Free Healthcare & Housing in the US for Bank Robbers

When I was in middle school I had read the story about a homeless man in New York who tries to go to jail so he can spend the winter away from the biting cold. His rationale that he would be indoors, provided with a warm bed and hot food during the period of winter and then he could come back and live off the streets of New York. I had laughed off the story then, but now I realize that this is precisely what happens to people who end up in prison in the US. They get free housing, food and healthcare. After coming to America few years ago I am reading more and more news reports of actual people employing this method to get their basic needs fulfilled.

The latest example example is a 59-yr-old man from North Carolina, who made headlines on MSNBC recently. According to the news report this guy robbed a bank of $1 and waited patiently in the lobby for the police to arrive and arrest him.

Why did he do that? So that he could get his health problems taken care of and then have a roof over his head for the next couple of years. The man with no job, no insurance and dwindling savings and increasing age decided to commit a crime and get arrested. This way the state/ nation/ government will take care of him for the next couple of years by which time he will be eligible for social security/ old age pension of the federal government.

This is bound to happen in the exploitative capitalistic society that the US has evolved into. Where hardworking employees get 3-6% annual raises while CEOs get at least 24% raises and millions in bonuses. The employees, driven by poverty and desperation when they get old and infirm will resort to this kind of practices in order to barely stay alive.

I wonder if American society will ever change....