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Locking up profits - Private prison companies strive to keep millions behind bars to keep their profits up (aljazeera.com)

submitted ago by HarryBlessKnapp

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[–]HarryBlessKnapp[S] 22 points23 points ago

This really isn't capitalism. I'm pretty fiscally conservative, I'm a big fan of capitalism. But I think this is one of the issues raised that I fully support OWS for addressing.

[–]skaisnotdead 6 points7 points ago

This is Capitalism for sure. Crony capitalism full of bribes and such. Regardless, Capitalism can only solve so much. There are things that should not be given the profit incentive and that need to remain public. Such as prisons.

[–]JohnnyBeagle 5 points6 points ago

If it's not capitalism, what is it?

[–]EatingSteak 13 points14 points ago

I believe one of the cornerstones of capitalism is that if you don't like a company' you can refuse to support ot patronize it.

I can easily say "fuck you Comcast your service sucks", cut the cable and get satellite. Or not watch TV.

Can you just say "fuck it this prison sucks I'm leaving"? Forcing you to patronize a business is NOT capitalism and not even close. You're essentially "paying" them your market-equivalent wage rate.

The primary goal of good government, according to my Economics classes, is creating good incentive structures. The best example of this is enforcing property rights, thereby giving people incentive to produce and trade rather than steal.

With state-run prisons, it's a cost to the state, so their incentive is to get you out as soon as reasonably possible. By 'reasonably', I mean if it's WAY too soon, then you'll end up right back and the 'too soon' system didn't work.

Private-run? The longer you stay locked up, the more money they make. And since they're taxed, the more money they make for the state. That's just bad, and that's just asking for it.

So what DO you call it? There's no one word that describes it, but it's a combination of corruption, fascism, and slavery.

[–]HarryBlessKnapp[S] 4 points5 points ago

State-monopoly capitalism. Which is a totally different beast and is not even capitalism IMO, and borders on socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. Which is just plain wrong. I'm not saying capitalism is the right answer, I do not pretend to be that wise. But for the benefits of capitalism to materialise, we're going to need at least some kind of semblance of a free-market.

[–]cazbot 14 points15 points ago

Not to mention that in this case, the incentive structure drives the company to cause direct harm to society. More crime + longer incarcerations = more profit. The last thing we need is for capitalism to provide incentives for more corporations to encourage criminality. Capitalism is great system for many things, but not for everything. You need a balance.

[–]JohnnyBeagle -3 points-2 points ago

Since the goal of capitalism is for one person to own everything (Remember the board game "Monopoly"?), state monopoly capitalism is just the corporations (as individual) does whatever is possible to eliminate competition and grow. In this case, the corporation (as individual) sees the source of growth by invading government (much as a tree will invade an aquifer to increase its growth). There is no moral right or wrong in monopoly capitalism.

Yes, I agree that capitalism has some benefit, but the dangers of it dictate (at least to me) that it be controlled by socialism.

[–]HarryBlessKnapp[S] 4 points5 points ago

Yes, I agree that capitalism has some benefit, but the dangers of it dictate (at least to me) that it be controlled by socialism.

This is a case of it being controlled by socialism. And FTR I am advocating free-market capitalism. Which is clearly not the case here.

[–]JohnnyBeagle 4 points5 points ago

How so? The benefits are not going to the people, they are going to the individual/corporation. This is more like fascism.

[–]steve-d 8 points9 points ago

You are right. It is fascism, and far from true capitalism.

[–]HarryBlessKnapp[S] 3 points4 points ago

The costs are socialised. The means of production are funded by the public.

[–]JohnnyBeagle 1 point2 points ago

Yes, but that's not socialism.

[–]HarryBlessKnapp[S] 3 points4 points ago

You're right. It is a bastardisation of capitalism and socialism. But you can either have one or the other. You can't pick and choose when you want to be a capitalist and when you want to be a socialist. I think that's part of why we're so fucked.

[–]skaisnotdead 2 points3 points ago

Thus - democratic socialism, like in Norway and Finland. Strong public foundations and a regulated private sector. It is the happy medium between the two.

[–]JohnnyBeagle 1 point2 points ago

As capitalism and socialism have both proven to be failures for the majority........

[–]neonmantis 2 points3 points ago

Has free market capitalism ever actually existed?

[–]HarryBlessKnapp[S] 2 points3 points ago

No. Not in documented history.

[–]DoctorbJohnZoidberg 2 points3 points ago

And it never will.

[–]Syntrel 10 points11 points ago

This is one of the biggest issues that a vast majority of the american public has no clue about and has no desire to.

[–]steve-d 1 point2 points ago

I try to educate people on this issue that this is one of the reasons the Drug War exists to this day. People most of the time have no idea there are for-profit prisons.

[–]Kad66 8 points9 points ago

Coming soon to Canada

[–]DogBotherer 2 points3 points ago

And increasingly to the UK also. I expect to see it rolled out globally over time, along with things like ACTA, rolling back workers' rights, "free trade" agreements (which are so far from free trade it'd be laughable if it wasn't a human tragedy), etc. it's a major part of the corporate agenda.

[–]EatingSteak 6 points7 points ago* 

I think there's an underlying issue here: that the state-run system just can't afford it.

There's an issue underlying that too:

We have too goddamn many people in prison.

Every person you have in prison is one person not adding to your GDP (ie, economy), and one person that's a tax burden.

We have more people in prison (per capita) than China. A LOT more. More than Russia. More than any country in the world. By a LOT.

So you have to pay for it somehow. And with budget cuts and austerity here and more on the way, governments are forced to pay for it somehow. Here's their answer.

The best way to solve this, that is, eliminate the need for profiteering-prisons, is to eliminate the need for them. That is, don't put anybody in jail that doesn't NEED to be in jail. War on Drugs, I'm looking in your direction here

[Edit] Source for above

[–]clamb 1 point2 points ago

Part of the underlying problem of overpopulation is in fact the money in the prison system, and where there's money theres lobbyists. They lobby for these laws (good example is California and three strike laws).

And China deals with their criminal's different

[–]ENRICOs 3 points4 points ago

This is criminal.

Put Newt Gingrich and a boat load of Neo-Cons inside for their crimes, then watch this stop.

[–]WhoShotJR 2 points3 points ago

Related article by The Nation

[–]depth_width 0 points1 point ago

America has really turned into a country that fears its own citizens.

[–]cassander 0 points1 point ago

Yes, this is totally unlike publicly employed prison guard unions. They would NEVER do such a thing

[–]old_snake 0 points1 point ago

Would love to see this on USA Today, instead.

[–]chozar 0 points1 point ago

I was thinking about a hypothetical dystopian future the other day.

I believe that inmates (may vary by location) are not permitted to vote in elections or be on a jury. Imagine a world where 51% of the population become the prisoners, convicted of crimes that they don't believe should be crimes, but are unable to influence government through election or jury. Some act could be considered a crime that the majority of the population believes should be legal, but this populace gets locked into a situation that it cannot break out of. The minority rules over the majority in this case.

Then I realize that to some extent, this is what we have done to the few percent that are convicted in this country. Throw someone in jail if they commit a crime, but they are still a citizen. They still have a right to have a say in their own government.

[–]mikkom -3 points-2 points ago

This is interesting but NOT world politics.

[–]HarryBlessKnapp[S] 11 points12 points ago

It's about a company that operates in several different countries influencing policy.

I'll admit I wasn't 100% sure where to put it but I thought it was a half-decent fit in the end.

[–]stringerbell -2 points-1 points ago

Remember this...:

More than 10% of the US population is atheist - yet 499 of 500 prison inmates believe in god!

You would expect there to be literally 50 times as many atheists in prison than there are.

Yet, do you hear the 90% calling atheists anything but 'evil'? Yes, apparently the atheists are the evil ones, not the god-fearing criminals who commit virtually all the crime in the country!...

[–]borkborkbork69 0 points1 point ago

source?

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