The TRUTH from a Supermax Prisoner
Timothy Greenlee
Presently I am in a so-called supermaximum security unit called The
Secure Housing Unit [SHU]. I have been in a cage here 24 hours a day since 08-21-01 – and there is no end
in sight. Anytime I come out of my cage for any reason I am handcuffed behind
my back and shackled. I am not allowed any commissary items beyond stamps and
cosmetic items. Many of the other prisoners confined here in the SHU are
mentally disturbed, and make it really terrible for those of us who are not
mentally disturbed. The staff give these patients many drugs which they abuse
and hype themselves up with – then torment others by their exhibited
insanity and mayhem – screaming and shrieking and banging on their cell
doors and fixtures. I’ve written true accounts of some of my experiences
– if you’re interested to use some them I’ll send them to you
later. I have also written a dialogue about the criminal process in general
which I would like you to consider using – I’ll enclose it with
this letter to you – it gives much insight from my standpoint, being
inside the belly of the beast.
I use my days and nights as constructively as possible under the
conditions of any environment. I engage myself each day with reading the
thoughts of the classical philosophers – philosophy has become me love in
life – as well as astronomy by description. My favorite philosophers are
Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Plato. You might be familiar with Plato’s
dialogues? One of the distinctions that Plato often spoke on was the difference
between a philosopher and a “sophist”. Nowadays, sophistry is best
demonstrated in the courts, and indeed, in ancient Greece
sophists were basically lawyers. The Athenians, in Plato’s time, had a
democracy, which was direct representation, in other words, there were no
legislatures – everyone had equal say and everyone voted on everything
[The reason this was possible is that only citizens could vote which meant no
slaves – the slaves were not as in America based upon race, but were from
other conquered peoples – often they were from other parts of Greece! If
you lost in a war, you became a slave to the victor – no women also, and
no non-Athenians. Unlike the USA
as well, being born in Athens, even
if you were not a slave, or a woman, did not mean you were a citizen. Rather,
citizenship was hereditary. Thus, only about 200-400 people in Athens
were citizens. Of course, direct democracy requires a small number of people].
Now, if you are the rich landowner , or a general who wants to go into a
battle, you must first convince all of the citizens that you are right. So,
you’d hire a teacher in sophistry who would argue your case for you. He
would use “rhetoric” in order to persuade the citizens and presto!
– the first lawyers. But, what Plato asked, via the endlessly interesting
figure of Socrates was: “What is the function of the sophist?” The
sophist , or lawyer in our present era, attempts to convince people [a jury].
But a sophist is not concerned with the truth. In fact, the truth may be his
enemy, depending on his position in a controversy. Rather, a sophist is only
concerned with persuasion and will use whatever arguments possible to prevail.
On the other hand, a philosopher is a lover of truth, so the issue would always
be: “What is true?” “What is the right thing to do?”
Socrates refused to accept money for his teaching because he said that if he
accepted money then he would be compromised to find a truth based on the
interests of where that money came from [Interestingly, Plato – his
student and scribe as Socrates never wrote that we know about – started a
school, The Academy, and did accept money].
In our system today, the public views the courts, much like
the Athenians did, as a type of game. Like any professional sports team, the
key to winning is being well funded so you can buy the best players. That is to
say, the key to having a successful defense is to be well financed.
Of course, the devastating consequence of this state of
affairs is that the poor of society end up with little or no defense. For
Socrates, what is damning about lawyers is that they pass off what is false for
what is true. That is, they don’t say “I am saying this because
so-and-so is paying me and it is in his best interests”, but rather they
say “this is true”. But, the issue should always be, for all
people, WHAT IS TRUE? For Socrates, the true and the good were the same thing.
In the Socratic mindset, it is not possible for one to be an intelligent, bad
person – if you are bad then you must still be lacking some wisdom
– because true intelligence – THE TRUTH – is always also good
[and beautiful too]. It follows from this that people are bad, not because they
are evil, but because they are ignorant. Once you know the truth, Socrates
thought you would necessarily do the right thing.
Lawyers, then, are the last people on the planet who should
be involved in deciding a man’s fate since they are trained not to look
for the truth, but to look to win a case. An interesting dialogue on this point
is Plato’s Euthyphro.
Your friend,
Timothy
© Copyright 2003 Timothy Greenlee
TO BE IS TO DO – Nietzsche
TO DO IS TO BE – Russell
DO BE DO BE DO – Sinatra ;-)
Take care of yourself!
Tim Greenlee
PCF #865760
PO
Box 30
Pendleton, IN 46064
A conversation by Timothy
Comments regarding the Conversation
Days in the life of SHU inmate
Timothy Greenlee
Life in SHU - Malfeasance,
Revenge and The Tour
Life in SHU - Strip Search and Walk of Shame
Phylosophy Truth, Life and Death
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