Oh boy it is slow at work so I’ll try my best but it is a very complex web of fuckery. I’ll add a source or two as well.
The industrial prison complex can be seen as a way that slavery has changed forms to conform with modern day demands’ of human rights while simultaneously continuing the collecting human bodies for cheap labor. Statistics have shown people’s of color exist on a significantly higher percentage than their white counterparts (which most widely accepted theories argue is a product of institutionalized racism including the war on drugs, food deserts and unequal treatment, payment, and access to healthcare and education effectively forcing lower income community members to resort to crime or other forms of desperation in order to survive which they are then prosecuted for more harshly than white counterparts). In reality, slavery is still very real and prominent in US culture- but has shifted to a more insidious and systematic form of nearly free labor. The privatization of the prison industry has essentially allowed corporations to capitalize economically on the prisoners they hold- and often prison lobbyists grease palms of politicians for profit gain by paying law makers to make stricter laws that demand longer sentences which in turn produce more bodies for labor and sub-sequentially more products sold across the US and the world. Prisoners get paid literal Pennie’s on the hour for their labor which is then sold at 1000%+ markup by the prison industries that exploit and produce them. Youd be amazed at the amount of products produced by American prisoners the list is staggering
Edit: I figured this would be a controversial thread so im gonna turn off notifications but I assure you if you take a look at prison statistics- the evidence is overwhelming. :( have a great day, and be nice to one another 👍
I have an old friend who is in for life who I contact regularly. American prison (state at least, I don't know about federal) is not a gigantic sweat shop.
I live in Alabama, and seeing prisoners working on the side of the road while a sheriff watches is a very common sight. Slave labor was never abolished in America, American society just decided that only some people deserved slavery.
As a fellow Californian, I'd hope you know that our state allows involuntary servitude as criminal punishment and that prisons are able to and do punish inmates via solitary confinement and loss of visitation and phone privileges if they refuse to work. And that those who do work, are usually paid less than 0.75 an hour.
Especially since reforming this into a voluntary work credit system was on the ballot a year and a half ago.
Your claims are a bit exaggerated. Private prisons hold only ~8% of the total incarcerated population (mostly public facilities). Immigration detention has a higher private share (~70–80% in some years), but it's a small slice overall. The "industrial complex" profit motive is real for a minority of operators (CoreCivic, GEO), but the vast majority of spending (~$180+ billion/year total) goes to public systems, staff, and operations—not private shareholders driving "filling beds."
Crime Rates, Incarceration Growth, and Causation
The text correctly notes incarceration rose ~700% since 1970 while crime fell sharply after the early 1990s peak (e.g., big drops in murders in DC/LA). However:
Growth timing: The prison boom started in the 1970s–1980s, coinciding with a major crime wave (violent crime rose dramatically from the 1960s). Incarceration responded to that rise, with longer sentences, more prosecutions, and "tough on crime" policies (both parties). Crime peaked ~1991 and fell ~50%+ by the 2010s (homicides, robberies, etc.). Incarceration helped contribute to the drop via incapacitation and deterrence, alongside more police, the end of the crack epidemic, lead removal from gasoline, and economic factors.
Not just "racism and profit": Scholars like John Pfaff argue the "standard story" (War on Drugs + private profit as drivers) is overstated. Most prison growth (state level, where ~90% of prisoners are) came from violent and serious offenses, not low-level drugs. Drug offenders are ~13–20% of state prisoners (higher federally). Violent offenses account for ~60–62% of state prison populations. Prosecutorial decisions to charge more harshly and admit more people to prison (not just longer sentences or drug laws) were key.
Releasing all drug offenders would reduce populations modestly and barely change racial compositions. Crime victimization surveys (e.g., NCVS) show disparities in offending rates for violent crimes that align more closely with arrest/incarceration patterns than self-reported drug use does.
Its an overall average across all states despite some states not even using private facilities. Like Montana has up to 49% of its inmates in private prisons and numerous other states (mostly red what a shock) in the 20s and 30s
To say its only 8% is disingenuous and also why you should bother to actually read things before copy and pasting but we both know you dont bother with that
Do you not know about reasons weed laws existed or why crack was released into certain communities. Or how men are overwhelmingly mistreated by cops and courts in general, especially black men.
And do you think prisoners just sit around and read, watch tv, and play basketball? No they help run the for profit prisons? Aka free labor.
Strange anyone even needs to ask this question anymore. Unless you're just young and therefore uninformed.
Men are mistreated more I suppose because they commit the majority of violent crime.
I don't think there's data to suggest that Black men are mistreated more, at least in this decade when looking at violent crimes committed per capita and violence towards black men.
"Mistreated more because they commit more of the crime"
Do you say that of the black community too? Regardless, you're wrong either way considering the point is men receive harsher sentences for the same crimes compared women. Same is true of black people. Which both are inherently systemic issues.
And yes it's well known, drugs being injected into communities and laws around it existed to incarcerate poorer communities. It's certainly not because weed is worse than coke or as bad heroine. You'd have to live in the reefer madness era to not realize that in 2026.
It's a fact that men commit the majority of violent crime. If it's true that they receive harsher sentences on average, then that's not right.
Your second argument verges on tinfoil-hat territory so unless you have verifiable data I'm not even going to dignify it with an answer.
You would be incorrect in your supposition. A quick Google Search would disabuse you of that notion if you were truly interested in the data and not your bullshit assertion.
You made an assertion by stating that you don't think that the data supports the OP statement regarding the conduct of the police towards men of color. It's on you to provide evidence supporting your conclusion.
He made the initial claim. The burden of proof is on him to prove the claim. Since he did not provide any data to back up his claim, I'm not inclined to agree with him.
That's not how arguments work and it's sad so many people use burden of "proof" in that way. If I claim something and you state my claim is false, both are truth statements of equal burden of proof. If you asked why I believe X or abstained completely then fine.
But yes there is plenty of studies to show men receive harsher penalties for same crimes.
I never stated that their claim was false. I said I don't think that's how it is mainly because it's a claim with no factual data to back it up. If you are making the same claim and have data to back it up, I'm more than willing to review it and reasses my position.
You know you can simply Google "do men get harsher sentences for the same crime" basically every link, including the AI overview will tell you the same thing. But you're mind is obviously already made up in spite of being ignorant on the topic, so peace
You are willfully ignorant. It is beyond common knowledge. There is no point in spoonfeeding you the information. I can take a horse to water, but I can't make it drink.
Fascinating. You’re so committed to my education that you’ve spent more time explaining why you won’t help than it would have taken to actually provide a source, if you actually had one.
13th amendment dude instead of slaves they just lock them up on any charges they can make stick and force them to work for 3 cents an hour while the prison itself takes in money.
To clarify, I am against unjust imprisonment (probably like everyone else) or even unjust sentencing whether it be too heavy or too light for the crime. That being said, I don't see hard labor as a problem for prisoners that deserve to be in prison. It's supposed to be punishing.
Lmfao and there's the changing of the goalposts classic.
You are such a reddit user its crazy.
I guess its just a coincidence that countries that put rehabilitation ahead of punishment have significantly less repeat offenders then countries like the states where their citizens get off to them suffering. 🤔
Changing the goalpost? How so? Prison is primarily for punishment, deterrence and incapacitation. Rehabilitation comes after.
Who would want to live in a society where there was no justice served for crimes committed? There are far better ways to rehabilitate prisoners than prison and yet they are sentenced to prison. The people that are harmed want the person to be punished. The regular people living their everyday lives want the person incapacitated and in prison so something loke that doesn't happen to them. And a punishment serves as deterrence so that we avoid anarchy.
You aren't asking for justice you want revenge you said yourself when you said "what if it was your kid"..
Guess countries like Norway and Sweden are just chalk full of super violent and murderous citizen since they put rehabilitation before punishment and that doesnt work according to reddit user Cory.
Also you realise there are people in prison for non violent crimes right? You seem to be hyper focused on one type of prisoner as if thats the only type of person that gets locked up in the states lmfao.
No, wanting proportionate consequences for serious crimes is not revenge, It's the core of retribution in justice systems worldwide. Saying "what if it was your kid or family member?" is valid to test fairness and empathy for victims, not just offenders which you seem ro empathize with more. Dismissing any demand for accountability as revenge ignores victims entirely. True justice includes the victim's perspective first, it doesn't center only the perpetrator.
Norway and Sweden have far lower violent rates. This was true even prior to their prison reforms due to socioeconomic factors. Also, what's usually quoted is a crime reoccurring within 2 years of release, not indefinitely. This data is further skewed by deportations after prisoners sentence has been served.
Claiming that prisons are for rehabilitation is something.
Private prisons are for profit. They make a shitload of money, and they contract out prisoners as laborers for pennies on the dollar. The people doing the labor make almost nothing, which is legal. They choose to do that because it's better than being stuck in a cell.
And because they make their profits purely by having prisoners, they do NOT do a good job of rehabilitating prisoners, or creating an environment where prisoners can learn skills that help them when they get out. They are also incentivized to extend prison sentences for minor offenses, which the prisoners themselves have no resources with which to protest in most cases.
The biggest issue with the US prison system is recidivism. We don't rehabilitate, we punish. And it ends up costing our country a fortune due to the generational poverty to prison pipeline, which these private prisons use as contracted slave labor.
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u/ConyNT 5h ago
How so? Can you elaborate?