RUN FOR YOUR LIFE? in Adventures From Prison

Working in the library, I hear a lot of people talk about their plan for life after prison. Some are reasonable and respectable -- like my plan of opening a decent coffee shop/hangout in my alma mater's town. Others are much closer to the ramblings of a five year old when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up. A large number of the men I'm locked in here with have never held a real job. Their entire lives have been devoted to the cash only system. If they wanted to buy a house or something requiring credit or a checking account, well, that's what baby-mamas are for. Anyway, these guys are convinced that by going legit they will be able to make 6 or 7 figures in a year or two. "How you going to do that?" I asked one once. "I'm going into business." "Doing what?" The answers I received from this one man bounced from currency trading to real estate flipping, to becoming a rap star and branding his name, to finally writing his life as a screenplay and selling it to Hollywood. (At least he was more realistic in his plans than the GED student who showed me crayon drawings of tennis shoes and had the idea of selling his "designs" to Nike). For those without dreams of Bugati's and mansions there is a large chunk of men who plan on leaving the country and never coming back. There isn't a week that goes by that someone doesn't ask for information on Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, or one of the Indonesian islands. The thing I find hilarious is that none of them have ever been to another country. Everyone seems to think that the rest of the world lives in anarchy and that by leaving the U.S. they'll live like kings. They don't think about how they'll find work or a place to stay or the fact if they jump ship while on supervised release they can't come back to the states without facing new charges and more prison time. I know that the American judicial/prison system is great about doing everything they can to remind the world that you "were" a criminal and that because of this it can be really hard to start over, but is running away the best answer? See for me running isn't a choice. I have a great family who misses me now (and I'm only 8 hours away by car and not in another country), to abandon them entirely would be selfish beyond measure. Plus, I really like America -- it's just the over-stepping government that I have issues with. For some reason, being able to separate the two, places me in the minority. The system is broke and everyone admits it, but no one has the courage to speak up and change it for fear of looking like someone who is soft on crime. They fear being associated with "criminals", so they stay quiet. In this case, however, when honest men lose 15 years of their lives over a non-violent, victimless crime, isn't remaining silent a crime in itself? Shouldn't things be questioned when the best option for some people really is fleeing the country they were born in? History, of which I am no scholar, has shown that the world at large tends to frown on the countries and governments that allow this to happen. In many states both drug dealers and sex offenders are being required to register online so anyone can see information about the crime for which they have already been punished. There are no second chances, no way to purge yourself from those lists. To me this strikes way to close to the registration of the Jews during WWII. There is no statistical proof that any of these people will commit a crime again, yet we mark them with today's equivalent of a scarlet letter. To me it seems that the best option for the government and society would be to support and nurture these people, not shun them. Instead we have created a situation where people feel like running into a foreign country to have a shot at a new life is their only choice. To me this seems totally insane. Even if I weren't in prison I think I'd have a serious issue with this. Why are non-violent offenders, many of whom are educated and willing to work hard and honestly after prison, being tossed aside? I thought America was founded on the idea of new beginnings and second chances. What the hell happened?