And that was...? Sorry, don't have the energy to read over the rest of the posts and determine the meaning of the above.
I do see your point. Everyone and their mom are being put in prison for crimes that people should not go to jail for... and people simply don't care. But still, are the prisons are overflowing here as in other counties (such as some in Europe where they pretty much pardon offenders because there is no space in prison)? I wonder what keeps it this way though... who is making so much money off of this that it isn't altered. The prisons? Politicians? Prison food services such as the one that caters my uni's cafeteria ? Seriously though... the media would have made a fuss out of it by now, unless someone is paying someone else to keep it fairly quiet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison-industrial_complex For one, there are private prisons. Yeah.. corporate prisons that rent to the state by the bed. Then turn around and lobby the govt (give them funds). Inmates work in industries that the state has vested interest in. Making highway signs, farming, digging, work release where they are "offered" chances to "rehabilitate" and reintegrate themselves into society and away from their horrible addictions. Courts make money off of court and legal fees. Law enforcement gains assets from asset forfeiture cases. Parole services make money from having so many clients. It feeds the economy in many ways, and a lot of shit work that nobody wants to do gets done for below minimum wage. Prisons are so overflowed that its common for violent offenders to be released early, to make room for non violent offenders. But society is kept "safe", and the children are kept safe from drugs. So they won't run into people selling marijuana on the way to pick up their ritalin and antidepressant prescriptions.
I care, I really do. I just know we're all going to be feeding our fat faces tommorow and I was pointing out the distance and irony of this conversation right now. Continue.
Ahh... what beauty. Cheers for the explanation. I have a guy trying to tell me that not all politicians are corrupt in another thread. The hilarity.
I do think the guy should be punished for stealing, even if out of the desperation of addiction. Thats a crime against another person, in this case their hard earned property. But to me punishing people for consentual, victimless lifestyle "crimes" like drugs, gambling, and prostitution is bullshit. Or the notion of locking someone up to rehabilitate them from drugs. If we stopped arresting 1,000,0000+ people a year for drug crimes, there would be prison space to effectively segregate the non violent property oriented inmates from the sociopathic, violent inmates. Thus preventing much unnecessary abuse and brutalization. In this case, the posters bf would be a lot safer. Green_Goddess, I apologize for going off on a tangent in your thread, and wish both of you the best in this situation.
Makes perfect sense, and I completely agree with you. I do think that the War on Drugs will end soon enough though, there is too much social pressure on politicians to reconsider it. I'm sure that they'll find another excuse to fill the prisons up though.
You boys really need to ignore the Ozzies. They don't fucking get it because they're a nation of inmates, you know...
No worries, and haha. Right. Ive really began to wonder if its possible for anyone to actually go through the measures it takes to become a politician without being corrupted on the way. Ron Paul gives me hope, but other than that it looks bad. The frontrunners with their dollar sign eyes and shit.
False, I was descended from free settlers of the Colony of South Australia, a settlement founded on the principles of freedom of religion. We were still racist colonialists which is probably worse.
Ron Paul just doesn't seem honest to me... feels like he's twisting his positions in order to get both liberal college student votes and old rich conservative votes at the same time. It's going to be very hard for him to stick to the issues when he's in office. Anyhow... I'm not going to spam this thread any longer.
Yeah I hear you on that. I'm somewhat wary myself, but most of what he says sounds good to me on paper at least. And yeah haha, stopping.