Abu Ghraib showed the clearest connection we might see between the prison expansion here and the attempt to subjugate populations abroad, and how closely this is connected to the culture of rape — of violence constructed as sex, and sexuality constructed as violence… the centerpiece of masculinity.

On Mike Davis’ book, however, I would recommend it for its sweeping attachments to the reality of urbanization in late capitalism. Prisons are only one aspect of this work. It is, in my estimation, one of the finest and most original applications of socialist epistemology to an interdisciplinary examination of concrete circumstances I have seen.

Recent editorial in the ‘august’ NYTimes follows below my comment.

I had just finished reading Christian Parenti’s inestimable “Lockdown America” so was somewhat conversant with the subject. The numbers are nothing short of shocking. If the 11 million figure is correct that means 3-4% of our population is experiencing the degradation that is illustrated in the remainder of editorial.Or living in the absolute fear that it might occur.

When sexual acts are mentioned, and same-sex acts at that, it can only mean that a violent, usually homo-sexual, rape has occurred. Yet to my utter astonishment the Times makes no mention of this well known horror. It is taken for granted. A given to be expected as part of doing your time.

What’s the solution? Give them rubbers!

Our new found, born-again, ‘Christian’ morality establishment has undertaken the task of protecting us from the mere mention of anything sexual, let alone homo-sexual. If a hint of such is brought up it evokes an instantaneous hue and cry from ‘our’ guardians of all that is good and worthy, blessed and god-like. Yet that very same cadre of guardians not only condones but might even abet the promotion of a penal system which fosters such cruel and unusual punishment.

There is no humor to be found in this irony.

An irremediable debasement of all that we consider to be human and civilized. This systemic breakdown of humanity is rightly condemned as it has been shown to be so prevalent in our ever-burgeoning archipelago of gulags overseas. Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and so forth. Yet who can be surprised when these very same conditions are a very real and integral part of our own internal gulags. Did Ashcroft or Gonzalez ever consider some policy briefings or position papers on that? Does the geneva Convention apply internally?

April 29, 2005
EDITORIAL
A Simple Way to Fight H.I.V. and AIDS

In any given year, perhaps a third of the people infected with hepatitis C and more than 15 percent of those with AIDS spend time behind bars. With infection levels far higher than in the outside world, the jails and prisons are a potential public health menace. Officials have a special duty to curb the spread of disease among the more than 11 million people who pass through the system each year.
No one knows for sure how many people pick up H.I.V. while incarcerated. But a 2002 survey of prisoners’ own estimates found that about 44 percent of the inmates were probably participating in sex acts. Researchers suspect that about 70 percent had their first same-sex experiences in prison. If those estimates are anywhere near accurate, the risk of infection behind bars is substantial, and the men who contract H.I.V. in prison return home to infect wives and girlfriends. Still, condoms are barred or unavailable in 95 percent of the country’s prisons.
The national picture could well change if the California Legislature passes a timely bill, introduced by Paul Koretz, a Democrat from West Hollywood, that would require California’s corrections system, the nation’s largest, to allow public health and nonprofit groups to distribute condoms. In documents filed in support of the bill, Mr. Koretz notes that prevention programs make financial sense, too, given that treating an H.I.V.-positive person outside prison costs California nearly $23,000 a year.
Distributing condoms does not encourage sex in prison – that appears to be going on anyway. And data from Canada and American jurisdictions found no evidence that sexual activity goes up or that security declines once prisoners have access to condoms. On the contrary, jurisdictions that adopt such programs tend to keep and build upon them. Corrections officers usually support the programs once they have been proved to be effective.

PUNK FACTORY

“Rape is both absolutely central to, and yet largely invisible within, the politics of incarceration. Hundreds of thousands of men and women alike suffer this most horrible of physical and emotional tortures as an unwritten part of their sentences. Andunlike most rape on the outside, rape in prison is usually not a one-time event; instead the victim is often forced to live with and serve their tormentor for years on end. In that respect prison rape is more akin to child sexual abuse or slavery. Women, as we will see below, are routinely raped by male guards, while male prisoners are generally raped by other convicts.”
Christian Parenti; Lockdown America; p.184