Letters: Inmates endure harsh conditions

There is a population in Texas who are abused and neglected. Yes, I am all for assisting the illegal immigrants, the homeless and the needy. However, I see so many people fighting for their various rights but never speaking up for the inmates in Texas prisons. Why is that? I am not sure, but I do know that because of our unjust, corrupt legal system, many in prison who lack money and good legal help are innocent.

The climate in Texas can be brutally hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. Those of us who have air-conditioning and heating do not suffer. However, did you know most Texas prison inmates do not have air-conditioning or heating? You and I can go outdoors, open a window or turn on a fan or heater when needed. The inmates must sit in their cells in dire conditions. We spend millions on foreign nations yet neglect our own people.

Did you know that inmates have to pay for their medical care? If they receive a monetary gift from family the health system that attended them quickly collects its share, not caring that what the inmate received was a small amount. It is no wonder many inmates refuse medical care, knowing that they simply do not have the means to pay. They eagerly wait for money sent by family to buy necessities not provided by the system. For this reason by the time they receive medical care their health has deteriorated.

We are naïve to think that everything a prisoner needs is provided. Did you know that the pandemic hit the Texas prison system harder than the rest of the state? Our government is helping countries fight off the pandemic while the care for our own people is sadly inadequate.

I am not against helping others, but we need to help the ones who cannot help themselves. There is a great number of people demanding the end of abortions. Yes, an unborn child needs to be protected. The inmates also are unable to take care of themselves.

Please do not go down the path of judging others. There’s a saying in Spanish: “Unos nacen con estrella y otros estrellados,” which means some people are born lucky with financial means and some are born in adverse conditions.

So, until one has walked in their shoes one cannot judge. Maybe this note will be a beginning to improve conditions for all prisoners in Texas.

Thank you and may God bless each one of you.

Irma Barrientes Sherman

Brownsville

Fight oil

companies

I see with a mixture of humor and dismay all the letters and commentary from people blaming President Biden for high gas prices. You know who is really laughing? The oil companies, who are making out like bandits right now.

In economics, it is taken as a natural law that when prices rise on a commodity, more will be produced, and then the prices will come down. Usually, it has worked that way with oil: Prices go up, profits go up, production goes up, and then the prices come crashing down, profits plummet, and lots of companies go bankrupt. That’s happened several times over the past few years. Now the oil companies are getting wise to it and not increasing production to protect their profits. Their profits are at record levels. Why would they want to change that?

Another part of this is that investors understand that oil production is a dying industry. Solar and wind power now cost the same or less to produce. Electric cars are poised to take over the market. Demand for oil collapsed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and dozens of small oil producers collapsed with it, and a lot of investors lost a lot of money. Demand is back up, but it has just barely returned to pre-pandemic levels. Soon, demand will stop increasing at all. No investor wants to pump money into an industry in decline.

In any case, the average consumer spends less on gas today than they did 10 years ago because their vehicles are more fuel-efficient. People don’t notice it because they see the higher prices when they pull up to the pump, but they don’t think about the fact that they don’t pull up to the pump as often as they used to. Fuel efficiency continues to rise, which cuts demand and is another reason oil companies don’t want to increase production.

Oil prices could come down tomorrow if the oil companies were willing to give up some of their profits. So, they won’t. But if you want the oil company CEOs to stop laughing behind your back as they lift the dollars out of your wallet, the best thing to do is to buy less of their product.

Mark J. Kaswan

Brownsville