The Prison System

Privatizing the prison system may have been the worst idea for America. The United States isn't a "democracy" anymore. It's a "capitalist" nation now. Ready for this? "Capitalocracy". Everything works on an income basis. The more wealth you have, the more power you have. The privatization of prisons is just a way for capitalists to make a profit off of the misfortunes of men and women. They don't care about the inmates. All they want is profit. Take a look at this. Basic rights were violated all in the name for cold hard cash. It's sickening. Now they're trying to block the Supreme Court from destroying their juvenile records in fear of "destroying financial documents".

I find it extremely hypocritical and express abhorrence at the redistribution of wealth by the corporations that manage the prisons. Where is the money going? They build more prisons to make more money, and not a single dime goes to help the good of the society. Instead, investments are made to make more profit as provided by Davis:

Since 1984 more than twenty new prisons have opened in California, while only one new campus was added to the California State University system and none to the University of California system. In 1996-97, higher education received only 8.7 percent of the State's General Fund while corrections received 9.6 percent.

Isn't that infuriating? How can incarceration be a higher priority than education?

Foucault writes that "prison became part of a larger carceral system that has become an all-encompassing sovereign institution in modern society." Today, prison is now an economic institution in modern society.

- Michael Koh