Bearing the Cross

This second volume of this book covers the Supreme Court appeal and far more detail. Like the first volume, itreads like fiction but in reality contains nothing but non-fiction material. In Chilean prisons, like in hell, one never has a good day. Yet those who have never experienced such incarceration can hardly imagine the cruel, thoughtless, careless, and even barbaric treatment of prisoners confined in this OECD-member "developed" country.This book recounts the hellish experiences of an American-born immigrant to Chile who was wrongfully imprisoned for attempted murder by left-biased judges, prodded on and impelled by an overwhelmingly vitriolic national media. In Chile, self-defense is frowned upon, especially when one party has a weapon that gives him a disproportionate advantage. Moreover, natural rights are not equal in Chilean public policy: life is more important than liberty, which is far more important than private property. That means, for example, a man defending his car or store with a shotgun will be charged with murder.A clear-cut case of self-defense in many countries was transformed into attempted murder by a mendacious district attorney and leftist lawyers not accountable to anyone. Like the judges, district attorneys have arbitrary powers, as well as free reign, over the lives of the accused standing before them.Daily life in the first several months of his second year of confinement in the Valparaso penitentiary is described in vivid, excruciating detail. The reader will be able to imagine himself living in the deplorable and denigrating circumstances that Chilean prisoners suffer, while district attorneys, lawyers, expert witnesses, psychologists, and judges garner enormous incomes. They profit by throwing both criminals and (on occasion) largely or completely innocent people into prison.Prison guards profit in their own unique way, too, both by taxpayers footing the bill for prisons where they work and by clandestinely providing otherwise prohibited goods to prisoners at exorbitant prices. The biggest losers in this racket are the hapless, quasi-enslaved convicts. The vivid, real life detail of fighting, lack of medical care, poor food, degenerate companions, and inhumane living conditions make it a hard book to put down!