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Is Life Without Parole Worse Than Death?

I am an alienist reincarnated, and poetry keeps me sane.

As for me, I am a so-called psychiatrist who witnessed society deposit its “patients” inside of a prison, transporting me back in time to the era of the alienist. Thus, the knot of causes in which I am entangled” has recurred and created me again. I am the recurrence from the past, sending a message into the future. I am an alienist reincarnated, and poetry keeps me sane.

The Compact

Society: “Remove these men from our fold.”

Prison: How much misery do you require?

Society: “Enough that they writhe in guilty anguish, yet do not seek a final exit.”

Prison: A most delicate balance! Do you think it wise to cultivate such despair?

Society: “We cannot lose our bearings. Our obligation is to the law-abiding. This is the way that we will all progress.”

Prison: How will we show our progress without exposing the blight of the miserable?

Society:” We must count on you for cosmetic aid. Conceal all blemishes as best you can.”

Prison: Leviticus is damned! And if an unsightly flaw emerges despite our efforts?

Society: “We cannot lose our bearings. Our obligation is to the law-abiding. This is the way that we will all progress.”

Prison: How will we show our progress without exposing the blight of the miserable?

Society: “We must count on you for cosmetic aid. Conceal all blemishes as best you can.”

Prison: Leviticus be damned! And if an unsightly flaw emerges despite our efforts?

Society: “We must renounce our pact with you and express our disapproval.”

Prison: A pariah in oblivion. How will we endure our exile?

Society: “With the knowledge that wretchedness has its place in the status quo.”

We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.

As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.

Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.

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