Mr Khan said:
SamuelRSmith said:
Mr Khan said:
Privatization encourages profiteering, which encourages the use of prisoners as de facto slaves. If it was on the taxpayer dime, there'd be less incentive to exploit prisoners. It would be wrong if the state does it, and it is wrong that the state allows it to be done under their watch, but if it were wholly the realm of the state, it would be less likely to occur. Or at least if the state exploited prison labor purely for public-works purposes, then the people as a whole would benefit, rather than a few profiteers.
|
Tell me more about how the state doesn't "profiteer".
How many state employees are on the paybook because of things like the War on Drugs? Police? Prison Wardens? the DEA? How much power has the Government been able to claw in thanks to the WoD? Much of the PATRIOT ACT was expanding powers used against drugs to terrorism.
Besides, forget prison. How am I not already a "de facto slave"? Do I own anything? Can I volunteer to engage in any exchange I want? Am I even allowed to kill myself?
|
That's not profiteering. Profiteering is about making money on stuff. You're talking about pork. Employees of the state can profiteer off of things like the War on Terror, but the State as a whole draws no revenue from rounding up terrorists or conducting warrantless wiretaps or what have you.
|
However doesn't the government essentially profiteer by having prisoners do work for "the public good"?
Having some prisoners clean up trash on a state road vs having some prisoners act as janitors for a private run factory. Same difference really
Really, I think prisoners should be paid minimium wage. That can be used either for marked up products in the prison system or that can be sent to family members/saved for release. Of course so should farm employees since they do some hard as hell manual labor.
That way they can be used to build a better future when they get out. Support family members, or buy luxuraries while offsetting the cost of their imprisonment.
