But what I am saying is that the dream of making that kinda salary should not be removed from his heart. A guy that does time should not be confined to live his life in a “forgiving society” making minimum wage on a part time job. If he wants to dream to own a multi-million dollar business, why can’t he?

(If you got an answer to counter that, you let me know, but I warn you, you are not gonna win this argument.)

For example, I found it hard working for peanuts even though I have a college education. With a record, it is hard to really find a good job that will pay me what I am worth. I told you guys about the Christian radio station that paid me $3 an hour, even though I was the only guy in the station with a degree in Radio and Television. I told you how I had to work bagging groceries. These are not the things that help an ex get back on his feet.

I was, in effect, being denied from dreaming.

And perhaps that is a worst confinement than being in prison.

So when the idea of writing prison books, prison blogs, prison posts and making prison cards, certificates and documents came up, I saw a chance to take control of my life, while helping others.

The way I see it, if even .001% of the people who are affected by prison started reading and supporting my writing, my dreams can be obtainable. If I write for a living, I don’t have to worry about the bossman checking my records, or some other employee thinking I am some devil because I am an ex. I don’t have to hide my head in some shame because others think I am less than they are.

If my books and cards sell, then I find a purpose, and one that I am kinda sure God Himself can smile on. If I had a dime for every email, private message, comment and response I had to my writing the last 5 years, I might have already bought that yacht and be cruising to the islands, typing my blogs on a laptop while sipping on some fruity flavored drink with the bendy straws…a little over the top, but you get my point.

Is there a way to help ex felons get their lives back. Sure. Will prisons help? Not likely. Can someone from the outside develop a program to help inmates. Absolutely. Wherever there is a need, there can always be a supply of help. And wherever there is a demand for help, there is an opportunity to create a program or business to accommodate those people.

Don’t lose heart in this simple fact folks: there is always a way. I don’t suppose anyone said it would be easy, because I know it isn’t, but that does not diminish the fact that the answer is out there. When I first started making my “Grades of Honor” books available, it was hard to get people to take a chance with me. Some did, and then more. Same with my cards and certificates. I had to give them away just to show my sincerity. But if I ever turn that corner, I think I will be flying higher than the clouds. It would be proof positive that an ex felon can dream, which he has every right to, no different from any other human being.

But to get there, there has to be something in place to help him and his family to both see the dream. Maybe this is something somebody out there can think on. Maybe there is government funding for such an idea, heck, they’ll fund anything. I bet if I wanted to do research on the different flavors of ketchup, there would be a $10,000 grant from the government for it.

End of shared blog

So what I am sharing is the idea that you play a major part in your loved one. You are not likely going to be able to “turn off” the prison mentality the day he or she gets out, because you cannot change the lifestyle of a person like that. You can EVENTUALLY change it, but if you are hoping that they will be assimilated to a free society after being locked up for 5 years, 10 years or longer, you will be disappointed.

But don’t let that initial disappointment take you down. It is so important that you see what he does not see, the promise of a better life. To be sure, he didn’t have that in prison, and with a free society, the sky is the limit. It does come with a lot of trials, but there can be success if you are willing to encourage him or her to embrace the better things of life rather than the rituals and habits in prison.

It’s all about replacing one life with another. I think any person in prison will tell you that freedom is much, MUCH better than prison, but that does not mean it is more desired. An ex felon that is homeless and hungry knows that life in prison would at least guarantee him a meal and a place to sleep. Society in all it’s irony does NOT guarantee that. So the mentality or INTZ of some inmates can actually be a “fail safe device” where if things go wrong in freedom, they can always just go back to prison.

This kinda leads to my Inmate Hierarchy of Needs blogs, so I hope you can bounce back and read those. Anyway, let me share one more with you, a part of a blog about how the government can help inmates:

The following is from an older blog:

Simply put, what can the government do to help ex felons when they are released? As one person correctly added, in many states a felon loses his right to vote when he is incarcerated. This is very ironic because the purpose of the prison and justice system is for a person who is found guilty of a crime to "pay his DEBT to society".

Now, if he does that (paying his DEBT) by doing his time, we are supposed to assume that when he gets out of prison, his DEBT to society is now past tense. In other words, he PAID his DEBT, to society, meaning he should be seen as a regular person, no different from anyone else.

But this is not true at all, in fact far from it.

I can get really political here, but I won't do that. I say that because the faults of mankind are on all of us, not just politicians. It's easy to point to a figurehead and say, "It's all HIS fault", but most of the time the problem exists because the majority of people don't want to get involved, looking after their own concerns. Only when the problem lands in their lap, then they want to get involved, by first placing blame on someone else.

So, the question is this; what can the government do to help ex felons? I could sit here from now until 6am thinking but my answers may not be reasonable for others to follow. For any answer I give, there is a counter. For example, I can say that the government could make programs that can slot ex felons into a decent job when they get out of prison, to help them get back on their feet.

But advocates or the homeless can just as easily counter by saying something like, "what about the homeless? They are law-biding citizens that have no criminal record? Why should the government step over those people to help people that break the law?"

We can debate that for hours, but I just wanted you to see that point.

Others might argue that it's not so much the government, because most powers of our country are based on delegation; in other words, it's up to the cities and towns to help their own citizens, instead of expecting the government to baby-sit every ex felon.

There are really far too many angles here, some I understand, some will be based off loopholes, some may be arguments from people who just plain don't believe that felons should be given anything (poor misguided folks).

There are a lot of things I could think of, from a job, government assistance when they are released, spiritual help (church involvement) and other things, but one thing I want to pull out is something maybe a lot of guys need...grace.

What I mean by that is that there should be an avenue for felons to be able to petition local or federal governments to be able to have a better access to a partial or full pardon. Let me explain:

Lots of guys do their time and come out wanting nothing better than to start over, to have that clean slate. Things go wrong sometimes, and even if you have never been arrested before, let us remember that no person on this planet is perfect. As one officer told me, the only difference between many inmates and society is that many in society was never caught.

But how much of a burden would it be if a guy who did maybe 15 years was to come out, and IF he could demonstrate that he is contributing to society, could petition the governor or a federal department to grant him a pardon of his charges...in other words, something that says to him, "since you have paid your debt to society, and have demonstrated that you are trying to make good, and have actually helped in some areas of your city, we are going to wipe clean your record (or seal it)."

What does this mean? This means the felon no longer has to worry about filling out those applications and fear the "have you ever been arrested" questions. This lifts the burden of condemnation off the guy, maybe giving him a chance to breath deeply and truly start over.

Now, I know this won't solve everything, and what I am talking about is indeed conditional on the felon proving himself over maybe a period of a year or so. And yes, I know many states do that already, but they are not as merciful as many think.

What could the government do to help felons? Well, if we are "One nation under God", then maybe we should share some God-like qualities like forgiveness.

Give that guy his right to vote, give that guy a chance to prove that although he made a mistake, he can make good on his new lease on life. You know, just a second ago I kinda compared this to animals. I love watching Animal Planet, and many times I see people save animals and set them free, giving them a new lease on life. But when they do that, the don't release them with a leash around their necks, so they can jerk them back. The let them go. They give them their freedom back.

Felons never really feel that free after prison.

But at the same time, for those who do watch those animal shows, they tag, or mark the animal, to keep a record on them. People do the same thing, but for different reasons. For animals it is just to make sure they are thriving in their environment. For felons it is to keep an eye on them, and to remind society of the "evil people".

That might be a little too harsh, I mean, I don't want you guys to think that every inmate in prison is coming out with hopes to make the world a better place for you and me...we'd be fooling ourselves. I knew some guys that if they were released today, would not care about anyone but them selves and probably go back to what they did to get in trouble the first place.

But this is not everyone. I believe that there are too many issues that have to be addressed, not just the government getting involved. How about starting in the prison, making prisons more accountable for their treatment of inmates? How about a zero-tolerance for prison abuse? I mean, if you want inmates to change, you can't treat them like a scalded dog for months or years, then expect them to pop out of prison like a showcase poodle. How about some accountability to prisons?

I think if you want men and women coming out of prisons, then you need to treat them like men and women while they are in prison, not ragged dogs and demons of the depths of hell. It's funny that often times society wants felons to "learn their lesson" and don't care much when they hear about inmates beaten to a coma. "That's what they get", many will say. But the day that inmate gets released, we expect to see that halo around their head.

Folks, it does NOT work that way...and it never will.

To me, if you want a person to change, you have to not only remove the negative, but fill it with positive. This is where I think prisons miss it. You can tell a person the consequences of breaking the law, and even show them, but if you don't replace that negative with something constructive, it becomes a void, an idle place, and as the saying goes, the idle mind is the devil's playground.

It's kinda like the downtown area of my town. For years they have been trying to revive the downtown area, trying to convince people that it's fine and good to come back to the downtown and spend your money. But it has been a long and distant failure because although they have used beautification angles to make the downtown look nice, the buildings are as old and dirty as they have been for years. Until they start being aggressive in getting businesses to locate there...and STAYING THERE, the downtown area will always be what it is...a ghost town.

The mentality of felons is the same way I guess. If you want them to change, to look to more positive and constructive ideas instead of negative and destructive ideas, the prison system has to be serious in helping in that transition...and most are not interested in that.

How optimistic am I that the government will try to seriously help inmates get back into the flow of life...I think there is a chance. I am not going to sit here and tell you that they don't care, I don't believe every single Senator, Representative, Governor and such have completely turned their backs on a LARGE portion of our society. In my heart of hearts, I think some care, I really do.

And I think we are slowly making progress. Are we closer to the solution than we were 20 years ago? I have to assume so. Heck, how many prison support groups are out here now? How many prison support groups are there that are writing to Congress and staging marches and such? Many.

I think we are getting there, but we're not where we want to be. I think soon the government will take this issue very seriously and look at our fellow American felons, and realize that it's not fair to have them pay their debt to society, then be held guilty for the rest of their lives, denying them their freedom of liberty and pursuit of happiness...

oops, now I am sounding too much like a political campaign...I better stop talking.

End of shared blog

So you see that when dealing with prison institutionalization, it goes a lot further than just the physical things he does that he picked up from prison. There is a completely different mentality that was conditioned from his or her time in prison, and it is going to take some effort to replace that with a better view of life. I mean, we want that for anyone because if an inmate makes good, then he or she becomes an example to the other millions out there.

I would like to think that if things work out with my writing, then maybe another inmate somewhere might believe that he or she can change their lives for the better. But by blogging about my problems, everyone can see how tough it can be. I also want you to understand how much easier it would be for me to just give up, because no doubt I have had enough obstacles to last awhile.

But somewhere deep inside of me, I keep believing that despite the rejections from prison support groups, members and the like, there are people that believe in me. I have to believe there are people that understand what I am trying to do, and are willing to email me and say “I want to send you a gift to keep you encouraged”, or ask about my books and other works.

I think I am slowly becoming an example for many other people in prison and recently released of what faith can do, and what society does…and often times they are completely opposite.

Anyway, we can discuss more about INTZ if you wish, email me at derf4000 (at) embarqmail (dot) com to ask about that, or other prison issues or to ask how you can support my writing. Or visit my links for info about my prison books, cards and the like.

http://theprisoncell.embarqspace.com

http://www.zazzle.com/Nolaw97