Yep. The ~~14th~~ 13th Amendment is anti-slavery but has a carve-out for prisoners. Prisons use slave labor and private prisons are companies that profit from slavery.
America is a slave state.
this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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Abolition of police and prisons
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Abolish is to flourish! Against the prison industrial complex and for transformative justice.
See Critical Resistance's definitions below:
The Prison Industrial Complex
The prison industrial complex (PIC) is a term we use to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social and political problems.
Through its reach and impact, the PIC helps and maintains the authority of people who get their power through racial, economic and other privileges. There are many ways this power is collected and maintained through the PIC, including creating mass media images that keep alive stereotypes of people of color, poor people, queer people, immigrants, youth, and other oppressed communities as criminal, delinquent, or deviant. This power is also maintained by earning huge profits for private companies that deal with prisons and police forces; helping earn political gains for "tough on crime" politicians; increasing the influence of prison guard and police unions; and eliminating social and political dissent by oppressed communities that make demands for self-determination and reorganization of power in the US.
Abolition
PIC abolition is a political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment.
From where we are now, sometimes we can't really imagine what abolition is going to look like. Abolition isn't just about getting rid of buildings full of cages. It's also about undoing the society we live in because the PIC both feeds on and maintains oppression and inequalities through punishment, violence, and controls millions of people. Because the PIC is not an isolated system, abolition is a broad strategy. An abolitionist vision means that we must build models today that can represent how we want to live in the future. It means developing practical strategies for taking small steps that move us toward making our dreams real and that lead us all to believe that things really could be different. It means living this vision in our daily lives.
Abolition is both a practical organizing tool and a long-term goal.
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14th Amendment
It's the 13th, but otherwise accurate.
Whoops, you're right. Both have been of discussion lately and got mixed up.
Easy enough mistake to make..
Number 1 in total prison pop. Number 6 per capita, after El Salvador, Cuba, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, American Samoa.
Land of the free babyyyy.
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Raise rent to unaffordable levels, criminalize being homeless, enslave the poverty stricken.
Honestly if I’m ever imprisoned for being homeless and it doesn’t look like there’s a way out, you can be damn sure I’m not going to willingly work. They must provide three meals and a place to sleep and that’s all I will do. At that point I have no home and the carrot of “getting out” isn’t there. You’re not getting my labor for free too.
Prisons will punish inmates who refuse to work. They use the constant threat of solitary confinement as a motivator.
And for those unaware, solitary confinement permanently fucks up your brain hard. We are social creatures and the lack of socialization will make you unable to reintegration into society, and make you more likely to lash out with violence.
It's either forced labor (slavery) or brain damage. Nobody should have to choose between that.
Punish you for not working? Of course not! No we reward you for working by letting you out of solitary.
That's when they retaliate by e.g. putting you in solitary.
Cool cool, still not getting any work out of me. I’ll gladly make it a test of wills.
Is going slowly insane from being in solitary confinement really an improvement over forced labor? Guess it depends on the person.
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And more power to you but your the exception and not the rule.
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Peonage is baaack!
Hey here's a horrible idea. Let's combine this with the debtors prisons we illegally run and recreate indentured servitude! As long as we call it something snazzy we can all pretend it's not slavery!
Just say it's to fight terrorism, or protect children, and everyone will defend it.
Mmmhmm yes I hear what you're asking for. Don't worry the children will be very safe in The Program^tm
This article reeks of misunderstandings of America's peculiar prison instituon. I can assure you that there is no creature more satisfied than those in the the state penitentiary. Their every need is provided for. Clothing, food, shelter, all provided by the state.
(Is the /s necessary? I feel it cheapens the comment but oh well)
Most definitely needed. I've seen this very point being made "seriously".
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I agree it cheapens it, but unfortunately it's far too easy to imagine someone truly believing that.
Yeah, Poe’s Law is (unfortunately) in full effect.
Guess why they're working so hard to criminalise poverty. Those private prisons won't fill themselves. And North Korea probably still has more prisoners by percentage of the population. Can't let these filthy commies win!
The US retains its status as the World’s No.1 Jailer with a prison population of 713 per 100,000 population, more than even any of the world’s most notorious and oppressive regimes like Myanmar (120 per 100,000 population), Cuba (510 per 100,000 population), and Iran (333 per 100,000). The only country that might challenge the US as the world’s No. 1 jailer is North Korea. Although information is limited, North Korea’s incarceration rate is estimated to be between 600-800 per 100,000 population.
"They deserve that because they're criminals."
I'll just ignore the fact that you believe criminals don't deserve basic human rights and ask if you really believe innocent people don't go to jail. Do you actually think the police you watch mess up daily never make mistakes?
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Public Enemy was dropping songs about this 30+ years ago, things worse now.
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While this is awful, imagine for a moment how fucked it is that our agricultural market is so depressed that it can only function if we pay "illegal" immigrants such a low wage that no one else would accept it, to the point that when that supply dries up, we can't possibly solve the problem except with legalized slavery.
Oh, they can function while paying legal workers the legal minimum wage. They just don't want to, as they make more money doing things like the above.
They can function with legal laborers, they deliberately choose not to because they can rely on a permanently endangered domestic underclass that they can super-exploit for supet-profits.
Right? When "make line go up" is the only thing that matters, this is ultimately where things will lead
I saw someone recently express a wish to see ~~prisoners~~ slaves burn down the factories and businesses of anyone who uses their forced labor. And I can't think of a more beautiful and justified action.
And I'll say what I said then, this doesn't count for voluntary work programs, unless they are "voluntary" and you get punished for not accepting them.
I truly hope to see the news when this happens. Slavery is one of the worst evils in the world, and the 13th amendment needs to be changed so that it's no longer allowed.
I don't see the controversy, it's literally in the constitution. The 13th ammendment didn't end slavery, it restricted it.
...well, i see the controversy but it's beyond the letter of the law...
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God i hate this part about the USA. That's so uncivilized and barbaric, this is the 21th century and i always imagined it to be.... Cooler. Like the star-trek-utopia. But it turned out to be(come) a mixture of 1984, soylent green, lord of the flies and... Ah forget it.
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Always has been.
Slavery remained legal as a punishment for crime, it was never completely abolished
In some countries that actually abolish slavery, it is. Forced labour is also forbidden by human rights, but I know some countries don't care about that either.
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What happens if you simply refuse to work? Extended sentence? Psychological torture?
Yes.
They'll call it "not qualifying for early release" and such to make it all cool and legal, but yes.
The CO beatings will continue until ~~morale~~ profits improve.
Extended sentence sounds like enough psychological torture to me. I spent one night locked up an i know i couldn't take it. Much as i'd like to act tough I'll come clean: id do anything to be free. I gotta scrub toilets for $1/hr? Yes boss
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Why do you think most laws are made to disproportionately effect non white people negatively
america's prison system is the new slave trade
Anyone repukelicans view as beneath them or against their bigoted beleifs can be targeted by this and this is a major reason not to let trumpet into office
I'm glad I don't live in america but trumpet is a potential threat to other countries as well
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