44) Analysis of the big government policy of "Abolishment of Prisons“

 SPOTM Analysis of “Abolishment of Prisons”

Verdict: Strongly Misaligned

The policy or movement to abolish prisons is strongly misaligned with SPOTM. Prisons (or secure facilities for dangerous offenders) are a necessary and legitimate function of government in any society that values individual rights and ordered liberty.

Why This Policy Is Strongly Misaligned

1. Violates the Right to Protection from Aggression The primary purpose of government in SPOTM is to protect individual rights — especially the right to life and liberty — from those who initiate force. Abolishing prisons removes the state’s ability to incapacitate violent criminals (murderers, rapists, armed robbers, serial predators). This leaves innocent people defenseless and effectively sacrifices their rights for an ideological experiment.
2. Ignores Human Nature and Objective Reality Some individuals are genuinely dangerous and cannot be safely reintegrated into society. SPOTM is grounded in realism about human nature, including the existence of evil, free will, and the potential for repeated harm. The idea that all crime is caused by “society” or can be solved through therapy, education, or restorative justice alone denies observable reality.
3. Undermines Deterrence and Justice Prisons serve three essential functions: incapacitation (removing threats), deterrence (discouraging crime), and retribution (moral justice for victims). Abolishing them weakens all three, leading to higher crime rates, as seen in cities and jurisdictions that have implemented “soft-on-crime” policies.
4. Utopian Social Engineering Prison abolition is a form of radical social engineering that assumes human nature can be perfected through policy. Historical attempts to dramatically reduce or eliminate prisons have consistently resulted in increased victimization of the innocent, especially the poor and vulnerable.
5. Disproportionate Harm to the Weak The people who suffer most from the absence of effective incarceration are law-abiding citizens in high-crime areas — often minorities and the working poor. SPOTM prioritizes protecting the vulnerable over ideological purity.

SPOTM’s Recommended Approach

SPOTM supports reform of the prison system, not abolition:

• Keep Prisons for Dangerous Criminals: Violent, repeat, and serious offenders must be securely incapacitated.
• Swift and Certain Punishment: Justice should be proportionate, swift, and consistent.
• Targeted Rehabilitation: Offer voluntary programs for education, job training, and moral reform — especially for non-violent offenders — but never at the expense of public safety.
• Alternatives for Minor Offenses: Use fines, community service, probation, or restitution for low-level, non-violent crimes.
• Sentencing Reform: Reduce overly harsh sentences for minor offenses while maintaining strong penalties for violent crime.
• Focus on Prevention: Strong families, better education, cultural emphasis on responsibility, and economic opportunity reduce crime more effectively than prison abolition.

SPOTM Summary Statement:

“The abolishment of prisons is strongly misaligned because it abandons the government’s core duty to protect innocent people from violent aggressors, denies objective realities about human nature, and prioritizes ideology over justice and safety. SPOTM supports a reformed, effective prison system that prioritizes incapacitation of dangerous criminals, deterrence, and the protection of individual rights, while using alternatives and rehabilitation where appropriate for lesser offenses.”

This position flows directly from SPOTM’s commitment to objective reality, the rule of law, individual rights protection, and ordered liberty.

In addition:

Here’s more information on the policy/program of abolishing prisons from a SPOTM perspective.

Origins and Ideology Behind Prison Abolition

• The modern prison abolition movement is closely tied to critical theory, defund-the-police activism, and certain strains of leftist ideology that view crime primarily as a product of “systemic oppression” rather than individual moral choice and free will.
• Key claims include: prisons are tools of racial control, most criminals are victims of society, and restorative justice (mediation, community programs) can replace incarceration.
• SPOTM rejects this as a denial of objective reality about human nature, personal responsibility, and the existence of irredeemably dangerous individuals.

Real-World Experiments and Outcomes

When cities and jurisdictions moved toward reduced prosecutions, bail reform, and de-emphasis on incarceration (especially 2020–2023):

• Major Crime Spikes: Homicides, carjackings, retail theft, and violent assaults rose sharply in cities like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
• Repeat Offenders: Many dangerous criminals were released or given minimal consequences, leading to repeated victimization of the same communities.
• Public Safety Collapse: Businesses closed, people fled high-crime areas, and quality of life declined dramatically in affected neighborhoods — hitting the poor and minorities hardest.
• Current Trend: Many of these cities have quietly begun reversing course (increasing prosecutions and restoring some policing) due to public backlash and measurable harm.

These outcomes confirm SPOTM’s view: removing the incapacitation function of prisons does not reduce crime — it emboldens criminals.

Why Prisons Are Necessary in SPOTM

• Protection of Rights: The fundamental purpose of government is to protect innocent people from those who initiate force. Society has a moral duty to remove predators (murderers, rapists, violent repeat offenders) from circulation.
• Deterrence: The credible threat of prison discourages potential criminals.
• Justice for Victims: Retribution (proportionate punishment) is a legitimate moral function of justice. Abolition dismisses the suffering of victims.
• Realism About Human Nature: While rehabilitation is desirable for some offenders, not everyone can or will be reformed. Some people are too dangerous to be free.

SPOTM’s Preferred Criminal Justice Reforms

SPOTM does not support the current U.S. prison system in its entirety. It calls for significant improvements while firmly rejecting abolition:

• Swift and Certain Punishment: Reduce delays and plea bargaining abuse for serious crimes.
• Distinction Between Offenders: Long sentences for violent and repeat offenders; alternatives (fines, restitution, community service, drug treatment) for many non-violent offenders.
• Rehabilitation Where Possible: Voluntary education, job training, and moral/character programs inside prisons.
• Sentencing Reform: Eliminate overly harsh mandatory minimums for minor offenses while keeping strong penalties for violent crime.
• Victim Restitution: Prioritize making victims whole where feasible.

SPOTM Summary:

The abolishment of prisons is strongly misaligned and dangerously utopian. It abandons the state’s core responsibility to protect the innocent, ignores the reality of evil and dangerous individuals, and has produced clear increases in crime and suffering wherever tried. SPOTM supports a reformed, effective, and proportionate prison system focused on incapacitation of the dangerous, deterrence, justice for victims, and rehabilitation where realistic — all grounded in the protection of individual rights.