The business of buying people doesn’t just mean the atrocities of child and prostitute human trafficking or the stupidity of certain individuals on Craigslist or Ebay. I’m talking about something that is going on within our own backyards as we sleep, work and pursue happiness. I’m talking about private prisons, the business of owning citizens at a “cheaper” more “efficient” cost.
I fully understand the privatization movement and its intentions and believe that when those intentions are in support of free market principles, they are beneficial. As a society, however, we have moral obligations. Regulation will not fix our morality. The concept of owning prisoners, hiring guards and making money for it is a moral failure. With profit comes the need to protect and make sure that profit keeps coming. Right around now the lobbyists enter the picture in order to advance whatever is needed to keep this system working for them.
We have a serious addiction in our country. We like to incarcerate people. More than any developed country on the planet, that submits accurate information. In 2013 we clocked in at 716 people arrested per 100,000 Americans. This number may seem a little low at first, until you look down the list of developed nations. Russia had 490 people arrested per 100,000 citizens. Other much less industrialized nations had even lower numbers. Some would point to this as a victory in crime fighting, however, none of our allied friends who have similar societies appeared on the list.
With the business of owning prisons, you’re motivated to expand your business and there is only one way to do that. Keep locking people up. The unfortunate truth, as the numbers above indicate, is that prisons are getting a steady supply of inmates every year in the range of 1.5 million a year. As the machine keeps going, the money keeps flowing. As a just society, it’s easy to see how the privatization movement would enter this territory, but do we have the will power to refuse that authority and rightfully restore it to the state?
More freedom comes with privatization, but to do this on the basis of incarceration is almost human trafficking within itself. The chances of something immoral happening will increase without government regulation and involvement. The combined efforts of law enforcement unions, anti-drug groups and the prison industry have created something much larger than we can control. Once that money started flowing, the politics changed to allow a society that incarcerates more people, a majority of them minorities, at an alarming rate. A day in the life of a prison company CEO is probably not far off from a human trafficker.
If this doesn’t morally make you think twice about what we are doing, also check the facts. There is no clear indication that there is any positive impact in locking individuals up for certain crimes. Locking these individuals up can also induce a cycle that keeps their psyche destroyed when they leave, with some finding comfort only in the daily routine provided by the prison system. The rate of returning offenders can only increase in conditions that are not properly overseen. Therefore, the private prisons can drive inmates of the facility to be ill prepared to re-enter society in a functioning, positive manner.
The southern United States, in particular, seems to employ much of these tactics as they enjoy lower taxes and less government. From the government’s perspective it’s in their best interest to choose the cheapest available option, causing competition amongst these prisons and, as in any case, losing quality along the way.
There’s a reason that other countries don’t have nearly the same incarceration rates that we have. Unfortunately, we haven’t achieved the common sense required to make the necessary changes.
