the smartest things the prison industrial complex ever did were
1) convincing American society that prisoners are all “rapists and murderers” despite the fact that: a) most prisoners are drug offenders, b) even most violent offenders are just victims of class society and could very easily be turned into non-violent people, and c) our country seems to be run by people who are either rapists or murderers and no one seems to care.
2) using that bad reputation to not only make people apathetic to any kind of brutality or atrocity committed against prisoners who don’t deserve any of it (see a and b) but using it as an excuse to increase the power the carceral state has over EVERYONE, all while smearing those who disagree as supporting rapists and murderers.
when talking about prison abolition, it’s important to note that most people, including most leftists, have internalized these ideas to a huge extent.
The importance of “water is wet” studies should not be understated. Because now you have a study to point to when someone who doesn’t already know this asks you for a source, as opposed to relying on anecdotal evidence or “common knowledge”.
