"It’s not punishment"?

"It’s not punishment" they keep telling me when I ask why they’re going to take our books and food or as they call it, "excessive property". In the administrations great wisdom, they have deemed it necessary to "declutter" our tiny 8X12 cell, filed with the ONLY possessions of two men. Can you think of anything more cruel or inappropriate than taking food and books from people starved in so many ways?

Again, "it’s not punishment". They don’t seem to understand that 'punishment' doesn’t need the motive behind it to qualify. Just because they’re not taking our reading material and food for the express purpose of torment doesn’t mean that isn’t the effect. We can sidestep for now the issue of their usual method of punishment being... to take a bunch of our stuff!

"It’s not punishment." What they mean is that they can harass and hound us, pester, plague, and provoke us under the guise of their myriad policies which are always ambiguous and broad and left to their interpretation. But "It’s not punishment"

Sometime this month, the staff are coming through in a massive search and we have been warned of their intent: they say we have "too much stuff". The solution you’d think would be not to cram two grown men into a room smaller than most people’s bathrooms and maybe the legal box or so worth of property wouldn’t seem like so much "clutter", but they always prefer the method that makes us most frustrated and miserable.

The idea is that too much "excessive property" like commissary bought off the canteen and books is a bad thing. They cite things like trying to prevent anyone from preparing for a lockdown with excess food and "a fire hazard" is the supposition of most guards for them taking books. But no-one I’ve talked to from guards to wardens seems to know why they’re doing it. There is a lot to unpack here so I’ll handle them separately.

If people are preparing for a lock down in which we aren’t allowed to go to store for weeks or months, why is this discouraged? We have had over 2 years of covid restrictions with several lockdowns from 2-8 weeks with no ability to buy food, toothpaste, soap, or OTC meds. These lockdowns are "not punitive" as they like to say but starving and stinking with another human being within kicking distance sure feel like punishment, I can tell you. For them to try to prevent this and to actually TAKE these items seems to me to clearly indicate their intent: they want a lock down to hurt. They want to starve and degrade us. They don’t want us to be able to blunt the effects of their sadism. It doesn’t matter really if it’s a lockdown for covid or for people if don’t know fighting, they want to torment us and they hate that there are some of us can soften the blow. So, they’ll come and take what we’ve saved up to that end. Which we paid for.

And yes, I know this sounds like some conspiracy theory (which means I can’t’ be too crazy, right? Crazy people don’t think they sound crazy! I think), but what else could it be? Why is 'excess food' an issue? Is that an issue anywhere in the world?! And why is being prepared for yet another lock down of which I had not control over a bad thing?

As for excess books being a fire hazard, well there is just so much wrong with this. I have more books than most at about 20-30 at any given time. Between a nerdy girlfriend and an understanding family, I get a lot of books sent in. I spend much of my day reading and actual dedicated time to study of things like psychology, art, and philosophy. I also speak 2 languages and I am learning a third, so between dictionaries and a thesaurus, the 5-book limit they are trying to enforce, I’m already over with reference language materials ALONE. This isn’t including the usual 4-5 books I’m reading at any given time. I finish 1-2 a week and have a queue for next week and next month... you get it. I may be a little abnormal, but I’m hardly unique and hardly living in a book fort made of my many hundreds of books.

Also, I feel it is needed reminder that we’re talking about an 8X12 prison cell. It’s not an apartment with space heaters, stoves, microwaves, gaslines, appliances, fireplaces, pilot lights, electrical outlets, lighters, matches or even two sticks to rub together. Where is this fire coming from that would catch our merger collection of books?

It’s also necessary to point out that every prison I have been in thus far (maybe 20 separate institutions in 14 years total) is made of concrete and steel. How and where would a fire spread; do you think? In all my time I’ve seen one fire and it was in a plumbing chase where cops were smoking and accidentally caught a little insulation. It smoldered for about 5 min while they evacuated, and the prisoners coughed in our cells.

If you’re wondering what they will do with all this excess, well I’d guess they’ll bring the food home to their families. It’s mostly junk food like ramen soups and cookies, but I’m sure there will be packs of tuna and mackerel, sausages... who knows how many thousands of dollars will go to the officer feeding fund? But the books... This makes me sad to say it, but there isn’t room in the prison library for anymore. It’s about a 15X10 room and it is maxed out with all the books we can’t get to anyway because the administration in their great wisdom has deemed that library books may transmit covid. We haven’t had access to the library but for about 1 month in over 2 years. Hence why all the books have built up in the cells and living units in the first place. They’re sent in and paid for as gifts from friends and family.

So, I’d guess all the gathered books and magazines will be heaped in a celebratory bonfire for the commandants and Fuhrer’s… I mean guards and wardens.

But remember, "it’s not punishment". Then what is it?

A note after the fact:

The search came and went. We were locked down for unrelated issues and were refused showers for 9 days straight. A record for people with decades in prisons all over the country. No bonfires, but no one knows where the 1000+ books that were taken from this unit alone ended up. They don’t donate to libraries out there; it works the other way around. The best anyone can guess [or any cop will tell us] is that they were thrown away. 6 units here, if it averaged out at 1000 books apiece... that makes me hurt to think of all the potential knowledge and study that was destroyed so they can torment us just a little more.

This is the system that is supported by our society. It won’t change till WE, all of us, do something. Make people aware. Tell your friends. There are prison reform acts and bills. Politicians think all is well because no one knows about this, and no one says one word. WE can change that.

People are getting worse, not better. With the things I’m showing you here, it should be obvious why. What is not obvious is why people who make decisions like this should be allowed to continue having control over thousands of people’s lives. People who will, I should remind you, be out of prison one day.