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Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

newyorker.com

11–20 of 191 posts

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#12

I wonder why we do not use some sort of labor as penalty for misdemeanor, instead of useless incarceration. You caused $XXX of damage and you have no funds to cover it, you should work for the state until you pay back the sum.

The state of Mississippi ran Parchman Farm on this principle for decades, but as you might imagine it looked a lot like slavery. A lot of people suddenly got arrested for loitering come harvest time.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#13

"Why we fight" Even with all the problems in the West, with all that's broken at the moment in our end-stage capitalist societies, never forget that the alternative, in almost all instances, is pure terror.

Never forget that American Exceptionalism relies on comparing itself to the most mismanaged places in the world, ignoring the existence of developed nations entirely We uniquely have the resources to be better and more advanced and create a more productive society with those resources, and merely lack the consensus to do so. There is no need to compare ourselves to anyone else to rationalize our incompetencies, conse…

west !== America.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#14

I wonder why we do not use some sort of labor as penalty for misdemeanor, instead of useless incarceration. You caused $XXX of damage and you have no funds to cover it, you should work for the state until you pay back the sum.

If you combine the two ideas - incarceration and work -- you get prison farms, sometimes known as county farms.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_farm

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#15

I wonder why we do not use some sort of labor as penalty for misdemeanor, instead of useless incarceration. You caused $XXX of damage and you have no funds to cover it, you should work for the state until you pay back the sum.

Bring back the workhouse?

It's already a thing, and there are big issues with it https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/15/us-prison-wo...)

Prison labour is often heavily discounted and it undercuts non-incarcerated people who're looking for a job.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#16

I wonder why we do not use some sort of labor as penalty for misdemeanor, instead of useless incarceration. You caused $XXX of damage and you have no funds to cover it, you should work for the state until you pay back the sum.

The United States does have forced labor, although not a whole lot that isn't under a pretense of a optional program. Notably at Angola (https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/11/10/angola-pri...)

But even if you want more, what should the prision do if a prisioner refuses to participate in the forced labor? How do you force them. Violence and torture is the only ultimate way. That is what you are demanding.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#18

"Why we fight" Even with all the problems in the West, with all that's broken at the moment in our end-stage capitalist societies, never forget that the alternative, in almost all instances, is pure terror.

>all that's broken at the moment in our end-stage capitalist societies

That's a weird way to spell "the most prosperous time/space ever, where borderline poor people live like kings 200 years ago, and there are fewer and fewer poor people as time goes on and poverty threshold goes up".

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#19

"Why we fight" Even with all the problems in the West, with all that's broken at the moment in our end-stage capitalist societies, never forget that the alternative, in almost all instances, is pure terror.

[flagged]

It's a good thing all conflicts are one-sided, with a clearly delineated good guy and bad guy, so that people on the internet can post simplistic takes like this.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#20

I wonder why we do not use some sort of labor as penalty for misdemeanor, instead of useless incarceration. You caused $XXX of damage and you have no funds to cover it, you should work for the state until you pay back the sum.

>I wonder why we do not use some sort of labor as penalty for misdemeanor, instead of useless incarceration.

The title of the article is:

Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

That might be a hint.

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