Exploitation Is A Problem Of Exploitation

The moving stated of such events happening. The prisons used inmates to work for companies who had contracts with the prisons. The labor was free and the system

The industrial prison complex has divided America into two groups; those who are oblivious to the industry and prison abolitionists who are advocating for reform or the complete abolition of the industry. With prisons being so integrated in American society, it is hard for oblivious citizens to see the problems with the prison industry. The media uses television shows such as Orange is the New Black and Prison Break to normalize prisons in America. Prison abolitionists want the industrial prison complex abolished for an array of reasons that end in true equality for citizens. The social injustices explained earlier are reason enough to call citizens to action against the industrial prison complex.

More people have been locked up in the United States than any other country. In the article “Prison Industrial Complex Economics”, it states, “the United States has approximately 6.5 million people under the criminal justice supervision. Incarcerated rate has grown from 176 in 1973 up to 700 in the year of 2000” (Waquant). Incarceration is a big business that feeds into drug violence, corrupted guards, and racism in criminal justice system, taxpayer cost, and racism in the criminal system and through privatization of prisons.

At the expense of the young, to the detriment of the poor, and on the backs of the immigrants is the means by which the private prison companies have constructed a business that trades freedoms for profit but more concerning is to what ends these freedoms are being exchanged. The advancement of the private prison system has changed the face of the prison industry as we know it. Because little attention has been given in the media to the private prison industry, they have been able to expand their influence and their revenue by means the average American would consider unscrupulous. Private prisons came about to act as the solution to a problem facing federal prisons, overcrowding, which was created due to the war on drugs, but in acting as a solution to one problem they created another one that could be more problematic than the one it intended to fix. Proponents of private, for profit, prisons claim that it is a better alternative than federal prisons because they can provide the same service for less and save taxpayers money in the process. They also contend that the service they provide would help to stimulate the economy. However, privatization of America’s prison systems will contribute to an increase in the incarceration rate and unfairly target certain demographics of the population, which could lead to psychological trauma affecting the people of those demography’s that it

The Inmate Work Act has fueled rapid expansion of Oregon prison industries in the past few years and has paved the way for many joint ventures” (Oregon). “In addition, during the last 20 years more than 30 states have passed laws permitting the use of convict labor by commercial enterprises. These programs now exist in 36 states” (Whyte).

The U.S. prison system is one of many great controversies when compared to other correctional systems. America’s prison population has increased by 700% (2.4 million current inmates) since the start of the war on drugs in 1971. As a result of this “war”, people that fall into the racial minority have suffered as a direct consequence of unjust legislation. Our prison system is known for its overrepresentation of minorities such as Blacks and Hispanics. This unfortunately gives these groups of people a perennial negative stigma as a result. I argue that the U.S. prison industrial-complex emphatically displays signs of prejudice and racism and disproportionately incarcerates people of color at a rate higher than whites. Yes, there are skeptics who think “the left’s prison-complex” is wrong about their theory of mass incarceration but the statistical data and concrete facts in support of my argument are very compelling.

Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates. Now, there are over a hundred private prisons, and 62,000 inmates, expected to hit 360,000 in the coming decade (Pelaez, 2008). Prisoners work in variety industries, making clothing and shoes, dental lab work, metal production, operating slaughterhouses, rural industries, and producing military gear and supplies. Furthermore, they are often paid less than minimum wage, if anything at all. In federal penitentiaries, the minimum wage is standard, but on the state level they can receive as low as two dollars an hour, while in private prisons they receive as low as seventeen cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day (Paleaz, 2008). Most of the time, prisoners are not exposed to meaningful employment where they can learn new skills that apply to the outside workforce, being instead tasked with labor-intensive, menial and often dangerous work (Khalek, 2001). Moreover, upon refusal, they are locked in isolation cells and/or denied basic necessities like toilet tissue and other ostensible privileges (Paleaz,

The Prison Industrial Complex has created a system of force free labor that strips prisoners of their political, economic, and social rights, ultimately relegating them to second-class citizenship, inside and outside of the prison walls. Denying former enslaved people citizenship was essential to the formation of the original union and hundreds of years later, America remains a nonegalitarian society. Not only are those incarcerated barred from suffrage, as throughout much of US history for African Americans, but they also endure legalized discrimination in housing, education, public welfare and employment. Though there has been a change in language and people are no longer explicitly discriminatory or prejudiced based on race, they remain so on criminality and income, both significant indicators of race in this country. This is most evident once persons are released from prison. Not only can they be returned to prison for the most minor infractions, like missing a parole meeting or associating with the wrong crowd, but they also face great adversity when trying to get back into the workforce or readjust to normal life. It is no secret that having a history of incarceration impedes future economic success, and Pew data finds that incarceration reduced subsequent wages by eleven percent, cut annual employment by nine weeks, and reduced yearly earnings by forty percent (Khalek, 2001). This all in addition to the psychological harm and the damage to family home units prisons

Mass incarceration is the tool of government to corporate with the capitalist to boost the economy, to discriminate the minority stealthily and to convince us to buy the propaganda.

With the exponential increases in government expenditure on immigration enforcement since 2001, private industry accurately views immigration detention as a growth industry, and corporations have therefore devoted their resources to lobbying for those policies and programs that will increase their opportunities to do business with the federal government (DWN.org). Speculations that private prison corporations are more concerned with generating profit rather than the safety and security of detainees have emerged. Human rights violations have become more apparent through raids, deportations, and detentions against immigrants have been rampant with rationalization made in the name of homeland security since 9/11. The potential profitability of ownership and operation of detention centers are not the only means for generating profits, private industries operating within federal, state, and local facilities stand to generate substantial profit from subsidiary industries as well. Under the guise of protection of the general public and homeland security, these private prison systems create an image of being the solution to the “immigration problem,” when in reality most are only concerned

currently has the highest imprisonment rate per capita of any country in the world, and although we have about four percent of the global population, we have twenty-two percent of all prisoners. However, it has not always been this way; as only three decades ago our prison population was one eighth of its current size. This unparalleled growth of the prison system has forced America to create a vast prison industry that has become increasingly reliant on private capital. This prison industrial complex has not only turned imprisonment into a profitable business but also reinforced racial disparities in America. The argument that capitalism in this context undermines our democratic values rests of three key points: Firstly, that drug enforcement is racially biased, secondly that private capital has become enmeshed in incarceration industry and thirdly that prison labor is becoming increasingly connected to the United States Economy.

Due to the tight labor market, companies are relying on prisoners to provide them with labor. As of now, private prisons have become one of the largest powers in the “prison-industrial complex.” There are approximately 18 private prison corporations, which guard 10,000 prisoners, and more than 37 states have legalized the contracting of prisoners by private companies (Prison Slave Labor: Fascism U.S. – Style). For both the prisons, and the companies, it’s a good deal. Whyte and Baker list the benefits for those who utilize prison labor: no unions, strikes, health benefits, unemployment

The lure of the sandy beaches appeals to people worldwide. Television shows, movies and the draw of the beach lifestyle have a universal attraction that one can’t help but want to visit. The sun, surf, barbeques, nothing could ruin a day like that; nothing but a fin in the water. Most beach goers have not experienced seeing a shark fin in the water, let alone a shark attack. Sharks may be in the close proximity where humans are but they don’t actively go hunting for humans. Media has fed into mass hysteria and fear of sharks, leading to the mass killing and endangering of a vital creature to the marine ecosystem.

Critics of globalization often decry about the exploitation of Chinese workers who are forced to endure harsh working condition and other violations of human rights. From

Currently, many prisons are beginning to be run by private corporations. If a company is running a prison then they need prisoners to stay in business. Around 1 in every 107 Americans is currently being housed in a prison. The United States has about 5 percent of the world’s population yet 25 percent of its prisoners(ACA, 2008). This is the easiest way to maintain a large prison population is by maintaining the current drug war. The largest private prison company in the United States is Corrections Corp. of America(ACA, 2008). In the last twenty years, CCA has donated nearly $5 million dollars to certain political