I am writing to let you know that I have received the material you sent me. That being MIM Notes from Dec, Jan, Feb of 2005, 2006 and MIM Theory 14 from 2001. Thank you for sending them. I must say that your logic is impeccable and these materials certainly made some very interesting reading. However, there is one think I have to disagree with you on. That is your belief in the death penalty.
I will be sentenced to death next month myself, but this is not why I disagree. You say execution will be reserved for murder or services to military enemies. I can understand wanting to execute one for treason, or for certain types of murder (e.g. murder committed for pleasure). There are those of us, however, who are deeply sorry for our crimes and can be put to good use.
Looking back now on the life I've led, I realize just how wrong I was. Ultimately, though I take responsibility for my own actions, the root of my problem was capitalism itself. You might ask how I can trace the root back to capitalism? The answer is that due to our capitalist government's care only for wealth and pleasure, they have grossly neglected the people they have set themselves to rule over. As a result, no one cared about the abuse (mental, physical and sexual) that me and others like me have endured. Leaving us full of hatred and distrust for the world and everyone in it. So, naturally, I turned to drugs to escape reality. In the end, it would be drugs that tipped the scales in my mind and resulted in tragic loss of life, which I am wholeheartedly sorry for. I was a coward and ran from life, creating my own reality fueled by drugs. This resulted in my crimes, which have taught me where and how I went astray in life. Many others in similar situations have come to the same conclusions.
So you see, to execute myself and others, who through their sorrow have come to this realization, would be a great waste of resources. People like me can be used to educate and even re-educate others of the evils of imperialist-capitalism, and how the problem can be fixed by Maoism.
I admit, I don't know much about your teachings, but what I have read here feels so right. If you would educate me in Lenin-Marx-Maoist Thought, I will spread your teachings to others and help you in any way I can, through writing, etc.
I have little or no funds as I have been part of the poor, oppressed class, but I will share any materials you send with fellow prisoners and be a willing pen for the cause. I will happily join the party, if you will have me, and will joyously devour all your teachings. By what I have read, I feel it is the only way for a better world and will benefit all man-kind.
- a NY Prisoner, June 2006
MIM responds: First, let us clarify that MIM does not support the death penalty under capitalism for exactly the reasons explained by this comrade above. As a tool of state power, the death penalty serves the interests of the class in power in its struggle against opposing classes. This is why oppressed people suffer disproportionately at the hands of the capitalists state. Aside from capitalism being the cause of anti-people behavior, it also reserves harsh punishment such as the death penalty for oppressed peoples even when their crimes are less than the capitalists, or even when they never committed a crime at all.
The reason MIM upholds the death penalty under socialism is that we recognize that the capitalists and their allies will not allow the end of the class system without a struggle. That means that we must put the state in the hands of the people, transforming it as a tool for eliminating classes altogether. As Mao said, "revolution is not a dinner party." And we hold no illusions that the interests of the masses of the world's people can be met without violence and death. But that violence and death will be nothing compared to the last 100 years of imperialism, or the potential destruction of humynkind if imperialism continues.
We encourage this comrade and others to study MIM Theory 11 on prisons, MIM's End the Amerikkkan Lockdown study pack and Prisoner's of Liberation by Allyn and Adele Rickett. All of these materials investigate and explain what prisons look like in a socialist society. Prisoner's of Liberation is the story of two amerikkkans imprisoned in socialist China, and it explains the educational and reform process that they went through. This comrade's letter is reminiscent of the kinds of statements prisoners in China had to write in order to redeem themselves with society. People had to study their actions within the context of society and recognize the repercussions of their actions and why they were wrong.
The writer is correct that the death penalty, and in fact the u$ prison system in general is a great waste of humyn resources. The goal of socialist prisons, in contrast, is to create productive, harmonious members of society. However, we still maintain the necessity for the use of the death penalty in certain tumultuous periods class struggle and in cases of egregious crimes against humynity when the masses demand it.