Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons, and Punishment

This book is a must read everyone who cares about our country. We are not isolated individuals. We're interconnected and have to understand better what politicians are selling us if we want to get along. We have to look at societal concerns and what has not worked. Why do we have so many prisons? Do they work in rehabilitating criminals? Why do we have so many poor and ghettos, slums in the wealthiest nation in the world. Why do we have hungry people and underserved people? This in the wealthiest country in the world. Zack Norris asks questions like these giving reasons and solutions if we all care enough about our fellow man and making our own lives better. We all work better as an understanding larger community. We can become undivided and not divided like we are all now. Let's let our Democracy work for all not just the wealthy and corporations. All it takes is more understanding on our part.

The strength of the book is in the many personal examples given. The first part reiterates the facts about the current "framework of fear." The second part, about building a truly safe community, is inspirational . The success of previous attempts give me hope that a better world can be built.

Wow! I suspected this would be a good read, but I wasn't expecting a book that was so poignant and moving - filled with real life stories - AND brimming with solid solutions and strategies for change. Whatever your political leanings, we all know our criminal justice system is broken. Its costly, ineffective, and inhumane - with more than 2 million people held behind bars and egregious recidivism rates - a revolving door for those who have been most disenfranchised, demonized, and traumatized by a lack of resources and opportunity. But, Zach Norris offers hope - with his years of lived experience going from the streets of Oakland to Harvard, and then back to Oakland to work with families and criminal justice policy. He offers a vision where we can move from a framework of fear to a culture of care. It will be a journey to get there, but this books lights a path forward. Despite the national news, as a parent who wants my child to grow up in safe world where everyone counts, I am actually inspired that change is possible.

A very well written account of the problems caused by fear and some hopeful potential remedies. I highly recommend this for people who want to make a difference in our country.

Our son wanted this for his birthday, so we ordered it and he was pleased to receive it.

The problems however are huge and expensive. It’s not realistic to expect that the government (aka the taxpayers) can solve it alone. Individual responsibility from the cradle up is needed to prevent these terrible predicaments from happening. A caring loving antiracist society is not enough. Our capitalist business model which bakes in greed and inequality must be changed.

An interesting approach but will depend on changing a lot of officials on how to approach crime.

Good information and ideas but a little too wishful thinking, imo.