One of the best things to come down the pike for us recently is the association of Democrats and progressives with the idea of the "reality based community".
This is something the conservatives have owned without ever really owning... ala "objectivism", even though Ayn Rand is an admitted "romatic", believing more in fairy tale themes than objective reality.
I thought of titling this passing diary as "Progressive Perspective on Crime"... but decided not to, not becaues I hesitate to speak for us all, I'm fine with that :), but because I think it's more of a reflection, and a view any reality based person can accept.
It's Dean's perspective.
Dean noted that when building a prison it takes 10-15 years from the time you decide to build it (pass the bonds or whatever) and getting to build it. You have to go through a lot of communities that want or don't want the facility, you have to have a bidding process, and you have to build a large facility with a lot of special requirements.
He also noted that this provides a little reality check. If we are starting to build a prison now that won't be ready until 2020... we are building that prison to house people that are 5 years old right now.
That raises the question of prevention clearly --- what could we do with the tens of millions it costs to build the smallest of prisons to prevent that 5 year old from developing into a criminal?
It compares the hope to rehabilitate with our ability to, well, habilitate in the first place.
There are practical reasons to need jails, but this is a practical image that illustrates why we compare poverty and other hardships for children to crime... and how we can argue this not as a moral issue, which is slippery, but as a practical issue, which is "material".
I believe this thought is the essence of a good perspective on crime and crime prevention.
This comparison should be part of the ever present mythos of progressivism. It doesn't argue we don't need prisons... but it does argue that any prison construction should have matching funds for "habilitation programs" for young children... and argues that we research that area to the fullest extent... it's going to be cheaper in the long run, in addition to being the civilized approach.