Dateline Dayton — I recently received an email telling me prisoners have it better than some our senior citizens.
After reading, I tend to believe what they are saying.
A young lady of my acquaintance — with a master’s degree in education and unable to landing a teaching position — asked me why prisons are air conditioned and schools are not.
Good question. Could it be we want to punish our children and provide comforts to those who break the law?
Prisoners have a roof over their heads. Some seniors and many children do not. Prisoners have a bed. Some seniors do not.
I will not go through the entire list. But you can imagine all the items our prison population enjoys —medical care, legal services, someone checking on them, three meals a day, an exercise program, entertainment. The list goes on, and it’s all done at our expense.
You might counter that our senior citizens enjoy a gift prisoners don’t have: freedom.
In some cases, is even that true? How about the senior members of our society confined to their homes. Many don’t have families. Or their living relatives choose not to visit. What kind of freedom is that?
Fear not. Government to the rescue.
How? you may ask.
By eliminating the cost of living increases from Social Security, so that they can be given to the Congress and by making cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
Possibly all of this is being done so we won’t be able to afford medical care and just die. You may take comfort in knowing that our government could provide us with help in that area with end of life counseling.
Isn’t it great that our government is always there to help?
I am not advocating that our senior citizen population goes out on a crime spree to take advantage of the services that prisons provide.
But here is an injustice that needs to be corrected.
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
