The United States imprisons more people per capita than any nation in the world. People think jail is a solution to crime, but do they really understand the consequences of putting a human being in a cage for five to ten years, or longer? I'm afraid most don't. The business of prisons is to turn human beings into emotionally crippled, institution-dependent, and dangerous people who are even more likely to commit crimes after serving time than if they hadn't gone to jail in the first place. That's what prisons do, they can't help it. They're a breeding ground for misery, depression, hate, and bitterness, because the traditional prison model is based on punishment, coercion, intimidation, aggression, and fear. Even at their best, prisons are unnatural and dehumanizing. When your basic freedoms are taken away, by which I mean the ability to control your own life and make your own decisions, you lose your independence, privacy, dignity, self-esteem, incentive, and hope. These are fundamental things that we all need just to stay sane and human. It makes little difference if prisoners have amenities like personal TVs and steak dinners---that's not freedom. It's insane to lock up hundreds of thousands of people, over 95% of whom will be released back into society some day. Do you want to live next door to some angry person who's suffered years of abuse at the hands of the correction system, and who hasn't learned a thing about how to survive in the real world? In