Severe punishments don't actually help in the vast majority of wrong doing. Its been shown in basic upbringing, hitting your child actually makes them more violent over time.

Preventive measures don't work, mostly because they don't address the conditions that induce these violent actions. Many felons are impoverished or poor people who had no legal way out, or had very few options. Many are either formerly abandoned children or abused children with no safety net for the mental or physical health.

And then when they leave prison, their records follow them everywhere. They're permanently, they are scared in physical, mental and bureaucratic ways.

To your point, sure there are some people that we could define as true evil, but I would rather they be treated as the exception rather than the assumptive rule of all criminals.

You should really read the article or alternatively just stop wishing for the unnecessary suffering of other people.

>Prisoners should not live better than our working class.

This doesn’t make the point you think it does

>We have a different culture than Scandinavia. Norwegians aren't killing each other over literally nothing daily like Americans.

Yeah, the extreme socioeconomic inequality is a major driving force for crime in the US. We have a culture that keeps people poor and desperate, or mentally ill with no resources, and wonder why there’s a crime and violence problem.

I think where you and I have an opportunity to come to further agreement is find common ground on the definitions of "comfortable" and "nice." See, I think prisons should, in fact, have swimming pools and tennis courts. But I also don't think of them as luxuries. I think of them as necessities - because attending to one's mental health means more than weekly visits to a shrink or going to group. It's also finding good outlets for stress, and because people are individuals, it's logical to offer as many recreational and creative outlets as can be practical. And I really don't think I'm suggesting anything that's out of reach for any working class citizen.

More than that, though, and for better for for worse, prisoners live in a community of their own. The more reflective that community is of society in general, the more well-adjusted they'll be, which I believe will lead to lower recidivism, and maybe - just maybe - begin to transform the US into a less violent culture. Not saying it'll happen overnight, obviously, but an evolution in that direction, starting with how we treat the people who break society's laws, can be a good thing.

It doesn't have to be the point of incarceration. I think prisons should normally be for rehabilitation. Studies show that most crime is out of desperation rather than malice so I think if we can use prisons to help people be better ready to succeed in society instead of using prisons to deter people from crime out of fear then we will, overall, improve the crime rates.

Who’s going to tell mr “I don’t want prisons to get comfortable and nice” about club fed?

What in our current system of incarceration is actually helping rehabilitate inmates? Do you really think it's working, as it is? People should be held accountable for their actions but throwing them in prison doesn't seem to actually do that.

Maybe we have to start looking at why Americans are killing each other over literally nothing?