…this shit is only getting
worse, and it’s going to continue until we start making a stand…
The recent
elimination of college education from Indiana prisons is part of the same
program of cutbacks in education that we face in our daily lives as students. Austerity,
the systematic cutback of social services during economic downturns, which in
Indiana employs a simplistic, fallacious rhetoric of efficiency and
practicality, invariably attacks the most vulnerable and isolated groups in
society first. As students, we are already experiencing endless tuition hikes,
heavy student debt loads, and increased policing- the intense cuts and
privation being implemented in Indiana prisons are simply extreme forms of the
same logic of austerity that we see eroding our own opportunities and civil
liberties.
Before June
2012, Indiana was considered a leader in prisoner education, and its prison
college education programs had resulted in decreased recidivism rates among
participating inmates. Since last June there have been across-the-board cuts
that have eliminated the opportunity to obtain a college education in prison,
and the G.E.D. is no longer available to many inmates[i].
Beyond losing access to education, inmates are being further dehumanized by
cuts that have eliminated contact visitation with loved ones, restricted
showering to 3 days a week, and cut off access to postage for many prisoners.
Not only do these cuts remove the prospects for ex-prisoners to get a decent
job, but they are intended to immediately isolate, humiliate, and dehumanize
them.
Though of
course a comparison of our living conditions as students to those of prisoners
would be absurd, austerity is being imposed at Indiana University too. Between
the endless lectures, stupefying slideshows, bureaucratic control, and
unconscionably high tuition, the university is no longer a space for social
creation or genuine inquiry. It has become an institution for the production of
an obedient credentialed class. The rationale of austerity furthers this
objective by providing an excuse for racist laws like H.B. 1402 and S.B. 590[ii],
which are intended to provide for the maintenance of an undocumented workforce
that is permanently desperate and powerless, so that bosses can always threaten
us and know that there will be someone willing to work harder for less money
than we are. Meanwhile, fully 30.2% of Americans have been arrested by the age
of 23[iii],
often for drinking violations or petty drug charges, which further strengthens
bosses’ bargaining positions while unemployment is high. Austerity
comes to IU, too, as cuts to programs which are intended to promote some equity
in access to a university education, like the School of Continuing Studies[iv],
the Hudson Holland Scholars[v],
and the Office for Women’s Affairs[vi].
The tenuous gains of our history of social struggle are being rolled back
before us. Educational opportunity, and with it the opportunity for
self-determination, is withheld from too many, while the education we must
accept in order to get a degree is increasingly sterile, doctrinaire, and
empty. Let’s stop telling each other how bad things are as if the power to
affect change is beyond us; history can be made every day by people who refuse
to accept injustice.
As students who can choose now between being manipulated and being left to our own ends for survival and advancement, we identify with the situation of Indiana prisoners experiencing cutbacks to essential services. We recognize the logic of the austerity programs that inmates are being subjected to in Indiana prisons as the same logic which the people of Greece [vii] and Spain[viii] , and the students of Chile[ix], and Quebec are striking against. It is a logic of marketization and privatization which would have us all submit passively to competition for increasingly scarce resources, driving us toward a society of desperation and division. It is institutionalized Social Darwinism, presented in fiscal terms. We do not accept the future austerity prescribes for ourselves or anyone. The struggle of Indiana prisoners is our struggle.
As students who can choose now between being manipulated and being left to our own ends for survival and advancement, we identify with the situation of Indiana prisoners experiencing cutbacks to essential services. We recognize the logic of the austerity programs that inmates are being subjected to in Indiana prisons as the same logic which the people of Greece [vii] and Spain[viii] , and the students of Chile[ix], and Quebec are striking against. It is a logic of marketization and privatization which would have us all submit passively to competition for increasingly scarce resources, driving us toward a society of desperation and division. It is institutionalized Social Darwinism, presented in fiscal terms. We do not accept the future austerity prescribes for ourselves or anyone. The struggle of Indiana prisoners is our struggle.
shitisonlygettingworse.blogspot.com
[i] Stokes,
Kyle. "What Indiana Will Miss With The State Prisons’ College Programs
Gone." StateImpact Indiana [Bloomington] 04 /6/ 2012, n. pag. Web.
28 Oct. 2012. http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2012/07/04/what-indiana-will-miss-with-the-state-prisons-college-programs-gone/.
[ii] Morrison,
Sean. "IU Latino Studies experts address legal, economic, social
implications." Indiana Daily Student [Bloomington] 12/ 5/2011, Campus. Web. 28 Oct. 2012.<http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=81579>.
[iii] Erica
Goode, “Many in U.S. Are Arrested by Age 23, Study Finds,” New York Times (December
19, 2011), p. A15. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/us/nearly-a-third-of-americans-are-arrested-by-23-study-says.html?_r=0.
[iv] IU
Media Relations, . "IU to close School of Continuing Studies." IU
News Room [Bloomington] 18 May 2011, n. pag. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. <http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/18641.html>.
[v] Glowicki,
Mathew, and Michael Majchrowicz . "Hudson and Holland Scholars Program
affected by staff vacancies, budget woes." Indiana Daily Student
[Bloomington] 12 /4/ 2012, Campus. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. <http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=86740>.
[vi] Doctrow,
Stephanie. "Office for Women's Affairs might close." Indiana Daily
Student [Bloomington] 1/4/ 2012, Campus. Web. 28 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=86484>.
[vii] Papachristou,
Harry, and Lefteris Papadimas. "Clashes erupt at Greek anti-austerity
protests." Reuters [Athens] 18 /10/ 2012, n. pag. Web. 28 Oct.
2012. <http://ca.news.yahoo.com/clashes-erupt-greek-anti-austerity-protests-032423852.html>.
[viii]
Aranda, Samuel. In Spain, Austerity and Hunger. 2012. The New York Times, New
York City. Web. 28 Oct 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/09/24/world/europe/20120925-SPAIN.html#1.
[ix]Walck,
Aaron. "Chile’s student movement struggles to find footing in 2012
:Standoff between diversifying movement and unyielding government prompts
growing criticism ." Santiago Times 14 /9/ 2012, Special Reports.
Web. 28 Oct. 2012. <http://www.santiagotimes.cl/opinion/special-reports/25177-chiles-student-movement-struggles-to-find-footing-in-2012>.
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