Let's do a quick recap. The United States is in a losing war, with a president the majority of the world hates. We're losing business to overseas markets. Our prisons are overcrowded with millions of inmates, not to mention millions of victimless drug offenders. Immigrants are supposedly taking all of the United States' blue-collar jobs. Tax revenue seems to be spent on frivolous bureaucratic bull crap. All right, I'll stop there, but the list goes on. It's not so much that all of these things are happening to our country; we're always going to have problems. A bigger concern to me is that these political controversies come into the limelight and fade out the same way K-Fed did.
No one seems courageous enough to undergo scrutiny within politics to get anything done. Well, I've got an idea. We've got millions of people sitting in cells costing taxpayers money and not contributing to the country at all. Does it not seem like a great idea to get an ol' fashioned chain gang going again? No, not a real chain gang, but a system designed to have inmates do manual labor or factory work. I've committed no crimes that deem prison time necessary, but yet I have to work and support myself. Criminals, on the other hand, are societies' disgraced; yet they are not obligated even to provide for themselves? The worst of all people in the world are getting a free ride. They get to wear comfortable slippers, watch TV, eat free meals and sleep a lot. Everything I've always wanted. There is a rich source of resources within our nation's penitentiaries; it's time we tapped the source.
By instituting a mandatory work program for inmates, society would see many benefits immediately. To begin with, if we had a large, low-cost work force we could undercut our outsourcing competitors. The problem of cheap labor is eliminated, and leaves room for the United States to become a richer country with more white-collar jobs. Many will probably try to argue that by instituting this plan, people are going to lose jobs to inmates. This may be partially true, but the ability for the United States' workforce to form into less of a manual labor and factory-oriented entity would be a progressive step for an already deteriorating blue-collar atmosphere.
If inmates work, they are ultimately providing for themselves while still under government authority. The work they provide would pay for all of the expenses of housing inmates, building prisons and employing guards. Taxes could be reduced or the money saved could be devoted to other projects.
Finally, by training inmates in a trade or job, the state is giving them another form of rehabilitation. Being released from prison with knowledge of the work environment and its practices make it an easier transition for an inmate to adapt back to the real world.
For those inmates willing to work hard, rewards could be administered, such as better food or living conditions. The government needs to inspire rehabilitation and rejuvenation, not just administer punishment. Government needs to allow an inmate to make a conscious choice to be a better person and prove this desire. Those who work hard will benefit, maybe with a shorter prison term or just a new sense of what being a good person is.
We're wasting too many resources, and not just labor, but mental resources as well. Our prisons need to be an area of production and advancement, rather than a stale environment hell-bent on punishment and fear. We live in a country that believes in equality, so let's let our prisoners show that they are ready to be treated as equals again while the rest of the country can benefit.
Ben Patterson ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science.
