How does punishment fit in a conscious world? - 08/08/14

Do we overreact to media induced fears that reduce our humanity?

To create a new world of responsibility and enlightenment, we need to change the way we respond to trouble in the world.  So much good is happening around us, yet we are mostly exposed to the dark side.

We are provoked by the news and TV shows to believe that crime and terrorism is rampant.  To quell our fears, we have allowed the proliferation of bigger and harsher prisons and have developed what is expressed in the legal field as a "punishment regime".  It's time for a profound change.

In order to understand this subject better, I'm interviewing Robert Ferguson, an esteemed law professor and the author of "Inferno, an Anatomy of American Punishment".

He will explain how we created an overwhelming prison population where life is way below the standards any of us can imagine.  We're sacrificing millions to this "punishment regime" which affects all of our lives with a burden that adds more to our fears of vulnerability and contamination.

Society can no longer "throw away the key" and we must bring humanity back from these gulags that have been ignored for so long.  An enlightened society learns how to respect those who need support from previous mistakes yet knows how to judge those who are harder to rehabilitate and find new ways to help people we've given up on.