Being Sociable

[Winston]

I don’t tell too many stories about my time working in the jail. Jail is not the kind of setting where a writer can develop fun, relateable characters and happy stories. Christ, most of the tales wouldn’t even been interesting. Folks in custody just spend each day trying to get by. They run scams, trying to get over on the staff and each other.

But you do learn about people when you’re locked-up together (we jail staff joked we do our time on the installment plan, 8 hour shifts). All the ills of society are in the jail. The setting is different, but the games are the same. Corrections can be a social scientist’s microcosm of overall behavior and tendencies. It’s a giant masonry petri dish, with large, hairy, stinky organisms. Boy, I was lucky enough to be part of that.

Everybody’s experience is different, but common themes repeat themselves. Some inmates mainly keep to themselves, but people are mostly social creatures. The dynamic in custody is the basic Us vs Them, where the inmates generally help each other, while trying to make the jail staff’s job a living hell. It’s just a game, and keeps everyone busy.

I say inmates “generally” help each other, but doing time is Darwinism in action. If an inmate can profit by exploiting his fellow inmate, well, sucks to be the new guy.

A common scam to fleece new inmates was known as “The Spread”. The new guys were told that on Sunday mornings, everyone in the unit contributes to a community feast. A clean plastic trashbag is placed on the stainless steel table, and everyone dumps food on it. It’s mixed up, and everyone digs in. It’s a bonding thing. The new guy wants to feel like part of the community.

The Spread consisted mainly of ramen, cheese and beef stick. The items were bought from the jail commissary earlier in the week, and held until Spread Day.

(Where do they get their commissary money? Their “Old Ladies” that they cheated on and abused On The Outside cheerfully part with their hard earned money for their men. Their kids’ shoes can wait. Dysfunction Junction.)

The new guys are told to buy the sausage and cheese, the pricier stuff. But remember, they’ll all be sharing, so it’s okay. The jail veterans just buy the ramen.

On Spread Day, the noodles are cooked, and the cheese and meat mixed in. Everyone gathers around.
Here’s where it gets interesting.
The senior inmates form a tight circle around the food. Some yells “Chow time!”.
In seconds, the meat and most of the cheese is gone. About thirty seconds later, the new guy gets access to the table. The only thing left if 2 to 3 forkfuls of lightly cheesed noodles.

Welcome to Socialism.

The youngest and most gullible in our society keep falling for this. They think that the folks that have been around longer, and are more knowledgeable, are leaders. They are not. The real leaders see this ahead of time and refuse to participate. From one Ponzi scheme to the next, people think that if they wait long enough, they can be the guy to get the beef stick. Screw the new, young guy. Or, find a way to “stick it to the man”.

I hate to be the spoiler, but the “stick it to the man” never, ever worked. That leaves the sticking it to your fellow inmate. There will always be the young kid in the unit, who looks well spoken and quiet. One or two inmates will comment that the new guy is a “little rich boy” who can afford some extra for The Spread. No, it’s not fair.
Life isn’t fair. Bullies are everywhere. From Correctional Unit B to Washington DC.

Today, we have a chorus of wannabe Tank Bosses, telling everyone that we’re gonna have a big spread on Sunday. Just chip in your share, and we’ll get the rich kid to pony-up. It’ll be different this time, they promise.

In your heart, you know how this ends. It’s all elbows and gulping. And just be happy you’re getting your couple of forkfuls of soggy noodles.

But next week, your Old Lady will put money on your books again. You’ll chip in.
You wanna be sociable. Because putting your foot down and calling bullshit takes courage.

See you next Sunday.

[writersblock]

This is a good analogy for the brutal rat race that life is. I also like the part where you point out that life in jail is like Darwinism in practice. I don't get the correlation with socialism though. Socialism in things like medical care, social security works, I know this because I have experienced in Canada, and while it does have its problems, you are never going to go bankrupt if your family member gets cancer etc. I think neither capitalism nor socialism are effective as standalone tenets of governance, but a healthy mix of both tips the scale towards a better livelihood for citizens. Just my two cents.

[Winston]

Venezuela



And just to be fair, Freidrich Engles gets The Oscar for Best Supporting Mass Murder.

[velo]

I really don't see that the comparisons between a small group of people living in very restricted circumstances and a socio-economic system are anything but red herrings. This is truly a case of apples vs oranges. As a former NYS Corrections Officer, I've seen the inside of some of the country's oldest and roughest prisons and I understand that environment all too well. If anything the 'inmate economy' is more akin to unregulated capitalism; caveat emptor and watch your back motherfucker! Even that is a spurious comparison because all of the necessary market forces do not exist in the inmate economy. It's a microcosm of human behaviour, to be sure, but it is far from a complete data set.

I have to say that as an essay intended to convince, this piece does not do it for me. The logic doesn't stand up the tiniest bit of scrutiny or analytical rigour.

Also, the video posted falls into the same category. Jamestown was quasi-socialist but abandoned the system 2 years prior to the famine that killed most of the inhabitants; equating the loss of life to socialism is another red herring. China and the USSR were communist, not socialist. Those two systems are not the same in any regard. Venezuela under Chavez attempted some socialist-like reforms (an inadequate and poorly-fitting description) but in the larger context of political corruption and eventual decay of democracy as a whole no system would have prevented the current socio-political crisis there.

It's very very easy to point a finger and say something is this way or that way but the reality is that every political and economic system is an incredibly complex machine with uncountable variables. I can assure you that socialism works in some circumstances and times just as regulated capitalism does. That's not a statement about those systems, it's just mathematical probability.

Arguing for/against a political system is fine if you have the basic underpinnings of your stance on firm logical and factual grounding. Unfortunately this piece does not and falls victim to what reads like a fair bit of bias and unrelated examples.

note- I am arguing neither for or against any system but am merely calling out what I perceive as logical issues with the argument as presented.

[wagtail]

I found the talk of jail life interesting and well written but I don't understand how it gets bundled up and called socialism. Bullyism or Darwinism, yes, I can see that.

[notsocordial]

How nicely you have put such a sad scenario in simple words. But, I did not understand how the title of the post relates with the content :/

[escorial]

I really enjoyed that..it just delivered observations with clarity....is there more of this posted on here...

[Kevin]

I think the piece's title refers to different ways people interact - are social- and there are many, including socialism/ communism which are nearly indistinguishable from each other, socialism being the practal application of communism in that they give workers wages or credits to spend instead of a loaf of bread, 2 pounds of salt, 1/4 cup sugar,... Communism of anything larger than a group of twenty people being an inherently inefficient distribution system (the food rots; some people get 'jobs' as distributors: instant corruption) as was so deftly shown in the actual "Spread Day" (which is a real thing; an actual example of pure communism at work) where they last to eat, eat the least. That is how people are - not some Stat Trek fantasy- just ask anyone; no excuse me- ask everyone from any of the former- Soviet Socialist republics or its satellites.

The stated 'mission' of all these former disasters was/is absolute equality -"fairness"- economic and otherwise.

And there are always elements of capitalism in these societies ( black markets) driven by need ( because necessities are not otherwise available) and desire ( because people sometimes want more than just bread and water - I know- f-ing awful...) these capitalist elements only being limited by how severe the socialist society is ( how much control/ how much of a police state).

So you have here Communism (where the inmates all put their goodies in a pot together, though in true communism you withhold nothing), Socialism (where the inmates choose to some degree what they contribute , and where they also do receive actual wages/monies from somewhere; again a small amount of choice), small elements of capitalism, because the monies received are not equal, but then again no actual work is being performed by anyone except stirring and serving- no services being provided... which is a fairly accurate picture of what often happens in government, the differences being that in jail the fleeced can't do anything about it, like vote in new 'bosses'/ representatives...

...And finally you have 'Unionism' where those who are in longer get more than the newbies simply because ( having zero to do with 'merit'- there being zero incentive to do more than anyone else/ the minimum, though again, no work is being done, just existing... which by the way, does anyone know what happens to those who choose/refuse to work in a socialist/ communist society? Anyone? There's no homeless allowed, no hippy-camping.

There are many similarities between unionism and communism(socialism) unionist movements often infiltrated by communists, but when the full 'State' takes over the commited unionists get liquidated (but that's not shown here).

I think mostly you have 'how' people socially interact- the cliques formed and how people are not fair-minded, things always devolving into wanting to take from the other guy.

That's how we are. Proof, not some made up fantasy story for ignorant children.

[Bard_Daniel]

Hi Winston!

I like how the piece is meant to make the reader think. You provide the real world example, which is personal experience, to formulate your own viewpoint and have it serve as a catalyst for an intellectual lesson. Now, I read velo's comments, and I think that he raises some points. Let me read over your piece and velo's response once more- one moment. OK. So, I think it still stands as a piece. However, if you wanted to cement it by visiting some of velo's comments I'd also be interested. I think it is a worthwhile piece.

[Winston]

...However, if you wanted to cement it by visiting some of velo's comments I'd also be interested. I think it is a worthwhile piece.

Thanks. The debate lecterns are not, and should not be occupied here. I was simply relating an anecdote that shows (in my opinion) the folly of collectivism.
For every Post Office, Library and Highway argument, I could counter with twenty stupid, wasteful government projects funded by forced taxation and pushed by provincial greedy imbeciles. An entire class of people live off the largess of others, getting their figurative elbows deep into the table and slurping up the good stuff.
Those with power, be it corporate or political (or both), use and abuse those without power. Some excuse and forgive the oppressors, for whatever their reasons. I do not.