#*decorum.

you've got to spread joy up to the maximum.  bring gloom down to the minimum.  have faith or pandemonium is liable to walk upon the scene.  ♪

there are some genuinely good people who believe in decorum and the good it can do (like hopper), but that doesnt mean decorum itself is good. constant surveillance and judgement is not great. essentially forcing someone to change into what decorum/society deems as a good, model citizen is not great. espec considering those who are incarcerated are often marginalized groups.

i dont want to spin decorum as a Squeaky Clean Morally Perfect And Kind bureau. it’s not! it’s complicated. it has really good ppl in it who believe in the msg and are making positive changes in other’s lives b/c of it and it also has ppl who are using the program and surveillance for their own ulterior motives. decorum wouldnt have made it as a national program if it didnt have higher up ppl (senators, ceos, etc) supporting and funding it for their own nefarious reasons.

i wanted to make a program that, in theory, seems really great and good but in practice is so much more convoluted and a mess of ethics.

i actually first came up with this idea because often times there are tasks or events in my life which feel really daunting and upsetting to do alone and i wished i just had, like, a person in my ear, there and listening, so i felt like i wasnt doing this alone. so, not to get too sappy, but the idea of decorum came from a pure and good place.