“But if the argument for abolition is primarily moral, it must be made more carefully than it often is.”
In defence of America’s prison-industrial complex, The Economist, October 17, 2019
Well, here’s my moral argument against private prisons: if the great and glorious State is going to turn a citizen into a non-being for a period of time, then the great and glorious State is morally obliged to look after that non-being’s mind and body for that period of time. The State enriching the private sector is not new, but this version of that seems particularly heinous to me. I hope it becomes illegal for anything other than the State to incarcerate another human being for any reason. Lastly, if taxpayers foot the bill for the sick society they seem not to notice they live in, well, they might notice, and demand rehabilitation and cheaper prison deterrent programs in their communities to lower the understandably high costs of being our brothers and sisters keepers, for God’s sake. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. What’s wrong with America? Greed and stupidity? Oh, that’s right.