or willing to do so, and how that can affect the overall effectiveness of these college students. What I appreciated about his speech was how he pointed out the degree of "college cramming" that goes on in the education system and how this is not necessarily the best course for a student's educational and spiritual development. Allowing students to be able to explore their own options and learn their own way is the first step in creating an independent and passionate individual.

A Brand Name World

In “The Passion Project”, an important concept is the influence of conformity in society and its effects on how a person leads their life. In the recent phenomenon of brand name educations, the notion of society’s demands and expectations are exposed. In many schools across the country, prestige colleges, STEM, and high paying careers are emphasized to no end, while alternative life choices are often discouraged. Instead of opening students to alternative career and educational paths such as trade schools, community college, and the military, students are indoctrinated to accept only brand name schools as the legitimate path to a shining future. In Paul Sullivan’s New York Times article, “Measuring College Prestige Vs. Cost of Enrollment”, he explores the origin of the college success myth by observing that, “Parents have come to see the elite universities as the only way to give their children a chance at success. They feel jobs are hard to come by and companies are only going to look to hire at the elite universities” (2). Because of this idea that prestigious colleges guarantee successful careers, many people have come to the conclusion that non-brand name colleges guarantee non-successful careers. This line of reasoning reinforces the college myth and alienates parents and students from considering other educational paths outside the prestiged norm. In addition, Paul Sullivan examines the evidence used to discredit the college myth through research that found that “Equally smart students had about the same earnings whether or not they went to top tier colleges” (3). This study reinforces the argument that a brand name college does not necessarily guarantee a better future in the long run. Despite the evidence, however, society and educational institutions continue to stress that possessing an education from a big name campus is synonymous with success. In the midst of this indoctrination it is important to remember that it is not the college that determines our future, but rather the actions of the students who make do and overcome.

           

           

Good day everyone, my name is Michael Yee and welcome to my blog. Mostly my blog reflects some of the things I’ve done in my life, from Track and Field, to the Marine Corps, and my keen interest in nature. I hope that it will serve as a successful creative outlet for the long road ahead.

 I am extremely passionate about the philosophy of service and self-improvement. Dr. King famously said, “If a man hasn’t found something worth dying for, he is not fit to live.” On that same line of thinking, I believe that there is always a higher cause that a person can and should strive for, whether it be civil rights or national security. Throughout my life most of my mentors and role models had a philosophy of personal growth that heavily shaped my worldview today. Their guidance taught me that doing less than your best is a waste of your time and talent, and that it is also shows disrespect to everyone who counts on you.

Currently I am enrolled in Chabot College to earn my AA degree and transfer to a 4 year college, hopefully a UC, to study criminal justice. From this class, I hope to get where I need to be academically, so that I can compete at the 4 year college level. I truly believe that my personal philosophies will help me through the next four years towards graduation, because if I apply myself completely to my studies, then short of an act of God, I can’t fail.