The Prisoners by Choice
August 20th, 2010 → 3:12 pm @ Tom
by Jacob Needleman
Imagine a prison where the prisoners do not know or remember the life of freedom outside the walls. All their efforts are spent trying only to better their conditions inside the prison. Those in crowded, dirty, or isolated cells envy other prisoners who have greater privileges. Some decorate the walls of their cells, paint pretty stripes on the bars, without suspecting what these bars are really for.
This is a very “enlightened” prison. There are recreation facilities, arts and crafts, there is a well-stocked library, though the prison authorities carefully exclude books with certain ideas about the world outside the prison. There are prison psychiatrists to help the prisoners adapt and adjust. There are prison priests to instill imaginary beliefs and form segregated little “monasteries.” Over time, this prison has even evolved to allow political groups and meetings. Philosophers and critics arise among the prisoners to argue for more equality and liberty – within the prison. Honors are handed out, prizes are given, great names are enshrined in the rolls of prison-science, prison-art, prison-morality.
Occasionally, there appears a prisoner — sent from the outside — who speaks clearly and compellingly of a life outside the walls. What becomes of him or her? How is the messenger received? Sometimes he is met with mockery or hostility. Sometimes, the prisoners themselves kill him or dispatch him into isolation. Often his message, if it is particularly clear and persuasive, is taken up by the prison priests and psychologists, who adapt it to suit their purposes.
But sometimes this messenger from outside the walls convinces a few people that another world exists and shows them how to escape. These prisoners begin to understand that the only sensible aim they can have is to escape from the prison and, if possible, to help others escape. A special, carefully guarded knowledge circulates among those who have “ears to hear.”
That’s all for today. Please share with friends, and Facebook. Tom
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