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Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

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Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#171

Post by 7bit »

htx80nerd wrote: post #23
hippich wrote: post #2

One thing that stopped me from seeking the vanity plate - I learned that at least in Texas all plates are made by minimally paid prisoners. So any desire to finance that system beyond what's absolute possible minimum (i.e. regular plates) evaporated.

they shouldnt be paid at all. they're in prison for a reason. they have a debt to society. a great many of those people didnt do 'one bad thing' then got caught. it was just the last bad thing they were caught for. any many of them did 'the bad thing', then continued doing other bad things up until the point they were put in prison.

Ah yes. American Prisons prioritizing punishment over resocialising is the reason why criminals so often continue to hurt society after they have been released.

Then we have people who demand to double down on the punishment and wonder why these people never stop breaking the law.

Americans are a marvelous bunch. Thanks Dog I live in a first world country.

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#172

Post by Wilder7977 »

antonymoose wrote: post #123
pavel_lishin wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree with your "slave labor is ok if the slave committed a crime" position, and find it morally indefensible.

Stepping aside the fact that I think most everyone here is playing fast-and-loose with the “slave” terminology here… Why do you feel prisoners doing low wage labor to be wrong? Practically everyone in human history since the dawn of time has had to go out and produce something of value. Why, all of a sudden, should a murderer or rapist get to sit on their ass and consume what we all produce? I find nothing questionab…

Working should be a free choice (we can discuss about how much freedom exists for many people), and should always be paid. There is nothing wrong if a prisoner chooses to enagage in (fairly paid) labor. But if they are not free to do so, then they are slaves, not workers.

Prisoners already lack freedom in many aspects. "Sitting on their asses" like if they were sipping cocktails on a beach is a bit a misrepresentation don't you think? I wouldn't exchange the possibility to move and do what I want for possibly any amount of money, nor for being able to "sit on my ass" in that sense. Would you?

Besides the moral arguments - which I will say, they are so obvious that it feels incredible even having to discuss why enslaving prisoners is wrong - you can make economic arguments. For example, that having cheap or borderline unpaid labor compresses the salary in that market, or that this system creates a dysfunctional incentive to increase prison population for private profits.

Maybe that's why the US is one of the countries with the highest incarcerated population in the world. The highest among western and larger countries.

I understand though there is a cultural barrier. I am from Europe and in most countries here prison has a rehabilitation purpose, which is what most benefits society, and prisons are not private entities.

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#173

Post by squibonpig »

reactordev wrote: post #62
knome wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Selling prisoners as underpaid slave labor means everyone else now has to compete against companies using that slave labor. It's essentially cutting us twice. We both pay to house and feed the employees/contractors of the company benefiting who then undercuts us by not bothering to pay them. Prisons should not be allowed to be a profit center. The ramifications of doing so create gross incentives.

>Prisons should not be allowed to be a profit center. That ship sailed post American Civil-War. We've made it part of our culture. Every prison charges their inmates to be there. Per Diems. It used to be tax payers but... they found out they could double dip.

This is the kind of thing it's relatively viable to address legislatively, and which would be well within the overton window if it were given more attention.

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#174

Post by squibonpig »

reactordev wrote: post #63
komali2 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To the readers out there. Do not be put off by where it was made, how it was made. It was made. And if it never sells, the profit margins for the slave drivers decreases. I mean, I really, this post is trying to justify slave labor. Is that not... A little bizarre to find yourself doing that?

I'm not justifying slave labor. I'm pointing out that they should be paid more. They'll gladly make the plates and be happy doing it. Getting outside means the world to them. Don't hate them for making the plates, hate the system for putting them into slave labor, but at the same time show some compassion for those who are trying to live and be, normal productive members of society (even if it is at shotgun point). M…

Not to nitpick, but you're saying they presumably appreciate the opportunity to go outside for a while and such. Leaving aside they could be granted that just fine without the slavery, aren't most prison jobs worked inside the prison? The only exceptions I can think of are agricultural work or road crews.

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#176

Post by dontlaugh »

Aurornis wrote: post #42
embedding-shape wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, it’s borderline slave labor I'm sorry, how is it "borderline" slave labour and not straight up forced labour? These people are imprisoned, and I'm assuming forced to do this work, or what happens if they say no? It's quite literally known as "penal labour" and I thought most of the world figured out that we're not supposed to treat people like that anymore.

> These people are imprisoned, and I'm assuming forced to do this work This is an incorrect assumption, at least in my state. It’s a job that they can apply for and opt in to do. The debate is about their hourly wage. There is a possibility of forced penal labor, as I understand it, but it’s mostly things like being forced to do cleaning duties, road cleanup, etc.

Prisoners cannot consent to many things, including labour.

It’s slave labour, whether you like it or not.

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#177

Post by sunaookami »

cyral wrote: post #59
komali2 wrote: post #43

I swear I read some case a couple years back where a kid was facing serious prison time for automating requests to w publicly available government website. "Unauthorized access of a computer." I think the author may have just admitted to what the government considers a serious federal crime, as stupid as it is to consider it a crime.

Different scenario but it reminds me of when Missouri prosecuted a reporter who found that teacher's SSN numbers were exposed in the HTML of a webpage > "Parson described the journalist as a “perpetrator” who “took the records of at least three educators, decoded the HTML source code, and viewed the Social Security number of those specific educators” in an “attempt to steal personal information and harm Missourians.”…

Reminds me of a German developer that got prosecuted because he opened an EXE file with notepad and found a hardcoded database password there: https://www.heise.de/en/news/Modern-Solution-Convicted-IT-ex...

>The password to this database was stored unencrypted in an executable file of the middleware product and was the same for all Modern Solution customers

>Modern Solution then reported the security researcher to the police, who searched his home and confiscated his work equipment

>The programmer has thus been sentenced to a fine of 3,000 euros and must bear the costs of the proceedings

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#178

Post by hu3 »

paradox460 wrote: post #151

I used to have a fun novelty plate when I lived in California, but when it came time to get new ones, I went with the most boring, plain plate I could. With how many crazy assholes there are on the road these days, anything I can do to promote my own inconspicuousness is something I'll do. No bumper stickers, no cute plate frames, nothing. When I'm not carrying skis, the rack comes off

In a world where people scratch sports cars painting out of pure envy. It's hard to criticise someone trying to stay under the radar of the crazy.

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#179

Post by paulddraper »

hippich wrote: post #2

One thing that stopped me from seeking the vanity plate - I learned that at least in Texas all plates are made by minimally paid prisoners. So any desire to finance that system beyond what's absolute possible minimum (i.e. regular plates) evaporated.

“The morally correct thing is to pay them even less.”

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#180

Post by paulddraper »

embedding-shape wrote: post #16
hippich wrote: post #2

One thing that stopped me from seeking the vanity plate - I learned that at least in Texas all plates are made by minimally paid prisoners. So any desire to finance that system beyond what's absolute possible minimum (i.e. regular plates) evaporated.

> I learned that at least in Texas all plates are made by minimally paid prisoners Lol, wasn't slavery outlawed in the US, or were some states still allowed to keep it? That's absolutely bananas if true.

No, Thirteenth Amendment permits it as punishment for a crime.

This a good reminder to all Americans to read the Constitution. The amount of bizarre understandings (not necessarily this one) that I see is very high.

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