Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Prison Nation

by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.



Americans, perhaps like all people, have a remarkable capacity for tuning out unpleasantries that do not directly affect them. I'm thinking here of wars on foreign lands, but also the astonishing fact that the United States has become the world's most jail-loving country, with well over 1 in 100 adults living as slaves in a prison. Building and managing prisons, and locking people up, have become major facets of government power in our time, and it is long past time for those who love liberty to start to care.

Before we get to the reasons why, look at the facts as reported by the New York Times. The U.S. leads the world in prisoner production. There are 2.3 million people behind bars. China, with four times as many people, has 1.6 million in prison. In terms of population, the US has 751 people in prison for every 100,000, while the closest competitor in this regard is Russia with 627. I'm struck by this figure: 531 in Cuba. The median global rate is 125.

What's amazing is that most of this imprisoning trend is recent, dating really from the 1980s, and most of the change is due to drug laws. From 1925 to 1975, the rate of imprisonment was stable at 110, lower than the international average, which is what you might expect in a country that purports to value freedom. But then it suddenly shot up in the 1980s. There were 30,000 people in jail for drugs in 1980, while today there are half a million.

Other factors include the criminalization of nearly everything these days, even passing bad checks or the pettiest of thefts. And judges are under all sorts of minimum sentencing requirements. Now, before we move to causes and answers, please consider what jail means. The people inside are slaves of the state. They are captured and held and regarded by their captors as nothing other than biological beings that take up space. The delivery of all services to them is contingent on the whims of their masters, who have no stake in the outcome at all.

Now, you might say that this is necessary for some people, but be aware that it is the ultimate assault on human dignity. They are "paying the price" for their actions, but no one is in a position to benefit from the price paid. They aren't working off debts or compensating victims or struggling to overcome anything. They are just "doing time," costing taxpayers almost $25,000 a year per person. That's all these people are to society: a cost, and they are treated as such.

And the communities in which they exist in these prisons consist of other un-valued people, and they become socialized into this mentality that is utterly contrary to every notion of civilization. Then there are the relentless threat and reality of violence, the unspeakable noise, the pervasiveness of every moral perversity. In short, prisons are Hell. It can be no wonder that they rehabilitate no one. As George Barnard Shaw said, "imprisonment is as irrevocable as death."

What's more, everything we know about government applies to this ultimate government program. It is expensive (states alone spend $44 billion on prisons every year), inefficient, brutal, and irrational. The modern prison system is also a relatively new phenomenon in history, one that is used to enforce political priorities (the drug war) rather than punish real crimes. It is also manipulated by political passions rather than a genuine concern for justice. The results of the drug war are not to reduce consumption but rather the opposite. Illegal drugs are now a $100 billion dollar industry in the US, while the drug war itself costs taxpayers $19 billion, even as the costs of running the justice system are skyrocketing (up 418% percent in 25 years).

People say that crime is down, so this must be working. Well, that depends on what you mean by crime. Drug use and distribution are associated with violence solely because they are illegal. They are crimes because the state says they are crimes, but they do not fit within the usual definition we find in the history of political philosophy, which centers on the violation of person or property. What's more, the "crime" of drug use and distribution hasn't really been kept down; it has only gone further underground. It's a major irony and commentary on the workability of prisons that drug markets are very active there.

Now to causes. Some social scientists give the predictable explanation that all this is due to the lack of a "social safety net" in the U.S. In the first place, the U.S. has had such a net for a hundred years, and yet these people seem not to have noticed, even though no such net is big enough for some people. Moreover, it is more likely the very presence of such a net � which creates a moral hazard so that people do not learn to be responsible for their own well-being � that contributes to criminal behavior (all else being equal).

There are those on all sides who attribute the increase to racial factors, given that the imprisoned population is disproportionately black and Hispanic, and noting the disparity in crime rates in such places as Minnesota with low levels of minority populations. But this factor too could be illusory, especially as regards drug use, since it is far more likely that a state system will catch and punish people with less influence and social standing than those whom the state regards as significant.

A more telling point comes to us from political analysts, who observe the politicization of judicial appointments in the United States. Judges run on their "tough on crime" records, or are appointed for them, and so have every incentive to lock people up more than justice truly demands.

One factor that hasn't been mentioned so far in the discussion is the lobbying power of the prison industry itself. The old rule is that if you subsidize something, you get more of it. And so it is with prisons and the prison-industrial complex. I've yet to find any viable figures on how large this industry is, but consider that it includes construction firms, managers of private prisons, wardens, food service providers, counselors, security services, and a hundred other kinds of companies to build and manage these miniature societies. What kind of political influence do they have? Speculation here, but it must be substantial.

As for public concern, remember that every law on the books, every regulation, every line in the government codebook, is ultimately enforced by prison. The jail cell is the symbol and ultimate end of statism itself. It would be nice if we thought of the interests of the prisoners in society and those that will become so. But even if you are not likely to be among them, consider the loss of privacy, the loss of liberty, the loss of independence, the loss of all that used to be considered truly American, in the course of the building of prison nation.

But won't crime go up if we abandon our prison system? Let Robert Ingersoll answer: "The world has been filled with prisons and dungeons, with chains and whips, with crosses and gibbets, with thumb-screws and racks, with hangmen and headsmen � and yet these frightful means and instrumentalities and crimes have accomplished little for the preservation of property or life. It is safe to say that governments have committed far more crimes than they have prevented. As long as society bows and cringes before the great thieves, there will be little ones enough to fill the jails."

This artical was in the NY Slimes! You should just ignore it.

Part of the problem is that prison is too easy on the criminals. They should break rocks 8 hours a day, eat soy loaf and have no access to entertainment.

Further more, after 3 violent felonies they should be locked away for good. Additional crimes and they should get the death penalty.

ConradCA++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jim Berry

The system has never solved anything and never will. This crowd of system loving fools will display proof after proof of exactly why. Take ConradCA's comments for example.

System lovers never learn, because they don't want to.

So you follow the same theory as the judge in Maine who gave a child molester 4 months in jail for raping a 4 year old kid over 2 years ?

And you believe the following:

1) Punishment never works.
2) Criminals are not evil. They are just ill or misunderstood or victims.
3) Society is to blame anyway.

Prison costs are high; the S spnds over $60 billion each year to house, feed and guard inmates. Some should be permanently locked up and left to rot, but there are others (drug addicts, etc.) who ned treatment, not prison.

Long sentences have not worked; we spend a lot of money that could be used for education and other services (e.g., transportation or debt pay-off) and we still have a high rate of crime. No answers here, but there must be a better way.

Ah, but there is an answer...........it's called PUNISHMENT.

We don't have that now, just incarceration......mass murderer Richard Speck's well publicized prison lifestyle comes quickly to mind.

When PUNISHMENT becomes swift, certain and onerous, crimes will fall off.

When it doesn't, crimes rise because there is no or little fear of PUNISHMENT.

What's the typical time from conviction & sentencing for a capital crime in a capital state until actual execution?

Maybe 20 years minimum? or longer?

Not exactly swift and certain PUNISHMENT.

And while on the subject........re: cruel & unusual PUNISHMENT;

Let's go back to hanging or firing squad.........both were in frequent use at the time the Constitution was written, so by default, neither can rightly be called either cruel or unusual.

MM

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Your not going to get the courts, to stand up to punishment. Such things as chain gangs etc. won't even work in county jails.

I know of three sheriff's who tried it, in this state in the mid 90's. The lawsuits were filed within the first week and the sheriff's was told to back down by their county commissioners due to the cost of defending the lawsuits etc. The chain gangs who's jobs were cutting brush etc. were disbanded and never attempted again.

This was just a county jail, you try it in a prison that has access to a legal aid and other legal resources, it won't fly either.

I've seen people who talked tough on crime & punishment, till we nabbed their familymembers, then it was the finest attorney money could afford and lets make a deal.

Does the Montana State Prison System or any county jail in Montana practice punishment or hard labor or chain gangs etc. ??

Sorry kids but being locked up is punishment no matter how you slice it.

Punishment works to a degree but more punishment beyond that is a waste of time. It's like hitting a dog for doing something wrong. Hit them enough to teach them and it's training. Hitting them more than that doesn't make them any better....the effect only goes so far.

Drug laws are a good example. Look at our incarceration rate for drug crimes and then look at the same rate, per capita, in Canada. Their rates of locking folks up are a lot lower so their costs are lower as well. There isn't a nickel's worth of difference in the drug use or sales rates on the street between the two countries. All this locking up dopers is doing is costing money and having ZERO desired effect.

Another thing to look at...is it possible for most of the people we release after their sentence is up to even get a job? Most of them can't read and have no skills to even fill out a job application. You can beat them until their skin falls off and they'll still be unemployable. Even if you doubled their sentence they'd still be unemployable because they won't know one iota more when they do get out.

So it feels all manly and tough to say, "Punishment is the key" but if you look at it logically it's not. While they're in prison they should be forced or otherwise motivated to learn to read, do math, and gain some kind of job skills. That way when they are released they at least have a chance to get a real job and stay out of prison.

Of course I'm talking about garden variety criminals like robbers, drug dealers, burglars, etc. For sex crimes like rape, pedophila or child molestation it's a whole different enchilada because those are a whole different kind of offense committed for a whole different set of reasons.

I pray to God that neither you nor any of your loved ones ever, either justly or unjustly, find yourselves in prison. As the saying goes, "There but for the grace of God go I."

And soy loaf might be a welcome change from what some of the inmates eat. I have eaten prison food. I am far from a picky eater, but when I saw hot dogs in three shades of gray, it turned my stomach. And one of the women said to me, "Gee, when you ladies from the outside come in, they bring out the good food!"

Penny

Barak and I work actively with ex-felons on the outside to help them become productive members of society. You have no idea how many roadblocks are put up for ex-offenders to overcome. You must get a job, but have no transportation. There is nothing within walking distance of where you live. Take the bus... okay, but it takes you 2-3 hours to travel 10 miles because of waiting and changes. Can't get a car even if you had money, because they took away your driver's license when you were incarcerated. Now to get it back, you have to travel halfway across the state and pay a fine. No way to get across the state? Too bad. No money to pay the fine? Get a job. And it begins all over again. It is so often a real Catch-22.

As someone wisely opined, the Department of Corrections says it wants to see ex-offenders successfully reenter society; but if the success rate is too high, the DOC puts itself out of business. And it doesn't want to go out of business.

Even a normally optimistic person like myself could get really cynical really fast...

Penny

NY or CA or whatever. Sorry for the misprint. Growing up in the middle part, left coasts eventually blend together and become of no consequence.

Lame, worn out responses Conrad. Been shaking my head at these gov't programmed city mentality responses for 40 years.


1) Punishment never works.

Especially with profit from taxpayers available. Residual income like tampon sales and cable tv... Except more sinister.(Racketeering)

This of course is not to mention the ability to lord it over others, a point of utmost importance to insecure and feeble little minds with an inquenchable need to feel superior. Being a hired thug IS a very admirable occupation isn't it...


2) Criminals are not evil. They are just ill or misunderstood or victims.

Who would know? Process criminals and leave everybody else alone for a while and maybe we'll find out. It'll occur eventually to even the slowest that dumping real criminals back on the streets and feeding swarms of lawyers isn't working.


3) Society is to blame anyway.

If society is no further along than your kind of thinking, yeah! Damn strait!


I believe PJ O'Rourke put it very aptly when he said, "Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history mankind has been bullied by scum. Those who lord it over their fellows and toss commands in every direction and would boss the grass in the meadow about which way to bend in the wind are the most depraved kind of prostitutes. They will submit to any indignity, perform any vile act, do anything to achieve power. Every government is a parliament of whores."

Far too many on this site are system loving uncivilized hacks. Who never learn.

http://www.mind-trek.com/articles/pct07a.htm

As for punishment; The death penalty does little to deter murder. People who take that action, by and large, are committing a crime of passion or fear. They are not thinking about punishment while contemplating this crime, if they contemplate the crime at all.
I don't think the death penalty for murderers is worth the trouble we go through to pursue it. We should just lock these guys up and throw the key away.
Where I think it would be extremely useful is for crimes of greed, such as drug trafficking. That is a crime one must think about prior to, and while committing. I suspect that if you were to start giving the death penalty to drug dealers, that trade would lose it's romance pretty quickly.
On one level, legalizing drugs seems the libertarian thing to do, but the fact remains that some of these drugs extract a terrible toll to the users. There are drugs out there that you don't just get over. Some are a death sentence themselves. But worse is the toll these drugs take on the people around the addict. We cannot allow this rot to be perpetrated on our citizens, crimes to support this scourge not withstanding.
Marijuana may be ok to legalize and regulate. Crack and crystal meth are pure evil.
Pedophiles seem uncurable, kill 'em.

I disagree on your take on the death penalty. It deters the person executed from doing it again. We don't execute run of the mill murderers. They have to be guilty of aggravated first degree murder. That means they premeditated it and usually killed more than one victim or kill one victim with the intent of covering up a crime. They are a whole different animal than a guy that shoots another dude in a fight or for having sex with his girlfriend or something.

Drugs are bad for you so don't use them. Pretty simple. Drug dealers aren't forcing anyone to use the stuff. Using, at least initially is a choice. Lots of habits are bad for you but making them all illegal is not how you run a nation conceived in liberty.

Please allow me to put in some good words for some of the wonderful Corrections Officers I know. Probably like law enforcement, for every scumbag working in a prison there is a hero. There are many who work inside the prisons who are truly caring and compassionate people, who do treat inmates like the human beings they are, and who allow others to keep their dignity.

Then there are those who get off on a power and control trip. This morning at the entrance building, the officer was making everyone turn their pockets inside out. If she found Kleenex in a pocket, she made a great show of pulling it out and throwing it on the floor. It's one thing to say that we can't take Kleenex inside (because she says so), but she doesn't have to throw it on the floor. You know, it takes all kinds.

And yes, when something like that happens, you can bet that we all are praying...

Penny

I don't mind the death penalty on murderers, just don't think it's worth the energy we expend. At this point it is cheaper to just lock em up like animals and never let them out. Problem solved.
I, and a large percentage of my generation, knew that drugs were bad for you, but did them anyway. We were young and did not always exercise great judgment. Most of us got over it. There are drugs out there now that you can't "just get over". Gross addiction comes easily, and even after huge effort may not be conquered. Why puy our young people through this.
Sure, there are certain "recreational" drugs that I wouldn't oppose legalizing. But others are an ill wind indeed.
If, as a dealer, you knowingly and wantonly cause this kind of evil and pain, you have proved that you don't have the compassion necessary to live among free people.

Using your logic on drug dealers then any guy that sells ammo or guns is responsible for how they are used too. I don't think you should expect to have it both ways. The responsibility for how and if something is used should always rest with the person that used it.

To put it another way. I can buy fertilizer at the feed store and diesel fuel at the gas station. Should either of those retailers be liable if I use them to make an AnFo bomb instead of fertilize my pasture and fuel my tractor?

Fortunately the great thing about the death penalty is that no innocents ever get convicted or put on death row.

http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=6&did=110

I used to be an advocate for the death penalty. Now I'm not so sure. There's the cost, and the problem of executing innocents. Life in prison works for me, and in the case of an error, it's reversible.

The drug war is simply unwinnable. Anyone who claims to understand capitalism must understand that if there is a demand, and there is money to be made someone will step up to meet the demand. Illegality just makes it expensive, puts money into the hands of dealers, and forces addicts to get the money they need however possible. Anyone know how many crimes are about addicts getting money for their next fix?

It's also funny to hear the same people who complain about the democratic nanny state go on about how drugs can ruin peoples lives and we need to protect them.

Here's a thought. Educate people about the dangers of drugs. If they are adults, let them make up their own mind, and pay the consequences for their own actions.

Remove the profit motive for dealers, and eliminate the need to resort to crimes to get you fix.

Treat it as a medical problem.

It is interesting to note that several countries with fairly liberal drug laws actually have lower drug usages rates than countries like the US where the laws are fairly strict.

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm

Of course we all know how well the prohibition of alcohol worked in the US.

Sometimes to get true justice it costs more than the blue light sale version. I've got no problem with the cost of the death penalty when properly applied.

I agree with your views on the drug war. The problem is a lot of people can't view the problem dispassionately and let go of their preconcieved notions of what works.

Steely, I am aware of the contradiction, and I cannot argue with your logic.
I guess we just allow our youth to kill themselves with these poisons, and chalk it up to natural selection.
After all, there are people whose life is enhanced by crack.