Female Podpeople

Recall that the U.S. has a huge prison system, with the largest percentage of its population in prison and the largest absolute number of prisoners of any country in the world (Russia a distant second on the former, China a distant second on the latter). An unmitigated disgrace in itself but also fraught with sociological consequences for the wives, children and family of those incarcerated. Although young black men are disproportionately represented, nevertheless, about half a million whites are behind bars. And surprisingly, at least to me, almost half of all mothers held in prison are non-Hispanic whites. Women, in fact, are the fastest growing section of the prison population in all fifty states. The underworld of white prisoners and their families goes unnoticed yet hundreds of thousands of people, maybe even several million, swirl in the ambit of correctional facility culture. You tell me if regularly going in and out through prison checkpoints, as a white female visitor, might not indoctrinate in one a strong sense of obedience to authority.

Turning to K-12 schools, I wonder what "no child left behind" has been producing, with its rote-based learning and emphasis on standardized tests? Put cynically, the motto for many schools seems to be "Just enough training to make useful serfs, not so much as to think for yourself." I would expect that girls do better in these environments than boys, being more willing to try to conform. Without going on to college, ingrained K-12 behaviors may become very resistant to change.

If you're a poor, white, (single) mother without a college education you're going to have a really tough time. To be honest, it would take a rare person in such a situation to develop a concern for the environment or an interest in foreign policy or an understanding of how capitalism really works. Unless someone were to explain to her in simple language what would fix her problems. Assuming she's still capable of making a choice. If she isn't even offered a choice, if instead someone comes along who whistles up patriotism and obedience, her default behavior will be to join the parade. Shame on the rest of us for not knowing how to push her buttons to save ourselves...