What does it mean when people say, 'Prisons are for profit in America'?

That refers to the private prison industry, which makes money from the warehousing function prisons provide. It does not refer to prison industries, most of which are government-run, lose money, do not provide jobs for all prisoners, and do not allow much private enterprise to operate freely. Prisoners are not entitled to all the employment protection and minimum wages of the free world in the USA, so we ought to return to laissez-faire employment in prisons, allowing private enterprises to pay prisoners a negotiated wage for 60-hour work weeks. Prisoners could make a nest egg, learn how to work a tough job, there would be more money for victims, child support and the state, and everybody could win. Please read How to Create American Manufacturing Jobs and then write a letter to your Congressman! [If prisons made products now exclusively made overseas, organized labor would benefit, too!]

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