Record-high ratio of Americans in prison

let's face it. amerikans know how to get the $$$ flowing while at the same time controlling the population at large. make villans out of a segment of the population (men, and especially black men), make new tough laws directed only at that segment, all the while creating new job opportunities (prisons, law enforcement, military, etc.) for those who conform and follow the new rules. and financing it all on the backs of the masses (taxes). ingenious. taking what has happened in recent history (germany, circa 1930 - 1940's) a step further. oh yeah, you must also need to keep the bad parts off the news.

funny, this is the first i've heard of these stats, and i've had the news on all afternoon. and all in the name of crime prevention or national security or protecting the people/children/whatever. very clever.

some conspiracy theory huh? but we have these nasty results, don't we?

did i mention the part about vilifying those being targeted or any who would dare speak out?

classic approach, but nuttinu.

Interesting, isn't it, that the story first mentions the word "men" in paragraph 20 of 24 paragraphs?

Given the numbers in the story, then in the defined group (20 - 34 year olds):

3.33% of all white men in that group are incarcerated
0.28% of all white women in that group are incarcerated
12 times as many white men as white women for that age group

11.11% of all black men in that group are incarcerated
1.00% of all black women in that group are incarcerated
11 times as many black men as black women in that age group

Based on these numbers, about 92%+ of all inmates for this age group are men. This gets no mention.

Interesting that the male/female comparison never gets made, though the ethnicity comparison does (justifiably) get made.

Why not?

We are imprisoning men at 11 times the rate of women, and state governments are concerned about the costs of imprisoning people. Perhaps, if state governments and the Federal government want to correct matters, they should look at the largest group of inmates and ask themselves "why is this group the largest part of the inmate population, and what can be done to reduce it?"

Anyone care to bet that some states, at least, will try to eliminate women's prisons as a cost-saving measure?

but wasn't this get outta jail free card
for the privileged ones recently in the news?
minions at it again.

and, if my poor memory serves biscuits tonite, a few years ago
didn't some form of this already happen? Mich, Minn?

in short, i want no part of that bet.

Not one soul within the US Government or Justice system will ever ask "why is this group the largest part of the inmate population, and what can be done to reduce it?"

The "justice" system in the USA is a business - it's there to MAKE money for the people who run it - and the people who are in the business want to GROW the business just like every other business.

Your question would be akin to Microsoft asking it's self why it's the largest software company in the world and wondering what it can do to shrink it's market share and maybe give Linux a better shot.

Not gonna happen.

The "justice" system in the USA is a business - it's there to MAKE money for the people who run it - and the people who are in the business want to GROW the business just like every other business.

Good point, Paragon. "Justice" has always been a balance of appearances vs facts - you want people to use your "justice" system because it appears preferable to going after your opponent with an axe, but in fact, you want to make it a growth industry, too. Lawyers and politicians have done well with that in the US and elsewhere. Developers of prisons have caught the wave lately. Aristocrats, Facists, Socialists, oligarchs of any stripe - they have all been very fond of their "justice" systems. Feminists are certainly fond of our "justice" system, as currently tuned by them.

What happens when a business fails to provide its customers what they want or need at a price they can afford?

Maybe we should be looking into people getting together and resolving problems with a mediator pulled off the street and a contract that is clearly understandable, something like "going judge" as in "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress". Bypass courts, skip lawyers, work out a justice system that works for the people being screwed by the current one - competition is supposed to be good for business, isn't it?

Myabe there are some more possible solutions out there - we already know about the problem.

We are told that 1 in 100 of our population is currently in prison or jail. Over time, more and more people we meet on the streets will be ex-inmates. Is the culture being "colonized" by people who share the common experience of being in prison? What does that imply for politics, culture, etc?

Maybe we should be thinking about what we need to say to this increasingly large segment of the population that will engage them. Somebody sure should, as they will have already been taught that the Gubbmit and society in general don't think much of them. When the majority of the adult population have been inside, you get a different set of responses than you do from the privileged. Maybe MRAs need to think about this developing demographic as a whole. It's a cinche that the Feminists are concerned with only the XX portion of that population, and then only in a periphrial way.

Most of these former inmates are male. They share common experiences and possibly, common resentments. They might feel "set apart" by the way society treats them. And they are disregarded by the Feminist-oriented power brokers that are trying to social-engineer our society. Want more MRAs? consider these people as a possibility.