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We seem to house inmates just fine at scale. Honestly, a prison room with internet/water isn't that bad if it was affordable.

by ivape 1y ago

dpassens 1y ago
Well, it is relatively easy to get into one...
- datameta 1y ago
  Humor aside, there are people in the US who do get arrested for misdemeanors on purpose just to spend the night in a warm jail, and those that try to get into prison to alleviate chronic homelessness
philipkglass 1y ago
Do we? Prison is expensive in the United States: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cost-per-prisoner-in-us-states/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cost-per-prisoner-in-us-sta... Arkansas is the lowest-cost state and still spends $23,000/prisoner/year. The median is $65,000/prisoner/year. 11 states spend over $100k/prisoner/year.
- ivape 1y ago
  We'd obviously want to model it around something like Arkansas. Remember, prison provides reasonable security, food, and clothing. Security will generally be better since regular people are not self-selected for criminality, and those savings can be moved over to improved food. Re-using the prison model for extreme low income and homelessness is not intuitive - but so be it (sometimes you have to use an anti-pattern). Edit: $100k/prisoner/year That's crazy. Regular people don't live on that yearly.
  - thewebguyd 1y ago
    > That's crazy. Regular people don't live on that yearly. Yeah, there's either some severe inefficiencies there (or a ton of budget pork going to the wrong things), or it's a canary in the coal mine telling us that people actually should be making at least that much to live, and the fact that they aren't is a big problem, if not the main source of our societal problems.
- kyralis 1y ago
  How much of that is surrounding infrastructure and overhead (guards, security, etc) that don't apply? Plus that includes all meals, medical care, instruction, and other resources in many cases.
bravesoul2 1y ago
Prisons are very expensive. Better off buying each person a luxury appartment than building a prison. We can spend a lot of money if we scare people and the bogey man is punished. Be it "criminal" "terrorist" "illegal immigrant". I think you are on to something though. Get rid of the bad parts of prison and they are accommodation and a car-free city within.

We seem to house inmates just fine at scale. Honestly, a prison room with internet/water isn't that bad if it was affordable.

by ivape 1y ago

We seem to house inmates just fine at scale. Honestly, a prison room with internet/water isn't that bad if it was affordable.

dpassens 1y ago

Well, it is relatively easy to get into one...

datameta 1y ago
Humor aside, there are people in the US who do get arrested for misdemeanors on purpose just to spend the night in a warm jail, and those that try to get into prison to alleviate chronic homelessness

philipkglass 1y ago

Do we? Prison is expensive in the United States: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cost-per-prisoner-in-us-states/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cost-per-prisoner-in-us-sta... Arkansas is the lowest-cost state and still spends $23,000/prisoner/year. The median is $65,000/prisoner/year. 11 states spend over $100k/prisoner/year.

ivape 1y ago
We'd obviously want to model it around something like Arkansas. Remember, prison provides reasonable security, food, and clothing. Security will generally be better since regular people are not self-selected for criminality, and those savings can be moved over to improved food. Re-using the prison model for extreme low income and homelessness is not intuitive - but so be it (sometimes you have to use an anti-pattern). Edit: $100k/prisoner/year That's crazy. Regular people don't live on that yearly.
- thewebguyd 1y ago
  > That's crazy. Regular people don't live on that yearly. Yeah, there's either some severe inefficiencies there (or a ton of budget pork going to the wrong things), or it's a canary in the coal mine telling us that people actually should be making at least that much to live, and the fact that they aren't is a big problem, if not the main source of our societal problems.
kyralis 1y ago
How much of that is surrounding infrastructure and overhead (guards, security, etc) that don't apply? Plus that includes all meals, medical care, instruction, and other resources in many cases.

bravesoul2 1y ago

Prisons are very expensive. Better off buying each person a luxury appartment than building a prison. We can spend a lot of money if we scare people and the bogey man is punished. Be it "criminal" "terrorist" "illegal immigrant". I think you are on to something though. Get rid of the bad parts of prison and they are accommodation and a car-free city within.