Re: OT - I may be in the minority

On 3 May 2006 22:41:36 -0700, "Eliyahu" <lrooff@xxxxxxxxx> gave thanks
and said:

There are too many conflicting social goals to make anything like that
work effectively. One of the things I've learned from working with
prisoners is that most of them really do want to work, especially in
meaningful and productive jobs. There are always far more prisoners
than jobs, and one of the biggest threats to have hanging over their
head is the loss of a job.
Ironically, industry and unions have long opposed prison job programs
because they compete with jobs on the outside. If the company for whom
the prisoners work isn't paying competitive wages, they're undercutting
the businesses in the free world. If they're paying the same wages,
OTOH, there's little reason for them to be going through the bother of
locating their company in a prison. Meanwhile, our country has a long
tradition of boycotting goods from other countries that are made in
prisons for the same reason -- slave wages. We don't want to buy
clothes, for example, made by asian prisoners who get paid ten cents a
day, and we also don't want to pay much more than that to our own
prisoners for their labors. (Most prison jobs pay 30 cents an hour here
in WA.) You wouldn't want to lose your own job to a prisoner getting
paid that, but people would be equally upset if that prisoner was being
paid the same thing as you're paid. Hence, it often turns out to be a
no-win situation no matter what solution is proposed.

AFA meaningless jobs like busting up rocks and stuff like that --
they're more trouble than they're worth. Prisoners develop a lot of
resentment when they're forced to do worthless chores just as
punishment, and it makes the guards' job a lot harder and more
dangerous if prisoners are constantly angry.

But charging competitive rates for the prisoners labor wouldn't
necessarily go to the prisoners - it would go to the increased
security costs and whatever is left could go towards the cost of
maintaining the person in prison. Why should the prisoner be paid when
s/he is costing the taxpayers money?

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