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Do you honestly think that slave owners simply gave up after slavery became illegal in the US? No, they simply found new and ingenuitive ways of exploiting peop

Do you honestly think that slave owners simply gave up after slavery became illegal in the US? No, they simply found new and ingenuitive ways of exploiting people. Winning a battle is seldom ever winning the war.

0815test 7y ago
Food for thought: slavery is illegal in the U.S. except if it occurs as part of punishment for a crime!
- dajohnson89 7y ago
  Is there a good quanititative source of information, on the GDP output of goods/services produced by prisoners (or something close to that)? When I was young and didnt know any better, I just thought prisoners produce small things -- like license plates, maybe some furniture repair..
  - dajohnson89 7y ago
    According to this, they generate $4.8 billion per year. [0] https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/locked-in-profits-u-s-prison-industry-numbers-n455976 https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/locked-in-pro...
  - jandrese 7y ago
    https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/inside-the-angola-prison-hobbycraft-sale-where-inmates-can-sell-their-creations https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/inside-the-angola-pris... Prison labor is extensive, and they make an absolute pittance for their work. The justification is that the state is providing room and board so they are just recovering costs. But the other comment about prisons just replacing slavery is spot on. Former slaveowners were terrified of the prospect of rebellion, or worse, simply being outnumbered and losing political control with a simple vote. So they worked overtime to disenfranchise and repress former slaves through abuse of the legal system. Ripples of these measures still flow through society today.
- Balgair 7y ago
  That's heavily state dependent. CO just passed a law saying that slavery isn't acceptable for prisoners : https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/6/18056408/colorado-election-results-amendment-a-slavery-forced-prison-labor-passes https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/6/18056408/c...
  - monocasa 7y ago
    FWIW, I still see prison labor pools around Boulder even after passing that. They're not really relying on that clause, but instead the idea that the prisoners could choose not to work. Personally, given the actions of some of our police lately, I'm afraid that this choice might be similar to a slave's choice to work or be whipped.
    - Balgair 7y ago
      It depends on the labor and the person. Prison labor can be rewarding and help build up the skills that a person needs when they are rehabilitated. A lot of the buffalo milk in the US comes from the Canon City Prison in Colorado. In 2013, prisoners there earned about $5/day [0]. CPR did a great story on them. Choice quote: > A Colorado Corrections Department study showed if prisoners spent the last nine months of their incarceration working, they had a 19 percent better chance of not reoffending. Though the pay, is for sure, terrible, a 1/5 better chance for work that the prisoners seem to take pride in is not the worst of deals. A lot of Hot Shots are prisoners too. From sawyers I know, they say the prisoners are treated well and have a good shot at getting a crew spot after incarceration. But that's ancedata. More info on the BoCo inamte worker program can be found here: https://www.bouldercounty.org/safety/jail/inmate-worker/ https://www.bouldercounty.org/safety/jail/inmate-worker/ Again, it's dependent on the person, the state, and the labor. There are, for sure, a lot of bad and shady things going on. But there are some good thing too. [0] https://www.wwno.org/post/colorado-prisoners-tend-buffalo-dairy-farm https://www.wwno.org/post/colorado-prisoners-tend-buffalo-da...
      - bellerose 7y ago
        > Prison labor can be rewarding and help build up the skills that a person needs when they are rehabilitated. Your definition of rewarding is flexible or how you say it loose. Someone forced into a situation where that's all they do isn't going to think whatever they're doing is rewarding unless they've had the shittiest life ever. I'm guessing you believe whatever is put on camera or written by people who run the horror shows hidden away from modern society.
- pweezy 7y ago
  > Food for thought: slavery is illegal in the U.S. except if it occurs as part of punishment for a crime! In case anyone reads this and thinks it's just commentary - this is literally enshrined in the U.S. Constitution (13th Amendment, emphasis added): > Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

0815test 7y ago

Food for thought: slavery is illegal in the U.S. except if it occurs as part of punishment for a crime!

dajohnson89 7y ago
Is there a good quanititative source of information, on the GDP output of goods/services produced by prisoners (or something close to that)? When I was young and didnt know any better, I just thought prisoners produce small things -- like license plates, maybe some furniture repair..
- dajohnson89 7y ago
  According to this, they generate $4.8 billion per year. [0] https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/locked-in-profits-u-s-prison-industry-numbers-n455976 https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/locked-in-pro...
- jandrese 7y ago
  https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/inside-the-angola-prison-hobbycraft-sale-where-inmates-can-sell-their-creations https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/inside-the-angola-pris... Prison labor is extensive, and they make an absolute pittance for their work. The justification is that the state is providing room and board so they are just recovering costs. But the other comment about prisons just replacing slavery is spot on. Former slaveowners were terrified of the prospect of rebellion, or worse, simply being outnumbered and losing political control with a simple vote. So they worked overtime to disenfranchise and repress former slaves through abuse of the legal system. Ripples of these measures still flow through society today.
Balgair 7y ago
That's heavily state dependent. CO just passed a law saying that slavery isn't acceptable for prisoners : https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/6/18056408/colorado-election-results-amendment-a-slavery-forced-prison-labor-passes https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/6/18056408/c...
- monocasa 7y ago
  FWIW, I still see prison labor pools around Boulder even after passing that. They're not really relying on that clause, but instead the idea that the prisoners could choose not to work. Personally, given the actions of some of our police lately, I'm afraid that this choice might be similar to a slave's choice to work or be whipped.
  - Balgair 7y ago
    It depends on the labor and the person. Prison labor can be rewarding and help build up the skills that a person needs when they are rehabilitated. A lot of the buffalo milk in the US comes from the Canon City Prison in Colorado. In 2013, prisoners there earned about $5/day [0]. CPR did a great story on them. Choice quote: > A Colorado Corrections Department study showed if prisoners spent the last nine months of their incarceration working, they had a 19 percent better chance of not reoffending. Though the pay, is for sure, terrible, a 1/5 better chance for work that the prisoners seem to take pride in is not the worst of deals. A lot of Hot Shots are prisoners too. From sawyers I know, they say the prisoners are treated well and have a good shot at getting a crew spot after incarceration. But that's ancedata. More info on the BoCo inamte worker program can be found here: https://www.bouldercounty.org/safety/jail/inmate-worker/ https://www.bouldercounty.org/safety/jail/inmate-worker/ Again, it's dependent on the person, the state, and the labor. There are, for sure, a lot of bad and shady things going on. But there are some good thing too. [0] https://www.wwno.org/post/colorado-prisoners-tend-buffalo-dairy-farm https://www.wwno.org/post/colorado-prisoners-tend-buffalo-da...
    - bellerose 7y ago
      > Prison labor can be rewarding and help build up the skills that a person needs when they are rehabilitated. Your definition of rewarding is flexible or how you say it loose. Someone forced into a situation where that's all they do isn't going to think whatever they're doing is rewarding unless they've had the shittiest life ever. I'm guessing you believe whatever is put on camera or written by people who run the horror shows hidden away from modern society.
pweezy 7y ago
> Food for thought: slavery is illegal in the U.S. except if it occurs as part of punishment for a crime! In case anyone reads this and thinks it's just commentary - this is literally enshrined in the U.S. Constitution (13th Amendment, emphasis added): > Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.