How often is it possible to agree with a Martyn Bradbury post?
For me, it’s never happened before. Then astonishingly, over the weekend, I went from zero to two in as many minutes.
First when he attacked the outrage of private prisons – “If you voted National or ACT at the last election, you voted for this [“fight club”] atrocity at Serco.” And so you did. You voted for the ultimate in cronyism: the actual privatisation of force, with all the temptation to corruption and abuse that goes with it. The moral argument against private prisons is that the concept puts the gun in the service of the dollar. The practical argument is that it puts profits at the whim of bureaucratic management. The necessary outcome of both is what we now see in your headlines.
My second agreement with Bradbury was his defence of someone we both loathe, “but no one, not even Rodney Hide deserves to be treated like this…” Rodney’s story of state harassment suggests the surveillance state is already taking its powers so much for granted it doesn’t bother them who they bully, and for what.
You won’t hear me say this often, and maybe never again, but you should probably read both of Martyn Bradbury’s weekend posts:
- Dear National Party voters of NZ – so how’s that private prison experiment working out for you? – DAILY BLOG
- And then they came for Rodney Hide? – DAILY BLOG
RELATED POSTS:
- The aristocracy of prison management – NOT PC, 2009
- No to private prisons – NOT PC, 2010
The Hide story is disgusting, mind, even through my tiny practice I've seen enough over the years to think the Official Assignee needs to investigated.
ReplyDeleteCareful about this Bomber-love: the next step is to block just about the whole Internet with a different world view to yours.
I think the private prison story needs to be looked at a little more broadly. The same and worse happens at other prisons. Perhaps instead of "fight club" boxing where knocked down fighters are not attacked, there are many serious assaults with hospitalisation and deaths.
ReplyDeleteContraband is a problem at all prisons.
And don't forget the unions have a dog in this fight... don't discount a planned beat-up.
Apologies for the fight puns.