Land of the not so free

originally posted by: khnum
Well after the events in Ferguson much of the world indeed even many Americans are bewildered by the militarisation of the police force of a small town,well if you know the stats you wont be surprised by 2005 80 per cent of towns between 25000-50000 had a SWAT team,SWAT raids have increased from about 3000 a year in the 1980's to 50000 per year now.In 2013 the Pentagon sent $450 million dollars worth of military equipment to police in 1990 this figure was only $1 million.The ACLU report states 1033 cities use grants from the Department of Homeland security to purchase military grade equipment.With all this law and order the prisons must be getting tidied up?

Wrong by 2009 7.2 million people in the US were either incarcarated orunder official supervision like parole.One in 30 men between 20 and 34 are behind bars for minorities this number is higher,734 out of every 100 000 Americans are in prison per capita this beats Russia and South Africa with the next highest rates.From 1987 to 2007 the prison system tripled.In 1972 there were 300 000 inmates by 1990 this was 1 million,there are now over 2.3 million in prison.

This 2.3 million is being turned into profit,it is a workforce larger than Walmart with 2200,000 employees or Mc Donalds with 440,000 and they work for 25 to 90 cents an hour depending on skill level.A workforce with no holidays,sick leave,insurances or bonuses one that is full time and will always show up-or face isolation if they dont.Who uses this labour.IBM,Boeing,Microsoft,AT & T,Texas Instruments,Dell,Honeywell,Hewlett Packard,Nortel and many more.

Prison labour makes 100 percent of military helmets,ammunition belts,bullet proof vests,36 percent of home appliances,30 percent of headphones and 21 percent of office furniture.Where is all this headed?

Now the corporatizsation of the prison system has begun the 2 big players are Correctional Corporation of America and G4S or Wackenhut these 2 have 75 percent of a growing market.Ten years ago there were 5 private prisons with 2000 inmates now there are 100 with 62000,there will be 360,000 private inmates by the end of this decade.The money for this labour provides prisons with an incentive to lock people up and lock them up longer,prisons depend on this income all these minimum sentance laws popping up are not for charity or any concern for law and order but the almighty dollar.CCA actually signs contracts to supply prisons and share in the profits this means they have to catch criminals to staff these prisons thats why increasingly longer sentences are being handed out for misdemeanours.CCA also has sent letters to 48 Governors actually looking for prisons to buy.

So thats my bit on the trend on the US prison system to become a massive slave labour portal for corporations,run by corporations,the funny thing is any study of serious crime in the US suggests that it has significantly decreased overall.

You Sir or Madame are a true HUMANITARIAN,thank you for the time and effort you gifted us in building this post.

It is what it is,a manipulated and controlled labor force,but the best hasnt even been listed,the SAME people making money off of the slave labor own the processes that PUT the people in prison they are getting a two-fer-one in terms of impacts,they make money putting them inside,they make money keeping them inside and they make money OFF OF THEM inside,actually it is a THREE-FER-ONE.

I do not have the acumen to do the type of writing or research to put a post like this together,if the OP has time could they please do the same run-down on the processes I just outlined.Who makes the money putting them inside you know engineering laws like the MJ laws that were obviously designed and actioned to feed the prison system,Nancy Reagan Jumpst to mind,she seemed to be Saleswoman from the beginning.

Who pays for the inmates stays? Who pays for transport and medical care and ALL peripheral costs?

How are they making money 3 or 4 ways off of this process,TPTB NEVER make money on just one side of the box,they ern money on all 4 sides or they do not invest.

Illustrating the forced labor and what companies are profitting is EXCELLENT,now lets really dig in and see what else is in Pandoras Box.