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There's no such thing as an "fair wage". Or at least, it's not some number you can come up with. Prisoners should be able to take any job they can plausibly do
by wyager 10y ago
There's no such thing as an "fair wage". Or at least, it's not some number you can come up with. Prisoners should be able to take any job they can plausibly do from inside at any salary they can get. The only "fair" possibility is to allow the establishment of a market. Imagine if a computer programmer was sent to prison. In all likelihood the most productive thing for themselves and for society would be for them to do a programming job from the inside. Instead, they're being paid slave wages and forced to make license plates.
- Spooky23 10y agoNo. Prisons aren't a market. They are the definition of a command economy.
- wyager 10y agoObviously that's how it is right now. I am arguing against the current state of affairs.
- olalonde 10y ago> Prisoners should be able to take any job they can plausibly do from inside at any salary they can get. Prisons also serve to punish and deter. Allowing inmates to earn market wages would make their punishment a lot lighter, especially for white-collars. Maximising "productivity" isn't and shouldn't be a priority for prisons.
- cldellow 10y agoYou could address this by a punitive tax regime for prisoners. Then the person could still be earning more than a few cents per hour but additionally is contributing more to society via taxes. This also mitigates the undercutting of the non felon labour market. I'm not really advocating for this, but it'd be one angle to consider.