In reading chapter one, I came across several excerpts that really triggered my thinking and in fact, brought upon some reasoning, within my own opinion, as to why it is so hard for individuals (incarcerated or not) to achieve equality within out American system.
Excerpt One:
The fist except I really took a liking to stated, “For a variety of complex reasons …people are not likely to recognize the care imbalance as a result of unequal power, economic and social inequality, and patterns of discrimination. Thus, they are unlikely to see that the care imbalance requires social responsibility and a collective response (Hamington and Miller, pg 15).” I thought this just summarized everything about care and why individuals struggle in addition to why there even is just a thing as care inequality! I mean, now I want to note this is just my opinion, individuals expect care on some level, but do they realize where that care is coming from? It is not just something that magically appears, as I believe that some individuals do think this way; other individuals have to care for people as their job, money has to be contributed to government funding, insurance, or funding is from out-of pocket. It just frustrates me that individuals do not see beyond their own needs to notice that this is a root of other issues at hand!!!!!
Care is a group effort, as it will be until time ends, and I just want people to understand that- it should not be expected unless there are individuals contributing….I could probably ramble on and on about this and how people are greedy and do not see the social responsibility in caring! But it is simple- if you want to be cared for, at some point you have to care for someone else and if we (as a country) stop worrying about who is ahead and who is not then we could realize that this inequality is a serious problem that needs to be addressed and taken care of within the entire realm of the country.
It’s like that old saying... if you give a little, you get a little. J
Excerpt Two:
The second excerpt came from the conclusion section of the chapter in which I thought it brought a simple summarization of how to begin the task of caring for a nation; it states, “…This is not to say that care would be equal, but that the problem of care inequalities could be become a collective problem that we care about (Hamington and Miller, pg21).” I love this statement because, to me, it is saying that “care” is something that individuals do not care necessarily care about as a social realm/issue, but if the word could get out there that we could care about “care,” then more could be accomplished! I guess I more-so see it as: if “care” is not popular, then individuals do not care about “caring.” “Care” must become a popular force on a societal level in which individuals participate in the economic, social, and power level inequalities all in order to help “care” for others.
At times I feel as though I get go back and forth between opinions (probably as you can see above), but it is hard to know what is right and wrong for society when individuals have so many ideals, motivations, morals, etc… that all coordinate with their own selfishness. I am by no means saying I am perfect or that I have the answer, but I just wish that “care” was not devalued the way it is today because if it was not there would not be this problem!
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