Last week, Wildrose leader Danielle Smith announced that when her party is elected to government, she will introduce work programs for provincial prisoners.
While putting dirt bags to work, rather than watching cable TV and living off the system, might seem sweet revenge, Smith said the purpose of the work programs was to provide inmates with experience and work skills.
Nuts. I was kind of hoping for a government that truly punishes criminals, and gives those jackass street gang losers something to think about when they get hauled off to jail for the 19th time after breaking into my car.
With that in mind, I’d like to admit something to you.
Before I do, I’d like to make a request. If you’re a mild-mannered, soft-hearted citizen who goes out of their way to help the less fortunate, and you consider provincial inmates to be less fortunate, please don’t read this column. You’re just going to get mad, and think I’m attacking you. I’m not, but you’ll probably think so anyway because you’re a mild-mannered, soft-hearted citizen who goes out of their way to help the less fortunate.
Here is my admission: I don’t care about criminals’ futures. I know left-wingers think I should, but I don’t.
For the record, I care about my future, my wife’s future, our kids futures and to a lesser degree, your kids’ futures.
I care about paying my bills. That probably sounds a little weird, but it’s true. I actually feel a little self-satisfied rush when I pay a bill. Taxes are another matter entirely.
I care about my parents, my neighbours and my co-workers.
And, for no good reason whatsoever, I care about the Calgary Flames. Which is weird because they’ve stolen more time and money and hope from me than any criminal.
I don’t care about criminals’ futures. It’s not something I think about. I spend more time in my daily life contemplating ball bearings on bumper cars than the societal prospects of criminals.
When I do think of criminals, I’m angry at them. I want them to suffer punishment when they go to prison. I don’t want them spending the next six months learning how to be more effective criminals from their prisoner buddies while getting high on drugs brought into the jail by prison workers.
I do not have a deep-seeded hatred of criminals possibly originating from my youth. I’m not angry with criminals because my long lost uncle stole my dinky cars and it marked me for life. I’m angry with criminals because they are selfish jerks who break society’s laws.
The moment I stopped caring about the mugger’s future was the moment he beat up and robbed a random stranger. I might have cared – a tiny bit – about mugger’s sordid childhood before he did the mugging. But after the mugging he became a criminal and, to repeat myself, I don’t care about criminals’ futures.
There are many in society, including many in my own industry, who think this makes me a bad human being. Fine. I can accept that.
There are many who think the fact that I can accept this makes me a worse human being. To them I say: Fine. I can accept that, too.
I am fully aware that it’s probably good that someone in society cares about criminals’ futures. But, other than their mothers, I can’t for the life of me understand why. There are so many other social causes to support.
I can understand volunteering with the food bank. I can understand raising money to fight diseases. I can even understand supporting drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities. But giving time and energy to those who do nothing but take? That’s just not the way I’m wired.
Criminals in provincial jails should have to earn their food. They should not be able to vote. They should not have Internet access, watch cable TV or while away the hours playing Angry Birds.
They should sit in the dark and think about what they did.
And, if they’re lucky enough to get a premier like Danielle Smith, I guess they could spend their time working to pay restitution to their victims. There are worse things than going to work.
There. Now that I’ve got that off my chest, it’s time to move on.
Have you ever contemplated just how many ball bearings there are in bumper cars?
