Hunting The Muse

Hi,

Almost all of the people in jail for possession of small amounts of 'controlled substances' could be considered political prisoners, simply because they have a different way of intoxication from the ruling class. Therefore, just throw 'em in jail and throw away the key (especially if you own lots of stock in the private prison corporations).

However, history has shown us that the most difficult thing about releasing political prisoners is not convincing the populace that this should be done, for they want their loved ones back and are quite aware that they are not imprisoned for real crimes. Nor is it convincing the politicians and bureaucrats, because eventually the cost of imprisoning politicals becomes so much that it reduces your options for graft and patronage. (Ahh_nie's current situation)

No, the most difficult part of releasing politicals is convincing the prisoners themselves not to murder the judges and others who put them in prison in the first place. You have to convince them that they won't be thrown back in prison for new political reasons after a brief taste of freedom. You have to appeal to their higher moral character, which is usually the first thing discarded in the need to survive in prison. None of this is easy.

Eventually with political prisoners, you have only two choices: you can release them or you can kill them. Neither is the best option for the rulers because neither option neutralizes the influence on the people of political prisoners.