US gaol population!!

YouTube
This Youtube clip from "Qi" (a comedy quiz show) highlights some astonishing facts about the US penal system!

Originally posted by wolfgang59
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPZed8af9RI
This Youtube clip from "Qi" (a comedy quiz show) highlights some astonishing facts about the US penal system!

Which ones ought to be released?

Originally posted by normbenign
Which ones ought to be released?

Maybe the guy who stole some cookies?

But why is the prison population so high???

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Maybe the guy who stole some cookies?

But why is the prison population so high???

It's profitable.
Like China, prisoners are used for slave labor. Except, in the US, corporations make the money off them. They own the prisons; they employ them at very low wages for all sorts of work. (Telephone solicitation is a popular one! Be nice to the person on the other end. They may be a murderer!)
And, it's easy to get prisoners, with today's drug laws, and today's economy. If they don't catch you breaking the law in our total surveillance society, then, you are good enough to join the military! (Where else can you get a job these days?) It's all covered.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Maybe the guy who stole some cookies?

But why is the prison population so high???

Every level of government creates new laws. Laws are broken. People are convicted, and are sent to jail.

Drug prohibitions are responsible for about 60% of incarcerations.

Originally posted by DanTriola
It's profitable.
Like China, prisoners are used for slave labor. Except, in the US, corporations make the money off them. They own the prisons; they employ them at very low wages for all sorts of work. (Telephone solicitation is a popular one! Be nice to the person on the other end. They may be a murderer!)
And, it's easy to get prisoners, with today's ...[text shortened]... e good enough to join the military! (Where else can you get a job these days?) It's all covered.

Not sure your analysis is accurate. In most States, prisoner costs amount to roughly $40k/year. We can't hire people to make license plates for less than that?

Originally posted by DanTriola
It's profitable.
Like China, prisoners are used for slave labor. Except, in the US, corporations make the money off them. They own the prisons; they employ them at very low wages for all sorts of work. (Telephone solicitation is a popular one! Be nice to the person on the other end. They may be a murderer!)
And, it's easy to get prisoners, with today's ...[text shortened]... e good enough to join the military! (Where else can you get a job these days?) It's all covered.

Clinton profited by the prison blood trade.

Originally posted by normbenign
Not sure your analysis is accurate. In most States, prisoner costs amount to roughly $40k/year. We can't hire people to make license plates for less than that?

Corporations are using low prison labor costs and taxing the public indirectly. If a prisoner costs the taxpayers 40k per year and a corporation only pays them 5k per year for labor, then they taxed us 35k.

Originally posted by joe beyser
Corporations are using low prison labor costs and taxing the public indirectly. If a prisoner costs the taxpayers 40k per year and a corporation only pays them 5k per year for labor, then they taxed us 35k.

Thank you Joe, for the explanation.
The thing is: EVERYTHING done today is done for a profit. So, if private companies want to run the prisons, then, they are making a profit. Whatever figures they throw out to the public one can discount as a smokescreen, for why would a company do it otherwise. The government through tax breaks can certainly help them out. The companies get the money; we pay for it.
Another government scam, this one dates back a bit.
And, they are not making us safer. The War on Drugs, like the War on Poverty and the War on Terror, is bogus.
Remember: these are politicians. You know they're lying when they open their mouths.