Prison must be good. Meals provided, skills learned, bonds
for life made. People think prison is scary. I am sure it is. But walking home
at 7pm and watching the shadows and looking over your shoulder is scary. Walking
to the bus terminal after work and thinking the next person you see is gonna
rob you, that is scary. Worrying that every sound you hear at night, that every
time the dog barks it is signalling an impending home invasion, causing you to
lose sleep and look haggard the following day, now that is scary.
Step right up folks, get your front row seats for the
scariest thing on TV these days, the evening news in a small country called
Belize, a country desperately trying to hold on to the boast of being a
peaceful jewel. Our economy is going downhill, poverty and unemployment up at alarming
rates, and it seems that each crime is not trying to outdo the previous ones in
terms of how much ratings they can get on TV.
Should we boost tourism by opening the country as a hunting
ground for humans? Or perhaps sell packages for random gun violence? I am sure
many gun toting loons would love that, to be allowed free range to come and
shoot as they please, and the cannibals could then finally enjoy the hunt and
eat their kill. Gruesome huh? If that makes you uncomfortable, you have not
seen the news. Keep watching. Eventually you become so desensitized, that the
news is truly shocking only when something good happens, and these days that is
as rare as getting white sugar without all the fibres in it….
So here is an idea. Perhaps they should build a secure
prison and have all the law-abiding citizens move in. Let the criminals have
the country. If we are in prison we know we shall be safe in there knowing the
criminals are outside that big wall with razor wire. I mean living outside
those walls do not give much comfort anyway, we live in a prison of fear and
mistrust anyway. We fear the criminals. We fear Guatemala taking us over. We
fear the government will continue to mess the country up. We fear the police and
BDF because it seems they are in on it. So, at the end of the day, who do we
turn to? Are things so bad now that we shall soon have to pray to god for a flood
to wipe us all away again? Excuse me while I draft some blueprints for an ark
now….it is coming….
