Blogging on Meds

Rocks in my mouth razor blade in my hand…

A new Pew study released today is at the top of WaPost and NYT.

1 in 100 Americans behind bars—1.6 of 230 million adults, China a distant second, costs $50 billion a year (Iraq costs about $100 billion).

This should cue a debate about investing more in education and job growth in poor urban areas. Keeping people out of jail would not only save us money ($23k of tax money is avg cost per prisoner a year in 2005), it would also help our economy. Maybe this report will get Congress’ attention and the stimulus package could address our cities—like Mayor Bloomberg said today in his weird presidential non-declaration:

In every city I have visited — from Baltimore to New Orleans to Seattle — the message of an independent approach has resonated strongly, and so has the need for a new urban agenda. More than 65 percent of Americans now live in urban areas — our nation’s economic engines. But you would never know that listening to the presidential candidates. At a time when our national economy is sputtering, to say the least, what are we doing to fuel job growth in our cities, and to revive cities that have never fully recovered from the manufacturing losses of recent decades?

Obama, my brother, this is your issue: 1 in 9 young black males in prison! Fuck that. Percentages like that sound more Gulag than “justice system.”

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