A general public sense exists of people in prison being
ignorant of goings-on in the wider world. I get this all the time, friends
asking if I've heard of a particular well-known app, if I'm informed about the
scandal du jour, or if I understand a certain new slang term. Sure, there's a
lot that I miss by being locked up, but I have my own TV, subscriptions to
numerous magazines, and a diverse social circle. I probably stay better
informed than the average prisoner.
Until my 2001 arrest, I was very politically engaged. I had followed the latest
presidential election very closely, attended political demonstrations, took
fervent interest in civic matters, and frequently discussed local, national,
and world politics with passion. (For context: my best friend went on to master
in political science at Berkeley, and my ex-roommate became the administrator
of a Planned Parenthood clinic.) Finding myself in prison didn't diminish my
enthusiasm. I still listened to news on the radio, watched the twenty-four-hour
channels in my cell, and conversed about policy and law with anyone willing to
engage me on political matters. The lead-up to the 2016 presidential election
changed everything.
Maybe it was a matter of feeling disenfranchised and so far outside of the
system. Maybe it was turning forty and realizing that (to paraphrase Emerson)
the crack of doom heard around the country was nothing but the noise of a pop
gun. Maybe it was a lack of patience with the infantile puling and name-calling
of the candidates. I turned off my TV with disgust one day and swore off all
politics. When I realized that you can't, in this country, follow any news
without getting at least a little of the slime of something political
splattered on you, I gave up news media altogether. My news blackout enters its
fourth year next month.
That big social circle I mentioned includes some who are very keen on politics.
I don't have any problem voicing displeasure when they bring up a subject I
studiously refuse to engage with them on. By and large, they respect my
boundaries without complaint. However, in prison, it's said that there are no
secrets. People talk. And as hard as I try, a guy can't help overhearing
things.
Ours are highly politicized times. I have no scientific basis for what I'm
about to say, but there might well be more people in prison who take an
interest in politics, per capita, than there are in the free world. Arguments
spring up around me throughout the day, and I can't go a week without hearing
mention of either the president's staggering inhumanity or his greatness of
character. "Democrats!" one will spit. "Republicans!" another
will growl. Asked where I stand on the issues of the day, I resort to my stock
reply, "I heard that the price of tomatoes has fluctuated again." If
pressed for an answer, I ask my inquisitor who he'll be voting for in the next
senate race — a practice that, more often than not, shames him into adopting
another, less fraught subject.
Again quite unscientifically, it seems to me that the average prisoner here in
Missouri leans Republican or identifies as a very conservative Independent.
Those inclined to a Democratic perspective tend to be so more out of
obligation, due to labor union ties, than because of progressive values. As far
as apolitical prisoners are concerned, they tend to like the promises of Donald
Trump quite a lot — particularly his anti-immigration stance — although none of
his fans seem capable of enumerating any specific decisions or actions of note
that the president has actually taken.
I hear this hasn't been a good year for
tomatoes.
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Byron does not have Internet access. Pariahblog.com posts are sent from his cell by way of a secure service especially for prisoners' use. We do read him your comments, however, and he enjoys hearing your thoughts very much.