Gary Field
DC# M05348
Century C.I.
Century, FL 32535
E1-103

10/4/12

Between the Bars and the Digital Divide - Lies a Lost Generation

In the 50s, one of America's greatest fears was a nuclear war - the destructive power of a nuclear blast was the stuff of nightmares. A cold war counter-balance to the American dream.

Fast forward 50 years and a new "nightmare" has been unleashed. The bedrock of American society was the nuclear family, and its foundation has been shaken by something other than ICBMs.

Entire segments of American society have been blown away... the fallout can be seen, not just in the number of fragmented, dysfunctional families - but in the apparently watered down values of a society looking up at its moral decline.

I see the fabric of our society as a patchwork quilt - I'd like to focus, for a moment, on one unraveling thread... There is beauty in our diversity, warmth in the memories of what made this nation great, and there is hope in our shared aspirations for tomorrow. However, some of these "memories" are mixed with horror stories, and tomorrow holds fear and uncertainty for far too many. That quilt covers many with the promise of the American dream, while greater and greater numbers are left out in the cold.

Elie Wiesel said "Never remain silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Night, pub'd 1958.

I'd like to focus, for a moment, on the suffering of the children, and the humiliation of the parents separated not just by the "razor wire", but the digital divide.

The figures I quoted at the beginning of this post are almost 6 years old - there's a dimension of incarceration's impact on children that was not addressed - parents in state prisons have no access to the means of communication which have become 2nd nature to a digital generation - "L.O.L.", "BRB" and "C.U. ltr" might as well be crypto-Hebraic hieroglyphics. :D Kids are "hardwired" to respond to texts, IMs, e-mails and tweets. "Snail mail" might as well be compared to the Pony Express.

Please forgive my handwriting - I'm writing this after lights out in the Big House. :D

I was going to finish this tomorrow - but it's Friday pm (CST). I have to drop this in the mail in a few hours if I want it out before the weekend. However - this evening, I received by "snail mail" :D my first series of "comments" from "Between the Bars". :D Hello, Nicki!

Unfortunately I'm JUST receiving your request to use one of my blogs as: "part of an ethnographic study" for one of your classes - the "time lag" has nothing to do with the fact that you are writing from Australia. :D Please feel free to use anything that I post "Between the Bars".

In fact - let's collaborate on an "essay". :D As I mentioned, the "stats" that I started this post with were initially pub'd in 07 - I'd feel blessed if you could take a look at the website for the Nat'l Resource Ctr on Children & Families of the Incarcerated (NRCCFI.org ??) and see if there is any "updated" info - if so, does it address the "digital divide"?

John Ruskin once said, "The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something and tell what he saw in a plain way. Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think - and thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly is poetry, or prophecy and religion all in one." - Ruskin wrote that over 100 yrs ago!

Today we get images flashed in our faces in HDTV, on CNN, or on iPhones, Palm Pilots and BlackBerries - a 10 yr old can "Google" more info in 10 minutes than some "scholars" of the past could access in a lifetime.

However - facts are to ideas what bricks are to buildings - some assembly is required. :D I'm about to bring this train of thought onto the station - but I took the "scenic route" to let a new friend of mine from Australia know that she has carte blanche to use ANYTHING that I post Between the Bars for classes, essays, or conversations over a cup of coffee. :D No rules - just write! :D

It's all about the shaping of ideas - a line in one of my poems says!

It may seem like a mystery,
When in fact it's crystal clear.
Just take a look at history,
Man - a bomb can't stop an idea.

In fact - I want to share that poem in its entirety - it's called "Headline Views" ... It was written in Sept 08 - just before the last presidential election - I'd spent that weekend here at Century in prayer and fasting. I jotted down about 40 plus news events from that weekend - and in a stream of consciousness wrote this poem - it predated the economic meltdown - the SARS epidemic and the healthcare battle... I guess it's a HINT of what Ruskin might have been referring to.

Enjoy! But remember any comments posted to the Between the Bars site might not reach me until next year. :D Please feel free to write to me at:

Gary Field
DC# M05398
Century C.I.
Century, FL 32535
E1-103