America's Love of Prisons

[Ifeanychukwu]

what is a spliff?

Marijuana mixed with tobacco.

[Komati]

Free labor.
Why not use slaves, if you have the option?

[Theodon]

Just saw this story on Reddit and it seems to apply to the thread topic: http://www.8newsnow.com/story/217628...ears-in-prison

The two presiding district attorneys that were directly responsible for the mis-trial haven't been punished for this, but instead now hold higher ranking authority in the legal system. The legal system in the USA is pretty messed up to begin with, and I think the massive prison population you have is a result of that sickness. You can also read the story in the link to see yet another example of how messed up it really is, as the URL text isn't actually the focus of the story within the page it links to.

[Piggo]

It's the war on drugs, I think, more than anything else.

The war on drugs is just another bullshit. They ban pot, crack, cocaine, heroin, while drugs like alcohol, coffeine and nicotine kill slowly, over the years, tens of thousands of people. The most pathetic thing I saw lately was an anti-drug commercial, followed by a wine commercial. It's ok to drink your drug, the other drugs are bad for you!

Also:

[moremana]

I ran across some pretty staggering numbers today on incarceration rates. Needles to say, the US is on top. Why is this?

Why does the US put people in prison at such high rates compared to other major world players?

What has this done to the US? Why do we keep locking people up?

How has this benefited the people of the United States of America? Are there any upsides?

we been asking that question for years.

However...heres some thoughts.

We have one of the highest welfare rates than any country, our government is too stupid to see the underlying problem in the US, they just keep making it worse.

no I am not picking on our president, its been like this for years!

[Mercadi]

Democracy needs its sacrifices. To maintain a free society the government must create something to compare freedom to... So that the people will always know their alternative if they choose to go against the government's policies.

[Deleted]

US has to be tough on poor black people.

[steveyboy]

I see what you are trying to say, but there is a huge difference between genocide, and locking up criminals.

They didnt originally start killing people off, it was only when germany started losing did they start the mass extermination.

---------- Post added 2013-03-23 at 12:13 PM ----------

US has to be tough on poor black people.

Don't forget those people pirating music!

[Cthulhu 2020]

we been asking that question for years.

However...heres some thoughts.

We have one of the highest welfare rates than any country, our government is too stupid to see the underlying problem in the US, they just keep making it worse.

no I am not picking on our president, its been like this for years!

We'd have less crime if we actually took care of those who needed it, not telling some guy that works 60 hour minimum wage jobs that he's a leech on society for getting $135 a month in food stamps.

[ringpriest]

Because we have for profit prisons, so people make money by locking others up.

You're absolutely right, but I'd also like to point out that we have for-profit law-enforcement and justice systems too. Many police departments nationwide get a big chunk of their revenue from drug-related seizures. The War on Drugs Not Made By Large Corporations employs a great many people at all levels of government.

[Neteyes]

Democracy needs its sacrifices. To maintain a free society the government must create something to compare freedom to... So that the people will always know their alternative if they choose to go against the government's policies.

US is far from the most democratic country, hell it's not even top 10, it's 15th. Since all of the 14 other countries with better democracy than the US are almost non existent on the incarceration list (US is first, while NZ is 71st) you can come to the conclusion that incarceration rates have nothing to do with democracy.

Oh, and you're dropping in ranks

http://www.democracyranking.org/down...nking-2012.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...rceration_rate

[Dezerte]

we been asking that question for years.

However...heres some thoughts.

We have one of the highest welfare rates than any country, our government is too stupid to see the underlying problem in the US, they just keep making it worse.

no I am not picking on our president, its been like this for years!

Welfare reduces crime rates, not the other way around.

[Deleted]

Because we have for profit prisons, so people make money by locking others up.

Is everything in America about profit?
Seriously, health care is about profit, prisons are about profit, politicians are about profit (personal profit, not country-wide profit).
I wouldn't be suprised if the police force and the fire department of the US are about profit aswell...

America, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere (but thats not necessarely good)

---------- Post added 2013-03-23 at 05:05 PM ----------

Capitalism needs its sacrifices. To maintain a free society the government must create something to compare freedom to... So that the people will always know their alternative if they choose to go against the government's policies.

Fixed that for ya

Altough I'll make a confession, I do not trust a graph found on the internet, but it still doesn't explain why a 1st world country has worse prisons then most 2nd world countries.

[Noomz]

I ran across some pretty staggering numbers today on incarceration rates. Needles to say, the US is on top. Why is this?

Why does the US put people in prison at such high rates compared to other major world players?

What has this done to the US? Why do we keep locking people up?

How has this benefited the people of the United States of America? Are there any upsides?

The 3-strikes and you're out policy. Isn't it true that 1% of the US population is in prison?

Also, private prisons. There are a lot of profits made on the slave labor of prisoners.

[Themius]

We do have far more population than Europe.

Numbers are per 100,000 and last I checked most places have millions of people. Per 100,000 gets you a percentage of population. It's not just x numbers and saying "look!" it's breaking it down into percents of. So you agree with locking up people over weed? I mean really weed.... it's not even illegal in some states, and in other states it's just a fine.

[Deleted]

We do have far more population than Europe.

From wiki:
- population EU: 711 million
- population US: 315 million

I'm sure somebody already pointed this out, because it is an open goal, but I just wanted to be a smartass
Just realized I posted this right after Themius, I feel stupid now

[Wells]

we been asking that question for years.

However...heres some thoughts.

We have one of the highest welfare rates than any country, our government is too stupid to see the underlying problem in the US, they just keep making it worse.

no I am not picking on our president, its been like this for years!

So you think welfare drives up crime rates?

[Roose]

Democracy needs its sacrifices. To maintain a free society the government must create something to compare freedom to... So that the people will always know their alternative if they choose to go against the government's policies.

This is really the first post that I have seen that tries to justify the US incarceration rates. It fails miserably, but it least it was an effort. This is why we scapegoat the middle east and south America, because those are the "alternatives" to the US's brand of capitalistic democracy.

I really wish that there was just one good thing to come of this. Just one good reason to lock up so many people. To ruin so many families. Do we not even have a single good reason for doing so? That is the biggest crime of all.

[zorkuus]

We do have far more population than Europe.

Except these statistics are per capita (not that your statement is accurate to begin with).

[Theodon]

This is really the first post that I have seen that tries to justify the US incarceration rates. It fails miserably, but it least it was an effort. This is why we scapegoat the middle east and south America, because those are the "alternatives" to the US's brand of capitalistic democracy.

I really wish that there was just one good thing to come of this. Just one good reason to lock up so many people. To ruin so many families. Do we not even have a single good reason for doing so? That is the biggest crime of all.

The same reason some seriously messed up things are excused is also covered by this, I feel; people in power make money from it. It justifies it to those who would be the ones that have the power to do something about it. Someone was incorrectly imprisoned for 20 years? Better set him free. Oh, he didn't see his parole office 20 years ago? better lock him up for 3 years and get some money out of it for violating parole. Such is life in a capitalistic country.