I think the context of who you are talking to and how is really important to this. When interacting with prisoners or former prisoners, I am careful about the impact my words might have on them by minimizing the trauma they might’ve experienced, or by overstating the level of repression and control we face on the outside (or our perceived importance in the eyes of the state).
I absolutely view myself as a prisoner to this society and civilization. I can no more opt out of it fully (and without the fear and most likely reality) of it encroaching upon my autonomy than could a prisoner of a physical prison choose to walk out the gates if they don’t like the conditions. I am here without my consent, I am forced to work to have money for more than basic survival, I am made dependent upon infrastructure designed to reinforce complacency and complicity. More and more I am watched everywhere, or at least might be – a sort of social recreation of panopticon. If this isn’t being a rpsioner I don’t know what is.
Similarly, I have frequently used the prisoner’s dilemma as a model for talking about conspiring against the state. The short of it being that in the long run it is in our best interest to not betray our comrades and find commonality than to sell each other short for perceived short term benefits. If folks want a longer description of what the prisoners dilemma model is here is the Wikipedia page on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma
I could also recommend parts of the book “The Origins of Virtue” by Matt Ridley (I am also highly critical of aspects of the book, which is written from a sociobiology POV) possibly read in parallel to Mutual Aid by Kropotkin (who’s real-life prison break is the story told in the prologue to Ridley’s book).
On the other hand, I have friends who’ve spent long stints in prison for a variety of things, both political and “non-political.” I would not in a million years pretend that my experience of state control is the same as theirs, or as violent and all encompassing. I am happy I have never spent time in prison, and while I think incarceration is something anarchists should always seriously consider the ramifications of, I hope to never experience it. Not that I won’t draw comparisons, but I am likely to use slightly less rhetorical flourish in doing so, and try to evidence a bit more humility than if I am writing something to be put out to the world at large (meaning, primarily those not incarcerated).
As to the are we all political prisoners? Are we all prisoners (presuming this means non-political prisoner) distinction, I don’t think it really matters in the context of talking about any of this. For those of us outside, we aren't part of this society because of some intentional action on the part of our beliefs, but because it is where circumstance has put us. To be honest, I think talking about political prisoners is unhelpful and detracts from that reality that prison is prison. It starts to lead us down a line of reasoning that distinguishes from of the good and bad prisoners, the deserving and undeserving of support. This isn’t to excuse actions or minimize what I see as commendable acts or positions of anyone (pp or not).
Certainly some political prisoners get lots more support from a wider base of people than inmates who are in for other acts, and I am more likely to actively support prisoners who are in for actions I support, but do all political prisoners deserve support as opposed to all prisoners deserving support? And just how are we defining "political"? Is a white power inmate who was acting on his beliefs a political prisoner? What about folks like Fran Thompson, who is incarcerated for shooting a man who tried to assault her, entirely unrelated to her politics, but is often listed as such because of her previous involvement in environmental activism? Does political prisoner just mean “prisoners whose politics I happen to like”? There are some political prisoners (or folks who could be labeled such) that I don’t want to support, just like there are some truly horrible people in prison for other actions who I want nothing to do with. The same could be said for folks outside the razor wire and concrete walls. None of that affects that I want to see prisons, and the society that creates and perpetuates them destroyed.
