3 ms·

I think the thing that is being overlooked here is that these are real people that whose safety was gamed so that a consulting firm could get paid and with the

I think the thing that is being overlooked here is that these are real people that whose safety was gamed so that a consulting firm could get paid and with the full cooperation of the very people who's job it is to ensure that safety. The way the US allows the prison system to treat human beings as simple profit points while discarding their safety or any semblance of rehabilitation is appalling. Guards who very often work for private companies are essentially given godlike powers of life, death and torture with no consequences. Its pretty revolting how we allow wards of the state to be treated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Darren_Rainey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Darren_Rainey (Link is disturbing) It really appears that the US has no bottom when it comes to the treatment of its most vulnerable, and whether or not these are good people, they are in a power structure where they are indeed the most vulnerable. As a society we should strive to be better than this.

rmrfstar 6y ago
The "prison profits" slogan isn't great, because it conceals the nature of the power structure that perpetuates the system. The US prison system is a patronage system, not a profit system. It provides stable, nontradable jobs for a large group of relatively low skill people. Guards, cops, and corporate vendors to those groups. It turns out that Microsoft is a good example of that latter category. Managing a patronage system is a particularly potent form of political power. Patronage systems underwrite most examples of "Machine Politics", particularly Chicago style Machine Politics. I would personally like to see the word "patronage" return to American political discourse. It's something our ancestors talked a lot about, but we don't. Patronage systems brought down the USSR.

3 ms·

I think the thing that is being overlooked here is that these are real people that whose safety was gamed so that a consulting firm could get paid and with the

by wonderwonder 6y ago

rmrfstar 6y ago
The "prison profits" slogan isn't great, because it conceals the nature of the power structure that perpetuates the system. The US prison system is a patronage system, not a profit system. It provides stable, nontradable jobs for a large group of relatively low skill people. Guards, cops, and corporate vendors to those groups. It turns out that Microsoft is a good example of that latter category. Managing a patronage system is a particularly potent form of political power. Patronage systems underwrite most examples of "Machine Politics", particularly Chicago style Machine Politics. I would personally like to see the word "patronage" return to American political discourse. It's something our ancestors talked a lot about, but we don't. Patronage systems brought down the USSR.