If anyone ever questioned the disenfranchisement of ex-cons that have paid their dues to society but still can't vote, check out alarming statistics from the government. 1 in 142 people in America currently reside in prison. If you want to make a serious change in the government, fight for the voting rights of people that are often affected the most.

Let me paint you a picture. You were arrested when you were 18 for armed robbery. You did 5 years in prison, 5 years parole ( I am making these figures up I have no idea what the prison sentences for this crime would be) and for the rest of your life you can't have any participation in what goes on in your neighborhood. You can't decide on the kind of education your kids will receive, you can't decide on tax cuts or increases, you can't decide on whether there are more fire departments, police personnel, emergency services and social programs to help your community. You can't decide on whether we go to war, whether abortion is overturned, whether your children are drafted, whether healthcare rates increase, etc. You can't vote for representatives that are going to fix the corruption in our cuurent government's ethics committees and election process. You pay your debt to society, the state says that you are rehabilitated, but not enough for them to trust you with a ballot.

Or maybe this is part of the progressive investment in keeping people of color and the economically disadvantaged of any race caught in a cycle for generations and generations.

We have surpassed China, a communist country, in inmate population. China!!!!!

And now China wants to buy Unical. So we can ask them nicely for oil to run our machines, and they will say fuck no, we have over a billion people here and are going through an industrial revolution. Get your oil somewhere else! But that's a story for another day.

This is something to think about however. You have a 1 in 142 chance of going to jail in your lifetime. Some would say that the direction we are headed in as a country will make it feel like everyone is living in a jail, the only difference will be the steel bars and the orange jump suits.

U.S. Prison Population Tops 2 Million

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