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Old September 2, 2009, 01:41 PM   #26
#18indycolts
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The US locks up a higher percentage of its population than anybody else. The government at all levels has simply stuck its nose into too many things.
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A misleading and useless statistic that does not give support to the conclusion following.

useless to this thread, but not misleading. Most of the books that I've read on the prison industrial complex show similar stats, the U.S. does in fact have the largest prison population in the world, even more than communist china. U.S. has 300 million people total, China has 1.3 billion. That alone should mean something. The U.S. has a little over 2 million currently in jail and over HALF of them are in prison for NON-violent drug crimes, China has around 1.5 million in prison...remember also that China doesn't have the humanitarian laws that we do, they can and do lock people up for reasoned dissent.
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Old September 2, 2009, 02:02 PM   #27
Wildalaska
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the prison industrial complex
That very term shows the bias of the source.

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The U.S. has a little over 2 million currently in jail and over HALF of them are in prison for NON-violent drug crimes, China has around 1.5 million in prison...remember also that China doesn't have the humanitarian laws that we do, they can and do lock people up for reasoned dissent.
Poor comparison and statistically irrelevant.

On the other hand, I could argue that the reason for a lower prison polulation is that China executes between 1700 and 10,000 folks a year (depending who is counting) IN PUBLIC and mostly for economic crimes (including drugs)

Thread drift, carry on

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Old September 2, 2009, 03:15 PM   #28
#18indycolts
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and mostly for economic crimes (including drugs)
where's the stats on that? I hardly agree since those stats couldn't even be accurate, mostly fudged by a very corrupt system.

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That very term shows the bias of the source.
hmmm, so there isn't an active prison industrial complex that feeds on keeping prisons full of nonviolent offenders, privatizing ownership to gain wealth on crime and criminals? The corporate media doesn't sell and thrive on crime, keeping the population scared just to relect those that want to put the hammer down on locking people up and making people think that crime is a major problem outside of urban areas? The media is one giant propaganda machine, they show the stories that benefit them...just look at the current swine flu.
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Old September 2, 2009, 03:19 PM   #29
#18indycolts
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On the other hand, I could argue that the reason for a lower prison polulation is that China executes between 1700 and 10,000 folks a year
also, very big difference there, not sure where the info is coming from. And that statement probably is the reason for a lower population...but the U.S. would never do that because keeping people in prison makes a lot more money than executing them.
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Old September 4, 2009, 04:51 PM   #30
tube_ee
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If we would simply learn the lesson of Prohibition

which is that people want to get hammered, and will do it regardless of the laws, then we would not have a prison overpopulation problem.

End the drug wars, and you will end the prison problem.

Didn't we learn this in the 1930s?

--Shannon
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Old September 4, 2009, 05:31 PM   #31
sholling
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That very term shows the bias of the source.
And this shows your bias. I have yet to see a statement about a law or regulatory agency that you didn't think was wonderful and essential. That's your right to feel that way - but the "prison industrial complex" is a very good description of a governmental industry dedicated to having as many people behind bars as possible in order to enrich the prison guards unions and their members. In California the prison guards' union is very active in trying to keep drugs from being decriminalized because they would lose jobs and they know it. Deny it all you want but it's a fact.

For a sample of ignorance and lazy journalism let's look at who reporters interview to justify the continued losing war on the American people. When the reporter asks "Officer Norbert do you think we should end the war on drugs?" Do you think he's going to say... A) "yes it's a silly war that we lost a long time ago and I should be forced to give up my pension and get a real job in the private sector!" or B) "Congress should double our budget and we should continue arresting and imprisoning vast amounts of the American people until after I'm safely retired." Not many bureaucrats admit that their jobs should be eliminated.
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Old September 4, 2009, 07:51 PM   #32
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The corporate media doesn't sell and thrive on crime, keeping the population scared
They certainly do. Crime stories give them their biggest ratings. If they weren't dependent on selling crime as stories, then why the heck do you think they fill no less than a third of their content with it? You can't watch the news on any channel without getting at least the first five minutes being full of crime stories. Have you seen the lineup on prime time TV? Law and Order in its various forms, NCIS, Castle, Cold Case, Cops...almost half of it crime and police shows. It's been that way for the past two decades at very least.
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