Skip to main content

abolish prisons so we can live with ted bundys of the world!

 

How to Lose the Public in 5 Words or Less: The “Abolish Prisons” Parade


Last time on Progressive Messaging: Dumpster Fire Edition, we covered how “Defund the Police” was a masterclass in turning thoughtful policy into a punchline. Now, buckle up for the sequel:

“ABOLISH PRISONS.”

Yes. Abolish. As in eliminate, destroy, yeet the entire concept of incarceration into the sun.

Because when people are already anxious about crime, what they really want is a political slogan that sounds like the opening line of a Batman villain manifesto.

 Let’s Start With the Obvious: The Prison System Is a Mess

We should all agree:

  • The U.S. has the largest prison population on Earth.

  • Private prisons make money off human misery.

  • People of color and the poor are wildly overrepresented.

  • Solitary confinement is torture.

  • Prisons are often warehouses for trauma, not places of rehabilitation.

These are real, urgent, fixable problems.

So what’s the next step?

Apparently: burn it all down and figure it out later.

 “But Abolish Doesn’t Mean Abolish!”

Much like its cousin “Defund,” “Abolish Prisons” isn’t always meant literally—except when it is.

Some activists mean:

“Let’s massively reduce incarceration, especially for non-violent offenders, and invest in restorative justice, housing, education, and healthcare.”

Others mean:

“Prisons are inherently violent, carceral tools of state oppression and should cease to exist entirely, immediately, no exceptions.”

And then the general public hears:

“We’re letting Ted Bundy live in a co-op with a life coach and free-range chickens.”

 Who Thought This Would Sell?

Picture this political pitch:

"Okay, hear me out. We’re going to say we want to abolish the institutions that protect people from violent crime. Will the public understand we mean it in a nuanced, academic, transformative-justice framework?"

"They won’t. But TikTok will love it."

 The Real-World Consequence?

Instead of fixing a deeply broken justice system, we let the entire discussion turn into a cage match between:

  • One side shouting “Abolish all prisons, period!”

  • The other yelling “Keep all prisons and make them worse!”

  • And the exhausted majority going, “Can I just not get mugged on the way to work?”

Meanwhile, actual reforms like:

  • Ending cash bail,

  • Decriminalizing addiction and poverty,

  • Reinvesting in reentry programs and mental health care,

…get lost in the noise because “Reasonable Criminal Justice Reform” doesn’t trend.

 Nuance Check: What’s Actually Worth Fighting For?

Here’s what should be on the table:

 Ending mass incarceration.
 Treating drug use as a health issue, not a crime.
 Investing in rehabilitation, education, and job training.
 Eliminating for-profit prisons.
 Restorative justice options for nonviolent offenses.
 Rebuilding communities, not just locking people up.

But here’s what’s not going to win over voters:

 “Let’s completely eliminate all forms of detention, and we’ll figure out how to deal with violent offenders in the group chat.”

 Look, I’d Love a Utopia Too…

In an ideal world:

  • People wouldn’t commit crimes.

  • Justice would be restorative, not punitive.

  • Everyone would get therapy, housing, a living wage, and free kombucha.

But until then, we need to be realistic:

  • Some people need to be locked up—for their safety and everyone else’s.

  • Reform doesn’t mean anarchy.

  • And yelling “Abolish Prisons!” into a megaphone in a Whole Foods parking lot is not a policy plan.

 Final Thoughts: Reform ≠ Weakness. Clarity ≠ Selling Out.

You can want justice and believe in consequences.

You can oppose the prison-industrial complex and think serial killers shouldn’t get a “restorative circle” with a singing bowl.

You can be angry, principled, and compassionate without being performative, delusional, or allergic to strategy.

So maybe let’s stop trying to “win the discourse” on Twitter and instead try something wild:

Fix the system. Keep the slogans from sounding like dystopian satire.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Innovation Paradox: Why Basic Security Fuels Progress

  The Innovation Paradox: Why Basic Security Fuels Progress When I was a child, I had everything I needed - a home, food, education, and medical care when I got sick. This security didn't make me lazy. Instead, it gave me the foundation to learn, grow, and imagine. This simple truth holds a powerful lesson for how we should structure our society. Some argue that removing the struggle for survival would kill innovation. They paint a picture of a world where, freed from necessity, humans would stagnate in comfortable mediocrity. But this argument fundamentally misunderstands both human nature and the real barriers to innovation in our current system. The cruel irony is that the very conditions supposedly driving innovation - constant financial pressure, expensive healthcare, crushing student debt, and housing insecurity - are actually suffocating it. How can someone innovate when they're working multiple jobs just to keep a roof over their head? How can they take the entrep...
Post a Comment
Read more

masculinity

Masculinity   Is masculinity dead? Is it the fault of some feminist or gay agenda? Was it caused by the bun-wearing guys with lattes and avocado toasts? Was it due to the unholy atheists? Of course not. But there are unfortunately a lot of people who think this way, especially those who believe that masculinity is really on the decline. But is it really? Some people want there to be a single mold for men: tough, rugged, thick-skinned, fearless, always pushing himself to the limit, willing to die for his country, willing to provide for his wife and children, believing in God, being heterosexual, peeing while standing, and rejecting anything deemed feminine. Who fits this mold? Very few men do. And here's the thing: most men never fit that mold, nor had they ever. Throughout history and across cultures, masculinity has always been far more diverse and nuanced than modern critics would have us believe. In ancient Greece, for philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, masculinity was deepl...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Really Scares Me (And What Doesn’t)

  What Really Scares Me (And What Doesn’t) By Tim Friday People talk a lot about what they fear—things like ghosts, flying, spiders. But my fears are simpler. More grounded. Real. I fear dog attacks. I’ve been attacked before, more than once, without provocation. The worst part isn’t just the trauma of the bite or the shock—it’s the way people defend it. They say things like, “It must’ve sensed something,” or “Dogs only attack if provoked.” As if I deserved it. That gaslighting hurts worse than the teeth. I fear car crashes. I’ve already been in a few. Minor, maybe, by insurance standards, but not by mine. I know what that impact feels like. The snap of the seatbelt. The sound of metal folding in on itself. I’ve had close calls too—so close I thought, This might be it. That terror doesn’t fade. It lingers under my skin when I drive. I fear being assaulted. That should be a no-brainer. And yes, even men like me get assaulted. I’ve been hit, shoved, screamed at, threatened—u...
Post a Comment
Read more