Huizen, 12th of january 2000 To the president of the United States of America Mr. Bill Clinton, The White House Washington D.C. United States of America By fax to the Dutch embassy at 070-3614688 Sir, A few days ago I learned from the Dutch main television network NOS that imprisonment in the United States of America topped over 2,000,000 people. The level of incarcerated people is almost ten times higher in the US than in the Netherlands. A few years ago I wrote the former secretary of State Robert Reich on the 4th of April 1994 a letter with reference to my earlier letter in which I commented the situation of children in the US because of a book of Sylvia Hewlett. In 1994 there were just over a million people in jail in the US and today your country topped the record of two million incarcerations. Your jail industry is booming. As more and more correctional institutions are run by the private sector, investors become more and more interested in the billions of dollars that taxpayers have to provide. Today I received an e-mail that said that my letter 'America, no, no, no!!' will be the starting point in a discussion group of immigrants in Canada, in the Netherlands, in America, and in Australia. It took years to become a signal for criticism on the so called Wisconsin Model that is cherished today in the Netherlands to get unemployment down by creating low-paid jobs. I wish you wisdom and obtain a nation wide insurance against illness for all people like in the Netherlands (still). You should redefine what is really valuable for now and in the future. A 'Gross National Product' that consists of law suits, the production of weapons, of security services, militarism, commercial education and commercial health care, which go along with extensive poverty of millions of people and subsequently to a high level of criminality, should not be promoted. Therefore I point out that I have no regret at all of my saying in 1992, to be proud NOT to be an American. The figures of a doubling to 2,000,000 people in jail in your country, while in mine jailing capacity is void, show that the social structure and coherence is deteriorating in the United State of America. Yours faithfully, Robert M. Brockhus Westkade 227 1273 RJ Huizen The Netherlands Telephone +31-35-5244141 E-mail: sdn@planet.nl Website america5.htm