Soldiers in war time have often turned to mind altering substances to allow them to kill other people. A piece in Aeon traces the history of soldiers using drugs, which dates back to the time of "The Odyssey." Vikings would take drugs to make themselves feel invincible and put themselves in altered states wherein they fought ferociously. In the Second World War, when pilots were given stimulants to keep them awake.
“War, on drugs” Aeon
Mother Jones recently told the inside story of America's private prison industry — literally. Writer Shane Bauer, using his own name, managed to get hired to work at a private prison in Louisiana. One of fellow guards mused aloud to Bauer about wishing an investigative reporter could tell the story of the corporate mismanagement and the terrible treatment of inmates. As the Columbia Journalism Review notes, prison conditions are particularly hard to document for journalists, and even more so for the private complexes. It's a fascinating, disturbing read.
"My four months as a private prison guard," Mother Jones
"Inside Mother Jones' monster investigation of private prisons," Columbia Journalism Review
