How is it moral for people to get rich from imprisonment?
Another question might be, how isn't it? In every other area of society, if someone is very good at arranging things to achieve some widely valued goal, we think it's OK for them to get rich. If someone is the best jailer in the world would it not be reasonable to reward them? Operating a prison is a lot of work.
The problem is that they are being rewarded for doing the wrong things, there's no problem with rewarding them in general.
How is it moral for people to get rich from imprisonment?
How is it moral to make money off of selling shoddy products and services to people and not actually holding up your end of the deal? But that happens all the time. It's the way of business for many companies. Coinbase takes money from its customers and doesn't give them anything back for months at a time while itself becoming more valuable by the day. That's not moral, but they'll have a front page posts over the ne…
Young teens to thirty somethings that seem interested in social issues aren't terribly interested. This disparity is known as virtue signaling and was pioneered by religion, politicians, and most recently, business. Now it's even trickling down to poor people. It's fashionable to lament the tragedy of the socially poor. Fashionable in much the same way as handing out jobs to the incompetent because their skin is a certain color or their sex is outside the norm. These tactics do little to solve problems, but go a long way towards increasing social divides between percieved groups. Instead of granting jobs to those incapable of meeting the standards their "less diverse" colleagues have we should be rallying for universal health care, workers rights (regardless of protected classes), universal higher education/ trades schools that track straight from high school and are continually redesigned with knowledge of leading educational research, and a massive increase in public funding for pk-12 education that does not unfairly benefit self segregated communities by wealth as a result of land taxes.
I find the social support systems in America awfully poor from my experience growing up in the US and observing what was provided or obtainable (depending on personal financial status). It's no surprise to see this first world country lacking compassion towards others who didn't find the variables to succeed. The capitalist mindset feeds from irrational behavior and lack of understand towards you are who you are from genetics, environmental factors and all events in a linear ordered progression (life). So many times I've encountered people just write off a person they consider a failure to themselves by having oneself obtain the variables to succeed and refusing to acknowledge the other person(s) didn't have the same experience. How people even have the capability of profiting from these extremely unfortunate people shows everyone is at fault in the US for allowing it. Everyone should take responsibility or leave the country like I did. You're unlikely to succeed when the majority are irrational and you're less fortunate.
How is it moral for people to get rich from imprisonment?
Another question might be, how isn't it? In every other area of society, if someone is very good at arranging things to achieve some widely valued goal, we think it's OK for them to get rich. If someone is the best jailer in the world would it not be reasonable to reward them? Operating a prison is a lot of work. The problem is that they are being rewarded for doing the wrong things, there's no problem with rewarding…
"If someone is the best jailer in the world would it not be reasonable to reward them?"
I mean if we're gonna bring up this anology we've gotta figure out what a "best failer in the world" even means? What is the value the jailer creates? How do define a high performance jailer over just a nominal performant jailer? If there is no extra value produced by the best jailer in the world then we are over paying the best jailer in the world.
How is it moral for people to get rich from imprisonment?
Another question might be, how isn't it? In every other area of society, if someone is very good at arranging things to achieve some widely valued goal, we think it's OK for them to get rich. If someone is the best jailer in the world would it not be reasonable to reward them? Operating a prison is a lot of work. The problem is that they are being rewarded for doing the wrong things, there's no problem with rewarding…
Um so if I’m a great assassin, that’s ok? Or maybe I’m a really good burglar? Perhaps I’m a really good organised crime lord? It’s a lot of work to run the mafia, I really should get a good salary right?
It still amazes me the human waste of US prison sentences. Armed robbery in the UK for a 17 year old, from memory, is likely to attract significantly less than 10 years of actual time served. Yet in the UK we are not overrun with armed robbers. I think the deterrent effect of a long sentence is rather lost on a 17 year-old who is already making bad life decisions.
The idea is not a deterrent. The idea is if someone spends most of their life in prison they are not going to be able to commit crimes outside. Effective or not, the reasoning is fairly straightforward.
But you have to let them out at some point. The longer they’re in the more likely they’re going to be to commit crime when they do leave.
Another question might be, how isn't it? In every other area of society, if someone is very good at arranging things to achieve some widely valued goal, we think it's OK for them to get rich. If someone is the best jailer in the world would it not be reasonable to reward them? Operating a prison is a lot of work. The problem is that they are being rewarded for doing the wrong things, there's no problem with rewarding…
Um so if I’m a great assassin, that’s ok? Or maybe I’m a really good burglar? Perhaps I’m a really good organised crime lord? It’s a lot of work to run the mafia, I really should get a good salary right?
If you think that jails should not exist at all, then, granted, nobody should be paid to run them. If jails should exist then presumably you can make a list of the things you would like to see in them, and whoever can best realize that list could be justly rewarded for doing it on your behalf.
How is it moral for people to get rich from imprisonment?
Another question might be, how isn't it? In every other area of society, if someone is very good at arranging things to achieve some widely valued goal, we think it's OK for them to get rich. If someone is the best jailer in the world would it not be reasonable to reward them? Operating a prison is a lot of work. The problem is that they are being rewarded for doing the wrong things, there's no problem with rewarding…
The problem in the US is that there was a period of time, still somewhat ongoing, where politicians could score a few points by promising to be "tough on crime." George H. W. Bush once went on TV to say that if longer sentences and mandatory minimum sentences meant paying for more prisons, we would pay for more prisons. One of the worst things about tough on crime politics is the feedback loop it creates -- if your o…
This is easy to observe in judicial elections where said judges get tough prior to elections. But there's more to it than that. The US system doesn't rehabilitate prisoners well, so letting a person who was committing armed robbery (this isn't a small offense, it's terrorizing innocent people) at 17 out at 22 isn't much better than letting them out at 27. The chance of recidivism is high, and so letting them out earl…
I think “Rehabilitation” is probably a distraction. A mere chance might be all that they need, and America denies that to even people who have not committed a crime. The lack of social mobility means that regardless of what programs or mindsets one experiences in prison, they are all but forced right back into the same environment that put them there in the first place.