2 Percent

-
I used to believe that incarceration only affected those who were locked up, along with their closest friends and family. Then I came across a startling statistic: if just 2% of a community is incarcerated, it negatively impacts the entire community.

At first, 2% seemed like such a small number—almost insignificant. How could the absence of such a tiny fraction of people make a noticeable difference? But as I sat with that thought, I began to consider the ripple effects of human connection. Each person is part of a web of relationships—some close, some distant, but all meaningful in ways we don’t always see.

These connections extend far beyond immediate friends and family. Humans are deeply interconnected, often more than we realize. So when the punishment for a crime disrupts communities, it’s not just individuals who suffer—it’s the fabric of the network itself. This suggests we might need to rethink how we approach justice. Even those who break the law are part of the web that holds us together. Perhaps the answer lies in repairing and strengthening those bonds, rather than breaking them further.

For reflection:
What human connections in your life do you take for granted? How might they shape your experience in ways you haven't fully considered?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Healing Broken Bones

-
Image
  The first time I broke a bone is a happy memory now. It was the spring of 2003, the end of my sixth grade year, and I was racing bikes with my friend Giuseppe. The road was slick with rainwater, so when I hit my top speed I lost control of my steering.       As a twelve-year-old, having a cast was fun. I walked around school with a Sharpie in my pocket so everyone could sign my cast or write "Have a great summer." I got a few laughs for trying to write with my left hand.    That summer our family vacationed in a cottage near the shore. When I realized I couldn't get in the water, my cast wasn't so fun anymore. My brothers and cousins were all having fun in the ocean doing cannonballs and splashing each other, which made me feel like I was unfairly left out. I was mad.    Instead, I spent the summer learning how to skip stones with my left hand. It was a slow start, but eventually I became more skilled with my left hand than I wa...
Read more

Freedom Promotions

-
I was discouraged by the lack of a grand moment of freedom at the end of my decade in prison. People imagine it as a dramatic shift— you live in a cell day after day, then one day, the door swings open, and life returns in glorious style. But that’s not how it works. A prison sentence has its own phases. You move from higher security to lower security, each step requiring its own adjustment. Then, if you're released to a halfway house or another form of monitoring, you're out, but not really free. Even from the time of my sentencing, I knew I’d have years of special parole waiting for me on the other side, an automatic way to ruin the best part of a long bid: the day I got out. Looking back, though, I see it differently. I can track my growth through each stage and appreciate the small freedoms I gained along the way. I never had a single moment of freedom, I had freedom promotions. And while that realization surprises me, maybe it shouldn’t. After all, you get a lot stronger ...
Read more

Witnessed at the Gas Pump

-
The queues for left-side tanks were full, forcing me to an opposite pump where I stood straining against the hose, angling the nozzle downward to keep the fuel flowing. "Four dollar gas! You voted for this!" The shout had the pitch and tone of an unstable man. "Still better than the other people in charge." His voice won the argument, wrong as he was.  I know this guy, he works at the Costco gas station. In another life he could have been a cop. Just last month he noticed that my car wouldn't start and pointed to a place I could push it out of the way. "We're gonna get him out of office!" The shriek went on... ​I found myself hoping for the same, though perhaps for different reasons. It isn't just about the price per gallon or the latest political scandals; it’s a desire to move past this era entirely. I’m ready for a time when a person’s political leanings don't make me second-guess their character. I liked that guy.
Read more