Prisoners in the US are part of a hidden workforce linked to hundreds of popular food brands
apnews.com
The Associated Press found goods linked to prisoners wind up in the supply chains of everything from Frosted Flakes to Coca-Cola.

Slavery never left it just got rebranded.

The Thirteenth Amendment needs to be amended.

Per Wikipedia: The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on December 6, 1865, and proclaimed on December 18, 1865. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War.

  • Vex_Detrause@lemmy.caEnglish
    46·
    1 day ago

    Economics of Everyday Things : Prison Labor

    Barnes is one of around 800,000 incarcerated people with jobs in America’s prison system. They grow crops, repair roads, fight wildfires, and manufacture a surprising number of the products we encounter in daily life, from office furniture to reading glasses. It’s estimated that more than $11 billion worth of goods and services every year can be traced back to workers who are mostly paid pennies per hour for their labor, or even nothing at all.

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      24 hours ago

      The question to me is how could we fix it. I believe prison should be about herabilitation, but overall I’d say most of the population does not. Someone gets a DUI, robs a store, commits fraud, gets in a fight, beats their spouse, stabs someone, murders someone… whatever it is. People say they should be imprisoned, many say they should never be let out especially on multiple offenses. Most of the prisoners take the jobs because it is used as a “privilege.”. You have to have good behavior to be eligible, then you choose one if you want with benefits that slowly “work off” hours of their sentences. (If it’s available). Certain jobs pay more time off their sentences than others, and some will try to get into those jobs. Yet we will have people who scream that they shouldn’t be let out after 5 years because they “insert crime here”.

      IF leaving their imprisonment and performing tasks in the world around people with good behavior isn’t a step to proving they are re-integratable into society, what is? I would say they need a hell of a lot more therapy, access to actual healthcare, psychologists, and resources that allow for easy integration back into society so they can find gainful employment, cut ties with their past and land on two feet to be able to move forward without extreme struggles that bring them back in.

      Our country doesn’t vote for that, because those same things aren’t available for citizens on the street who didn’t commit crimes yet. And they think they are better and don’t deserve less opportunities than those who did something illegal.

      So I guess what I’m saying is the first step to reforming our prisons is reforming our healthcare system… And wage inequality… And fuck… It’s not going anywhere