Is penal labour acceptable?
- Thread starter Machjo
- Start date
Except that he has the money to buy "innocense" and in fact already has in that some of the charges have been dropped.
That's what they tell society.. They've convinced you that they are innocent of any crime as they are driven by the mental health issues that compel them to commit these crimes... It just isn't their fault, right?
What would you prefer? Time in the pokey sitting around all day doing **** all or time in the loonie bin rewiring their noggin's to realize that nobody owes them **** all and it's not their right to commit crimes?
You'd be wise to get your head around the reality that there is no free lunch.. The ONLY person that owes you anything is yourself.
To those who say prison labour would take jobs away from non-convicts, it doesn't have to be an either-or scenario. There is so much that needs to be done it would be easy to create work for all, and I do believe the government should put all of the unemployed to work.
Now, don't interpret this too simply. I'm not necessarily suggesting the government hire all the unemployed and then find something for them to do. That's just make-work jobs, and we don't need that. Each job should be a productive one.
When I say the government ought to take an active role in ensuring employment for all, I mean this:
1. Deal with classical unemployment by removing minimum wage legislation;
2. Deal with skills-deficient unemployment by providing education for those who need it to give them the skills they need in the workforce; and
3. Deal with geographical unemployment by having ministries of education in Canada and abroad to agree on common education standards for various trades and professions, and establish free labour-movement agreements with as many countries as possible;
That should deal with most cases of unemployment.
And if there is still unemployment then, then study its cause and deal with each form of unemployment head on.
But we do have to abandon this notion of an either or scenario, that we must ensure X is unemployed to protect Y's job. That's a pretty defeatist and depressing view. I think with good management, the government could ensure productive work for all.
And even if we took on a kinder approach not requiring a convict to work, why not at least give him the choice of working should he wish to do so, along with free education in an appropriate trade or profession. We might as well get something out of them, seeing that we're paying for their room and board either way.
Now, don't interpret this too simply. I'm not necessarily suggesting the government hire all the unemployed and then find something for them to do. That's just make-work jobs, and we don't need that. Each job should be a productive one.
When I say the government ought to take an active role in ensuring employment for all, I mean this:
1. Deal with classical unemployment by removing minimum wage legislation;
2. Deal with skills-deficient unemployment by providing education for those who need it to give them the skills they need in the workforce; and
3. Deal with geographical unemployment by having ministries of education in Canada and abroad to agree on common education standards for various trades and professions, and establish free labour-movement agreements with as many countries as possible;
That should deal with most cases of unemployment.
And if there is still unemployment then, then study its cause and deal with each form of unemployment head on.
But we do have to abandon this notion of an either or scenario, that we must ensure X is unemployed to protect Y's job. That's a pretty defeatist and depressing view. I think with good management, the government could ensure productive work for all.
And even if we took on a kinder approach not requiring a convict to work, why not at least give him the choice of working should he wish to do so, along with free education in an appropriate trade or profession. We might as well get something out of them, seeing that we're paying for their room and board either way.
Exactly but try and tell that to those who are screwed in the noggin criminally.
Brain scans reveal the criminal mind - Health - Mental health - msnbc.com
The criminal mind
In one recent study, scientists examined 21 people with antisocial personality disorder – a condition that characterizes many convicted criminals. Those with the disorder "typically have no regard for right and wrong. They may often violate the law and the rights of others," according to the Mayo Clinic.
Brain scans of the antisocial people, compared with a control group of individuals without any mental disorders, showed on average an 18 percent reduction in the volume of the brain's middle frontal gyrus, and a 9 percent reduction in the volume of the orbital frontal gyrus — two sections in the brain's frontal lobe.
Another brain study, published in the September 2009 Archives of General Psyciatry, compared 27 psychopaths — people with severe antisocial personality disorder — to 32 non-psycopaths. In the psychopaths, the researchers observed deformations in another part of the brain called the amygdala, with the psychopaths showing a thinning of the outer layer of that region called the cortex and, on average, an 18-percent volume reduction in this part of brain.
Sure, if they wanna work they can work. One team goes along the perimeter of the prison yard digging a ditch, and a second team follows a few yards behind them, filling it in. Other than that, keep them out of the economy. Why should a landscaper, for example, who risks his life savings to start a landscaping business, be forced to compete with prison labour?
That would be an insult to a human's worth. Either we make them do productive work or we don't require them to work at all. Work ought never be an end in itself. In fact, it would be preferable not to work than to engage in a purely make-work task.
When we get private owned prisons that pay shareholders quarterly based on the number of inmates they house and how cheaply they house and how much the products they produce are retailed for, then this will be an issue of great debate.
I disagree. Prisoners are in prison for a reason, they have surrendered their rights. You can get creative if you want and build a pretend economy within the prison, allowing people to advance and improve their lot as a reward system as someone suggested, by participating in a slew of various "jobs". Everything from laundry to developing a prison web site. The work doesn't have to be literally digging ditches, and it doesn't have to be mandatory. Just keep it out of the economy outside the prison is all I'm saying, or else, again as someone already suggested, you risk building a slave labour infrastructure similar to what China is famous for.
Or USA. There is a Sherriff and a whack of his deputies in Texas who were pinned for planting drugs and arresting innocents to get kick backs from the private run, for profit County jail.
Remember though that prison labour is limited in its job prospects. no matter how many work options we want to give them, they'll always be limited to working either in prison or under constant surveillance. Any employment requiring considerable freedom would thus obviously be out of the question. Don't count on a convict working in import-export business negotiations abroad for example.
So either their work is virtual (i.e. on-line), in-place, such as in a prison factory, or in a group setting, such as farming communities or such.
Especially dangerous convicts could not work with the public, so even restaurant work would be out of the question for them at least.
So looking at it in practical terms, convicts would have a hard time competing with freemen on most fronts.
So what's the worry?
Also, seeing that there are only so many convicts, once they're all hired out, then what? And considering that prison labour would build up their self-confidence and skills, they're less likely to reoffend, meaning an even smaller pool of convicts.