Prison Thinking

Why is freedom so frightening? What a visit to a penitentiary taught me about Gaza, retribution, and the safety of staying locked up.

“Prison is easy,” said N______. “You get fed, you get told where to be and when to be there. Outside is hard.” 

A few nods of assent, a couple of “Uh-huhs.” It wasn’t the first time I’d heard this sentiment, but today it had special resonance. I was sitting with a dozen other men—three of them visitors like me, nine of them in prison blues—inside a blank…