This is so odd, yet watchable. It poses so many questions. Do you have to audition to go to jail? How did this all get started? If they mess up, is it "taser time"?
canuck it's no like they're being sent up for overdue library books in cali you got to be a real fuckup to get time .......going to prison doesn't carry the stigma of shame it use to, in some communities 40% of the male population will be convicted felons before their 31st birthday. and it's not as though the judicial system is overly harsh...last week a guy was arrested in oakland for discharging a weapon during a robbery...naturally it hit an innocent bystander who is now paralyzed ...the shooter had recently been convicted (less than 6 mos ago) of illegal weapons possesion , felony evasion (100 pursuit through oakland) drug possesion (naturally) and driving while intoxicated...and was on parole
i loved his response to the judge "Hey not everybody can be micheal jordan"..... i'd send him to the chair just for that
Now this is what I meant about music making you feel "good". It was a hell of a lot better than seeing a tape about prisoners beating each other up and hating. They are in prison, they've committed some crime. But rather than spend their time tearing each other up, they spent time and energy to do something a little more positive, have a little fun in the bargain. Can't argue with that.
Not sure but looks like it was the same prison where they did the Micheal Jackson Thriller (in Manilla) dance too. Beats doing drugs, making shanks and prison rape!
I wonder what the inmates do after there done dancing together and go back to there cells brownie you wanna comment on that and sorry b ut i do have 2 agree with canuck if u spotted the guy that broke into your house or raped your child you would have a different view seems the inmates are having a little to much fun
I guess I must be missing something here, because I couldn't help but focus on another angle here.
Each and every single one of these inmates has something in common:
They ALL have a victim(s) on the outside. ALL of them.
If you're watching this video, and suddenly you spot the guy who raped your daughter (god forbid), robbed your ailing grandmother or did some unimagineable wrong against you or someone close to you....are you still going to admire the nifty way they jump up and dance around in uniformity, and how talented they are?
Or are you going going to get pissed off, and wonder why they aren't being gassed like rabid dogs?
Please keep in mind, I'm not criticizing here.......just wondering if the "big picture" is being looked at.
all these people are incarcerated, being told what, how, when to do anything .Who knows what else is being done to them .I think this just another way to control them . Is it cute? NO .It funny? NO .
Hi Canuck. I really wasn't commending they are criminals, I guess I just spoke my first thought. Which was, at least they aren't committing any MORE crimes if they're dancing.
But very good points you make. I did look at the bigger picture after reading your posts (I often do).
My thought is that this sort of activity might indeed help achieve some level of reform for the less aggressive criminal who is just serving out his time, so I tend to agree with FTB's first notions.
Recently there was a junior accountant locally who managed to misdirect his employer's funds to a personal account. Not exactly Jeffrey Dahmer, but now living at publice expense somewhere. Maybe his reform might be aided by this sort of thing. At minimum, maybe this distraction might incline him away from learning more ways to rob while his behind bars. Couldn't hurt.
But I agree with you, if there are men in this group who have committed violent crimes, that this sort of activity just doesn't make sense.
I guess I just did not presume the group included those guilty of the sort of heinous crimes you described...can't believe the "authorities" would permit that, but then, I don't know much about prisons and their practices.
Is this correctional facility designated as minimum, medium or maximum security? Does it house a certain kind of offender for specific crimes, or no?
But either way you cut it, as I've said before:
Regardless of WHAT their crimes were, there's NO SUCH THING as "victimless crime."
In whatever capacity their victims live on the outside, I don't think they're gonna be none too thrilled at their victimizers prancing and dancing around like that.
Canuck, there is a good reason why prisons are called "correctional institutions". Except for the very fucked up ones who should be locked up for life to protect society, the majority of them will be released sooner or later. Punishing the criminal for his (or her) deeds is just part of the thing. Actually the more important part is to try to make sure that they will not be repeat customers.
Many criminals are socially failed individuals, doing stuff like performing this dance can be a good experience for them: They work together in a coordinated way and they get applause for something that was legal.
The whole "punishment" vs. "rehabilitation" philosophy is an old one. And, as you've pointed out, reducing recidivism amongst offenders is definitely a policy I whole-heartedly endorse. The whole question, of course, is HOW a society is able to do that. The "rock pile", as you mentioned? Programmes within the facility to address the core issues that affect the offender in question? Social work vs. hard work? Proper discharge planning for the offender vs. simply shoving them out the door? The list goes on and on and on......
My only point in this matter, is that whatever the goal is....I'm not so sure dancing to a failed rap singers music in a huge ensemble, is the appropriate way to go, in addressing an offenders rehabilitation.
Hey Canuck - Totally take your points on board about the bigger picture but I am pretty certain that the majority of inmates seen here are not of the kiddy-fiddling, rapist persuasion.
It seems in most prisons these inmates are normally segregated for their own good. Some, me included, would disagree with this and let them out in the yard with the others whilst turning a blind eye but then that's another argument... That said I think this prison is in Manila so who knows what kind of segregation is imposed.
As for victimless crime...uuuummm....feeling a little sheepish here... I kinda feel almost admiration (?) for clever stings. Guessing you might disagree with me on this given your occupation :-)
When no human life has been endangered and no one injured, Bank burglary (as opposed to hold-ups where life is at risk) tend to raise a little smile in me. Am I bad?
How's this for an example:
The heist that took place during weekend of August 6-8, 2005 at the Central Bank in Fortaleza, Brazil was great.
These guys had a great plan involving a 255 ft. tunnel they
dug for three months. It was so good they pulled it off twice on the same bank over the course of three days.
One suspect was eventually arrested on suspicion of planning several bank robberies with the use of secret tunnels and was thrown into prison in Sao Paulo. However, he eventually escaped.
How? By digging a secret tunnel, of course. You%u2019ve gotta love the irony of that!
In short that crime was cleverly executed, hurt no one and made the banks invest some of their easily earned profits into more extensive protection infrastructure... guess I find most banks to be the world's biggest thieves anyway so a little payback is fun to see when carried off well. Am I bad?
The antithesis of the Brazil robbery is actually the Great Train Robbery in the UK back in the early 60s.
It seems people venerate the criminals who took part but everyone forgets that the train driver, Jack Mills, was struck on the head with an iron bar during the struggle. Mills never recovered from the attack and didn%u2019t return to work so why the perps are considered heroes is beyond me
In a strictly technical sense, yeah, the Bank would be the "victim", but you're right: it's hard to cast a major corporation in that role. Same as the government; how many of us have cut corners on our income tax returns, to get a back a few bucks? One can look at those examples, and say "Yeah, well...it's still theft, and yes, they are "victims". Don't get me wrong here: It's just as difficult for me to see them in this light. Take shoplifting, for instance. You think it's just the store that's a "victim" in that? Nope. If any of these stores sustain too many losses due to theft, WE are the victims, because WE'LL get the price hikes for it later.
As far as this particular prison goes, like I said above....there are many, many ways to address the rehabilitative needs of offenders.
I just can't believe it would be THIS way.
Just my own opinion.
Having said all of that, Mako, have you ever heard of the Stanford Experiment in California, back in '71? They took a group of college stidents and made some of them "guards", and some of them "inmates", and put them in a mock-prison setting for two weeks, as a study in human behaviour.
It was terminated after SIX days, because each side had horrifyingly sunk into their roles, and were on their way to completely severing ties to not only the fact that it was a simulated experiment....but the lines to reality itself.
It happened again, about four years ago, in another prison.
Hey C - yup heard of that experiment and how it highlights the nature of man when the inmate / jailer roles are brought into play. Horrific but not altogether unexpected - I think it was the incredibly short timeframe in which the participants took to their roles that was the shocker.
No one has considered the wrongfully charged, I wonder how many in this prison are "innocent"? The press alone can create a guilty person out of an innocent one....
A biker is riding by the zoo, when he sees a little girl leaning into the
lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and
tries to pull her inside to eat her, in front of the eyes of her screaming
parents. The biker jumps off his bike, runs to the cage and hits the lion
square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified
parents, who thank him endlessly.
Witnessing this, a reporter asks the biker, 'Sir, that was the most gallant
and brave thing I've ever seen in my whole life.'
'Nah, it was nothing really,' said the biker, 'the lion was behind bars. I
just saw this little kid in danger, and did what I felt was right.'
'I noticed that patch on your jacket.' said the journalist.
'Yeah I ride with a Christian motorcycle club.' the biker replies.
'Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist, you know,
and tomorrow papers will have this on the front page.'
The following morning the biker checks the paper to see if he is on the
front page.
Sure enough, the headline reads...
BIKER GANG MEMBER ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH
Canadaman, are you trying to piss me off or something, or are you the self appointed glumbertarian pain in the ass? Whatever C-man I'm not going for it. The "new leaf" I've turned over has been working for me thus far, no more negativity, no more ranting and raving (OK this last time) so take it on down the road bud, I don't' want it!
Liberal left leaning democrat..jeez you really know how to insult a guy....wait a minute, I get it now, ha ha good one, dry witty humor, either that our you haven't seen ANY of my videos! If that's the case, let me show you the way...
oh yeah moron. what yo want? all day beatings? fucksake its just a dance routine. you and the moron canuck should get together and spend some time in stir.
You've spent 2.5 years in the Federal Correctional Institute in Elkton, Ohio, which houses a little over 1,000 offenders, and carries a "low security" designation.
It is also apparent, that you have utilized nothing of this institutions' programs/resources (if any), to address your core issues, and have thereby guaranteed yourself to be just another recidivist statistic.
The above comments aside, I think it took a certain amount of guts on your part, to even admit that.
I think it's a pity that you're so.....consumed by anger/venom....I would have been curious about any comments you might have had about that facility, as well as your "time" there.
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