Privatization

I read recently that Arizona is considering putting their prisons into private hands. This is a very dangerous idea here in America where someone once said that “in the American vernacular of the English language, bigger is a synonym for better”. So with that in mind, what does a for-profit prison system do in order to prosper and return bigger (therefore better) profits to its owners each year. Get more prisoners. The only way to continue to profit is for crime to increase. And of course, once they have all these prisoners under their legal control, they are pretty much free to do whatever they like with them. Like rent them out as cheap labor to local business. Prisoners get “paid” somewhere between 12 and 40 cents per hour. This is basically institutional slavery. Plus, what does that do to the local job market for people who have been lucky enough to stay out of prison? People who make, let’s say, minimum wage, $7.25 per hour? People who can complain and quit if they don’t like the work. No contest.
So as the prison population goes up, the business gets better every year. Well… what if crime does not increase? Might the prison industry lobby for tougher law enforcement? Their local congressman would certainly go to bat for them, considering he comes from a district where the prisoners are counted in determining the size of his district, but are not allowed to vote. Perhaps even try to pass tougher laws. What would their interest be, for example, if the state decided to decriminalize marijuana, citing medical evidence that there is no danger and it’s no worse than alcohol? The prison/industrial complex would be apoplectic! No more marijuana busts? That’s one of our best profit lines!
There are some things that just should not be for-profit business. Basic necessities, for example... Food, clothing, shelter, education, medicine, highways… Putting these elemental necessities into private hands guarantees that prices are going to rise until there are people who can no longer afford them. What does that do to society at large? Are we putting our faith in corporations to do the best thing for society, even at possible cost to themselves? Grow up.