The video posted above is from the Internet
commentary show called The Young Turks. Cenk Uyger, the host, often has very
good insights and this analysis in particular explains the corporation/prison
partnership problem in the USA.
My
analysis of the situation:
In recent years, the right wing movement has pushed
for increased privatization in many areas formerly run by the public sector;
prisons and public maintenance are two of the public service areas which have received
particular focus during the right wing push to privatize. There is a very
disturbing situation emerging in US prisons where prisons (particularly private
prisons) are starting or expanding commercial prison work programs.
There is nothing inherently wrong with prison work programs;
in fact, they can actually be beneficial to both the inmates and the guards.
Inmates who have something to occupy their time don't cause as much trouble
because they are focused on something constructive rather than the constant ennui
of imprisonment. In addition to reducing discipline problems in the prisons,
trade programs where prisoners learn a craft while working can allow prisoners
to find productive employment after their release. While vocational work
programs can actually be beneficial to prisoners, commercial prison labor can
sometimes become harmful.
Prison labor can unfortunately have very damaging
effects when it is combined with some corporatist practices; practices that
have become prevalent in some areas of the American government. Politicians
have become increasingly bought by corporate lobbyists, leading to policy
decisions designed to help corporations. As corporations are completely amoral
and based upon the goal of making a profit, most corporations will maximize
profit and minimize expense regardless of the social effect of their actions.
If a corporation can insource labor to a prison (or be co-owned by a prison)
and decrease the cost of labor to nearly nothing, their profits will go up. A
decrease in manufacturing costs allows for an increase in profits, thus there
is more money for expansion and executives.
Prisons are a public service and their goal should
be punishment and rehabilitation, not profit. Once there is a corporation
pulling the strings, profit eclipses all other goals and prison labor comes
dangerously close to slave labor. When politicians are bought by corporations,
they will help the corporation make money. Legislative initiatives such as
increasing criminal charges for minor offenses, expanding mandatory sentencing
laws, and criminalizing more actions, increases the number of people
imprisoned, thus giving a larger workforce to the prison utilizing corporation.
A combination of corporatism, private prisons, and
prison labor leads to a situation where the justice system serves to force
people into imprisoned employment at no pay. Involuntary servitude without pay
is the very definition of slavery. In my opinion, the prison labor situation in
the USA sets up perverse incentives and corrupt the entire criminal justice
system.
Search for the “Kids for Cash” scandal on Google to
see the most egregious example of corporate infiltration into the justice
system I have ever seen. Several judges in Pennsylvania were paid by private
prisons to send innocent children to jail. While the profit motive found in
this case was based in prison occupancy rather than prison labor, the
situations are parallel because the motivation remains the same: When putting
more people in jail increases corporate profits, these corporations will
attempt to increase the imprisonment rate in order to increase profit.
Justice should not have a profit motive, but rather
be an end unto itself.
The Sarcastic Liberal
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