• Neato@ttrpg.network
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    4 months ago

    Yep. The 14th 13th Amendment is anti-slavery but has a carve-out for prisoners. Prisons use slave labor and private prisons are companies that profit from slavery.

    America is a slave state.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Peonage is baaack!

    Hey here’s a horrible idea. Let’s combine this with the debtors prisons we illegally run and recreate indentured servitude! As long as we call it something snazzy we can all pretend it’s not slavery!

  • Omega_Man@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    This article reeks of misunderstandings of America’s peculiar prison instituon. I can assure you that there is no creature more satisfied than those in the the state penitentiary. Their every need is provided for. Clothing, food, shelter, all provided by the state.

    (Is the /s necessary? I feel it cheapens the comment but oh well)

  • Diplomjodler@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Guess why they’re working so hard to criminalise poverty. Those private prisons won’t fill themselves. And North Korea probably still has more prisoners by percentage of the population. Can’t let these filthy commies win!

  • Borna Punda@lemmy.zip
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    4 months ago

    “They deserve that because they’re criminals.”

    I’ll just ignore the fact that you believe criminals don’t deserve basic human rights and ask if you really believe innocent people don’t go to jail. Do you actually think the police you watch mess up daily never make mistakes?

      • ɔiƚoxɘup@infosec.pub
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        4 months ago

        Perfect observation! The criminal justice system is chock full of folks with mens rea, cops, judges, most of the staff in most of the jails… Good point!

  • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    While this is awful, imagine for a moment how fucked it is that our agricultural market is so depressed that it can only function if we pay “illegal” immigrants such a low wage that no one else would accept it, to the point that when that supply dries up, we can’t possibly solve the problem except with legalized slavery.

    • undergroundoverground@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Oh, they can function while paying legal workers the legal minimum wage. They just don’t want to, as they make more money doing things like the above.

    • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      They can function with legal laborers, they deliberately choose not to because they can rely on a permanently endangered domestic underclass that they can super-exploit for supet-profits.

    • frunch@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Right? When “make line go up” is the only thing that matters, this is ultimately where things will lead

  • GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 months ago

    I saw someone recently express a wish to see prisoners slaves burn down the factories and businesses of anyone who uses their forced labor. And I can’t think of a more beautiful and justified action.

    And I’ll say what I said then, this doesn’t count for voluntary work programs, unless they are “voluntary” and you get punished for not accepting them.

    I truly hope to see the news when this happens. Slavery is one of the worst evils in the world, and the 13th amendment needs to be changed so that it’s no longer allowed.

  • Tja@programming.dev
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    4 months ago

    I don’t see the controversy, it’s literally in the constitution. The 13th ammendment didn’t end slavery, it restricted it.

    • bouh@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      In some countries that actually abolish slavery, it is. Forced labour is also forbidden by human rights, but I know some countries don’t care about that either.

      • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        I’m assuming the article is from the USA, so that is the context of my comment.

        Yes, other countries do different things.

  • Dyskolos@lemmy.zip
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    4 months ago

    God i hate this part about the USA. That’s so uncivilized and barbaric, this is the 21th century and i always imagined it to be… Cooler. Like the star-trek-utopia. But it turned out to be(come) a mixture of 1984, soylent green, lord of the flies and… Ah forget it.

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yes.

      They’ll call it “not qualifying for early release” and such to make it all cool and legal, but yes.

    • The Cuuuuube@beehaw.org
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      4 months ago

      Prison guard says you were behaving poorly and beats you. It goes in your record that you caused problems. The parole board is advised not to give you leniency

    • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      Extended sentence sounds like enough psychological torture to me. I spent one night locked up an i know i couldn’t take it. Much as i’d like to act tough I’ll come clean: id do anything to be free. I gotta scrub toilets for $1/hr? Yes boss

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Most people can’t take it. But when you have zero choice and zero options, you internalize the screaming and just endure. There’s a reason why ex-cons carry a tension in their shoulders for the rest of their lives.

    • III@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      At your parole hearing: “I feel that I should be released. Clearly I am not pulling my weight in the work program. We all know how much it costs per inmate to keep running this prison. I believe it is in your interest to release me to increase your bottom line.”

    • toynbee@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I don’t know for sure, but I think that you’re charged both to be in prison and for things like food, so if you refuse to work (for awful pay) you’ll go hungry. Though likely your room won’t be taken, I guess.

      Disclaimer: I know almost nothing about the topic and very well may be entirely wrong.

      • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        You won’t go hungry. They do have to feed you no matter what. I’m not sure what the pay rate is for being a farm worker but it probably puts a little on your commissary account so you can get new socks, ramen, coffee, a candy bar, or other “luxuries”.

        The truth is that it’s so mind numbingly boring in prison that they’ll have more volunteers than they need. People are itching for any hint of normalcy and a job is that hint. Others want that extra commissary money because they don’t have families to put money on their books. Still others see it as an opportunity to possibly get contraband back to their cell or pass info in and out of the prison.

        There’s no shortage of volunteers for even the most menial labor from prison.

          • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Sure thing! It’s more complex than I’m letting on and my state doesn’t pay for labor but most do. And it’s not really volunteering if it’s your only opportunity to not be in a gray building for years. It’s survival. And to get the “opportunity” to volunteer you have to be really good, which also means keeping the people that aren’t good off your back because they’ll just blame everyone involved if something goes wrong. And you have to be in good with the guards because if you piss one off they’ll make sure that you have infractions that keep you from going out to do something.

            I’ve had both friends and family that have gone to prison so I read up a little on how it works. I’m lucky I didn’t go in my misspent youth.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        They charge you more than you make, to be sure that you’re heavily in debt and likely to return to crime out of desperation at some point shortly after release. Either that or they get rich from your labor, and get even more rich from your family paying the bill. It’s absolutely completely fucking insane to charge prisoners to be held against their will in prison, especially considering the prison profits from the prisoner. We live in a fucked up society where our leaders do nothing for us, or our problems, and everything for the wealth of a select few.

  • x4740N@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    Why do you think most laws are made to disproportionately effect non white people negatively

    america’s prison system is the new slave trade

    Anyone repukelicans view as beneath them or against their bigoted beleifs can be targeted by this and this is a major reason not to let trumpet into office

    I’m glad I don’t live in america but trumpet is a potential threat to other countries as well

  • bufalo1973@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    To everyone saying “I wouldn’t work”, an advice: there’s a better way. Be the one that fucks up the work by “being stupid”. Refusing to work can be punished; being stupid is not.

      • bufalo1973@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        If you don’t want to clean the bathroom you can say “I won’t” or do it once and say “look how clean it is now. And I have used that nice brush that’s beside the WC”.