USA has the highest incarceration rate. Why?

[Seece]

Rath said:

Seece said:

vlad321 said:

Seece said:

ArnoldRimmer said:
There are two major reasons:

1. The main reason is that american jails are filled with harmless drug users, not real criminals who harm others.

2. Locking people up is a business in the USA. So there are many people who will earn more money if more people are locked up, so these influential people have an interest to have as many people in jail as possible.

I've never understood how America makes money out of prisoners? Here it's the opposite so we try to keep people out of prisons and reduce their sentances.

America doesn't, but here some prisons are run by corporations which make money out of having prisoners.

lol how?! Do they send them to work or something?

I think they get paid per prisoner by the govt

So they're just the middle man, and get profit on top?