What does that mean? It means that the criminals within the prison system are ignorant to their options BEFORE they commit a crime.
Example:
I was walking my dog, a Chow-Chow by the name of Rusty though a park behind my home on a Sunday morning. There was virtually no one in the park or in observation of my activities except those that might have a window toward the path I was on. The park had hours of operation when attendants were in the park. When there were no attendants the park was considered closed. The only thing indicating the park was closed were gates at the front and side entrances.
So, basically, besides my dog Rusty I was walking alone. It was a very pretty park with a lake and a waterfall in the middle of an urban area. There were small islands in the lake and wooden walkways connecting all the areas of the park. So it was fun. Birds and all kinds of small wildlife were there, especially when few people were around.
True story, no lie.
I walked up a small hill and at the top of the hill a view of the park was open to me. At the bottom of this crest in the direction I was walking was a boat launch which also had small row boats for rent. Those boats were locked with chains when the park was closed.
On this particular Sunday at the boat ramp was a large red and fairly new looking red pick up truck. I don't know how the truck got into the park, it would be easy to drive around the gates and out of sight of the public at the side entrance to the park. There were two black men out of the truck and currently seeking to remove chains from the boats. There were already two black men in a boat on the lake they had removed chains from.
I don't know what silly laws there men had already broken, nor do I care. I was walking my dog. If they wanted to remove chains of publicly owned row boats to go fishing on a beautiful Sunday morning basically what did I care. I didn't they were welcome to fish there all day for all I cared.
However, the circumstances got really, really dicey for as hideous as they were.The men on the dock got scared. They became afraid of a white woman and her Chow-Chow. There was no reason to be afraid of my dog, he was on his leash and a basically good dog that only paid attention to me. He could not care less there were men at the boat ramp or fishing, nor did he pay attention to the truck, he was walking with me. It would be Rusty that caused my safety that day. He didn't attack anyone.
I continued my walk and crossed one of the wooden foot bridges to the other side of the lake which was closer to my home when the red truck was coming around to meet me as I approached the shoreline. One of the men was stationed at each end of the foot bridge now and I knew there was trouble coming.
When I got to the other side of the lake via the foot bridge the man in the truck was now on foot and within about 50 feet of me. I grabbed Rusty's leach and told him to behave that everything was all right. I stopped to pet him as if to calm him. At that point the dog was now focused on someone nearby. He made no sound, made no aggressive moves, but, he had a menacing presence. Rusty was a very sweet dog and a good companion, but, in all honesty he looked like an animal you didn't want to mess with. So the man on foot had a dilemma. Who would he attack first, me or the dog. Either way he didn't have much of a chance. He had no gun. The other men did not have guns. Besides on a Sunday morning if there was that much noise on the lake it would be very noticed. It was a quiet place.
When the man standing near me realized he had a dilemma which he didn't formulate until he was faced with it; I passed by without confrontation.
I didn't really get upset while all that was transpiring. What I did think was how foolish these men were for even considering my presence as important. But, they didn't know I didn't care about their fishing venture on a beautiful Sunday morning. They were discovered. They got scared and their reaction was to attack and not run away.
I worked with minority populations over my lifetime. That dynamic is common in those communities. Their need for control in fear of 'the system' is overwhelming. Their understanding that they have rights and should never over react for control is absent. In other words, that morning should I have had a cell phone and called 911 and reported four black men fishing illegally on the lake they would have to face the police and they would be in trouble BEYOND the trouble they assigned themselves by breaking the park rules.
Their best outcome for the dilemma we faced as five people in a park without permission was hideous. We were all there to enjoy the park in silence on a beautiful Sunday morning. At some level we all bargained for trouble, but, the most trouble I bargained for was a complaint by some jerk which would result in a police officer telling me to leave the park. However, the trouble they bargained for was far greater in their minds than I ever bargained for. They were going to control their outcomes no matter what they were faced with including the idea murder was a possibility.
There was something in their actions that morning that gave them permission to commit murder. Their circumstances were beyond any reasonable answer to the plans they made that morning. They laid out the odds and they went forward without conscience about their outcomes or the outcomes of others. The worst happened and their resolve was to control the crime scene and not to simply defuse their fears and commit to a resolve of non-violence while laughing at their stupidity for even trying such a thing in the first place.
If they carried out their fearful resolve and committed murder that morning they would have consequences beyond simply taking row boats on the lake without permission. That level of fear of the system and any other dynamic that plays into those deeply seeded fears has to be dissolved. Those four black men should have had a greater sense of their BELONGING to this country than they did. They were convinced they had to be covert to resolve their need for fish and possibly enjoyment. Their demands of their own lives was depersonalized and depraved. They were abusing their own outcomes while convinced they had no good options.
There is a greater evil here than behavior. There was a profound understanding in the community that no matter what they did nothing was going to work out well. Their value of murder was a survival pact. This society has done this. It is not their priority to murder, but, it is a life strategy. There is a lot wrong here and the community alone does not own it.
Example:
I was walking my dog, a Chow-Chow by the name of Rusty though a park behind my home on a Sunday morning. There was virtually no one in the park or in observation of my activities except those that might have a window toward the path I was on. The park had hours of operation when attendants were in the park. When there were no attendants the park was considered closed. The only thing indicating the park was closed were gates at the front and side entrances.
So, basically, besides my dog Rusty I was walking alone. It was a very pretty park with a lake and a waterfall in the middle of an urban area. There were small islands in the lake and wooden walkways connecting all the areas of the park. So it was fun. Birds and all kinds of small wildlife were there, especially when few people were around.
True story, no lie.
I walked up a small hill and at the top of the hill a view of the park was open to me. At the bottom of this crest in the direction I was walking was a boat launch which also had small row boats for rent. Those boats were locked with chains when the park was closed.
On this particular Sunday at the boat ramp was a large red and fairly new looking red pick up truck. I don't know how the truck got into the park, it would be easy to drive around the gates and out of sight of the public at the side entrance to the park. There were two black men out of the truck and currently seeking to remove chains from the boats. There were already two black men in a boat on the lake they had removed chains from.
I don't know what silly laws there men had already broken, nor do I care. I was walking my dog. If they wanted to remove chains of publicly owned row boats to go fishing on a beautiful Sunday morning basically what did I care. I didn't they were welcome to fish there all day for all I cared.
However, the circumstances got really, really dicey for as hideous as they were.The men on the dock got scared. They became afraid of a white woman and her Chow-Chow. There was no reason to be afraid of my dog, he was on his leash and a basically good dog that only paid attention to me. He could not care less there were men at the boat ramp or fishing, nor did he pay attention to the truck, he was walking with me. It would be Rusty that caused my safety that day. He didn't attack anyone.
I continued my walk and crossed one of the wooden foot bridges to the other side of the lake which was closer to my home when the red truck was coming around to meet me as I approached the shoreline. One of the men was stationed at each end of the foot bridge now and I knew there was trouble coming.
When I got to the other side of the lake via the foot bridge the man in the truck was now on foot and within about 50 feet of me. I grabbed Rusty's leach and told him to behave that everything was all right. I stopped to pet him as if to calm him. At that point the dog was now focused on someone nearby. He made no sound, made no aggressive moves, but, he had a menacing presence. Rusty was a very sweet dog and a good companion, but, in all honesty he looked like an animal you didn't want to mess with. So the man on foot had a dilemma. Who would he attack first, me or the dog. Either way he didn't have much of a chance. He had no gun. The other men did not have guns. Besides on a Sunday morning if there was that much noise on the lake it would be very noticed. It was a quiet place.
When the man standing near me realized he had a dilemma which he didn't formulate until he was faced with it; I passed by without confrontation.
I didn't really get upset while all that was transpiring. What I did think was how foolish these men were for even considering my presence as important. But, they didn't know I didn't care about their fishing venture on a beautiful Sunday morning. They were discovered. They got scared and their reaction was to attack and not run away.
I worked with minority populations over my lifetime. That dynamic is common in those communities. Their need for control in fear of 'the system' is overwhelming. Their understanding that they have rights and should never over react for control is absent. In other words, that morning should I have had a cell phone and called 911 and reported four black men fishing illegally on the lake they would have to face the police and they would be in trouble BEYOND the trouble they assigned themselves by breaking the park rules.
Their best outcome for the dilemma we faced as five people in a park without permission was hideous. We were all there to enjoy the park in silence on a beautiful Sunday morning. At some level we all bargained for trouble, but, the most trouble I bargained for was a complaint by some jerk which would result in a police officer telling me to leave the park. However, the trouble they bargained for was far greater in their minds than I ever bargained for. They were going to control their outcomes no matter what they were faced with including the idea murder was a possibility.
There was something in their actions that morning that gave them permission to commit murder. Their circumstances were beyond any reasonable answer to the plans they made that morning. They laid out the odds and they went forward without conscience about their outcomes or the outcomes of others. The worst happened and their resolve was to control the crime scene and not to simply defuse their fears and commit to a resolve of non-violence while laughing at their stupidity for even trying such a thing in the first place.
If they carried out their fearful resolve and committed murder that morning they would have consequences beyond simply taking row boats on the lake without permission. That level of fear of the system and any other dynamic that plays into those deeply seeded fears has to be dissolved. Those four black men should have had a greater sense of their BELONGING to this country than they did. They were convinced they had to be covert to resolve their need for fish and possibly enjoyment. Their demands of their own lives was depersonalized and depraved. They were abusing their own outcomes while convinced they had no good options.
There is a greater evil here than behavior. There was a profound understanding in the community that no matter what they did nothing was going to work out well. Their value of murder was a survival pact. This society has done this. It is not their priority to murder, but, it is a life strategy. There is a lot wrong here and the community alone does not own it.
