USA is #1 -- or Why? Part 3
A while back L-girl of we move to canada wrote that to her politics was personal, that behind policies were people whose everyday lives were affected. (I wish I could find the reference, but I can’t figure out how to search correctly.) I couldn’t agree more. Part of the reason why politics would ruin me is because I do take things personally. And that’s why, although it’s been on my mind for quite a while to write about this subject, I haven’t done so until now. Because when I try to force myself to systematically think about this, I feel like my head is going to explode.
The United States of America, home of the free and the brave, has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with 738 per 100,000 population in prison. The next highest is the Russian Federation with 607. China has 118, Cuba is approximately 487, Iran 206, Libya 207. Canada, by the way is ranked 121 with a rate of 107/100K, which puts it more in the company of the U.K., Spain, Australia and Italy. The U.S., is not only number one, but it stands alone – as it often does in many areas, but not ones that I’m proud of. Think about this: The United States has more people in prison – not just the rate – than anywhere else on Earth. About 600,000 more than China, although they have, what, four or five times the U.S. population. Two million, one hundred eighty-six thousand, two hundred thirty individuals; please stop and consider that number. Are you horrified?
It is very difficult to talk about this without spinning off onto tangents, each of which is worthy of study on its own. The crime rate in the United States is NOT higher than other industrialized nations, with the exception (natch) of violence, especially murder. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation without strict gun control and guns make it easier to kill people. But still, only about half of those in prison are there for violent offences. So that alone does not explain the U.S.’s unique status.
The U.S. gives far harsher sentences for non-violent property crimes, such as theft and burglary. Part of this is the American idea of individual responsibility: do the crime, do the time. I’d rather call it lack of social responsibility. We’d rather incarcerate people than educate them – most inmates do not even have a high school education – even though the latter is far cheaper, not even including social costs. There’s also been an attack on an independent judiciary and, in the name of getting tough on crime, legislators have tied the hands of judges in sentencing.
President Eisenhower warned us of the Military/Industrial complex; we’re pretty familiar with how that money and power drive our foreign policy (if it can even be called that). But how about the prison industry? The latest trend is to have private companies run prisons. Prison guard unions are strong. There are company towns where the “industry” is imprisonment. And prison labor is “leased” to all sorts of businesses. Technically, this is not slave labor, as the inmates are paid, although well below minimum wage and with as much as 80% of earnings paid back to their “hosts’ for room and board.
Of course, non-“whites” are much more likely to receive a jail term. This is, unfortunately, true in almost every country, including Canada. But when you look at the numbers in the U.S., it boggles the mind. We have institutionalized racism and called it “justice.” I am literally nauseous just thinking about it.
But let’s talk about the biggest reason for the incarceration rate increase in the United States since 1980: The War on Drugs. Remember that one? – it was before the War on Terror. Apparently, the White House is not happy unless we are at war. It doesn’t seem to matter to them when the wars are on our own citizens (or on peaceful citizens of other nations). I’m too young to remember President Johnson’s War on Poverty; it seems unreal to me that there was a time when a politician actually wanted to address a social issue without attacking people. Now we have the War on Poor People, especially those darker skinned than most politicians.
Persons in jail for drug offenses have increased more than ten-fold since 1980. Despite rhetoric from talking heads in Washington, these are not kingpins: most are for simple possession – and most of that for marijuana. I’m afraid I’ll start frothing at the mouth and become incoherent, but I’ll try to control myself. HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING SINCE PROHIBITION? It didn’t work! Almost all organized crime in the U.S. can be traced to that time. The social costs were enormous. It turned us into a nation of hypocrites. When laws don’t make any sense and are routinely ignored, people lose respect for law in general (IMHO). IF ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO ARE LEGAL THAN WHY NOT MARIJUANA? I’ll answer my own question: classism, racism, business, and history. Peter McWilliams covers this topic very well (and very readably) in Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society. (A great book, except I disagree with him about guns – a topic for another post.)
I would rather the government spend money on education and health care (including addiction treatment) than on prisons. My way would probably be cheaper over all, despite my liberal ways – but then the Republicans would lose their favorite activities of making sure resources stay with the rich, white, and powerful and intimidating everyone else.
The fair-minded like to believe that if people are in jail that there is a reason. In the United States, the problem is that those reasons are just as likely to be unjust laws as it is the commission of a crime. In a previous post, I asked how the United States has the nerve to call itself a democracy. Today I ask: How can we call the United States a free country?
Sources:
Incarceration Nation: The US is the World’s Leading Jailer, by Michael I. Niman, Buffalo Beat, January 4th, 2000
International Centre for Prison Studies (Click on “World Prison Brief” to look at statistical comparisons among nations.)
Comparative International Rates of Incarceration: An Examination of Causes and Trends, Presented to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, By Marc Mauer, Assistant Director, The Sentencing Project, June 20, 2003
The War on Marijuana: The Transformation of the War on Drugs in the 1990s, by Ryan S. King and Marc Mauer, Research Associate and Assistant Director, respectively, of The Sentencing Project, May 2005
The United States of America, home of the free and the brave, has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with 738 per 100,000 population in prison. The next highest is the Russian Federation with 607. China has 118, Cuba is approximately 487, Iran 206, Libya 207. Canada, by the way is ranked 121 with a rate of 107/100K, which puts it more in the company of the U.K., Spain, Australia and Italy. The U.S., is not only number one, but it stands alone – as it often does in many areas, but not ones that I’m proud of. Think about this: The United States has more people in prison – not just the rate – than anywhere else on Earth. About 600,000 more than China, although they have, what, four or five times the U.S. population. Two million, one hundred eighty-six thousand, two hundred thirty individuals; please stop and consider that number. Are you horrified?
It is very difficult to talk about this without spinning off onto tangents, each of which is worthy of study on its own. The crime rate in the United States is NOT higher than other industrialized nations, with the exception (natch) of violence, especially murder. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation without strict gun control and guns make it easier to kill people. But still, only about half of those in prison are there for violent offences. So that alone does not explain the U.S.’s unique status.
The U.S. gives far harsher sentences for non-violent property crimes, such as theft and burglary. Part of this is the American idea of individual responsibility: do the crime, do the time. I’d rather call it lack of social responsibility. We’d rather incarcerate people than educate them – most inmates do not even have a high school education – even though the latter is far cheaper, not even including social costs. There’s also been an attack on an independent judiciary and, in the name of getting tough on crime, legislators have tied the hands of judges in sentencing.
President Eisenhower warned us of the Military/Industrial complex; we’re pretty familiar with how that money and power drive our foreign policy (if it can even be called that). But how about the prison industry? The latest trend is to have private companies run prisons. Prison guard unions are strong. There are company towns where the “industry” is imprisonment. And prison labor is “leased” to all sorts of businesses. Technically, this is not slave labor, as the inmates are paid, although well below minimum wage and with as much as 80% of earnings paid back to their “hosts’ for room and board.
Of course, non-“whites” are much more likely to receive a jail term. This is, unfortunately, true in almost every country, including Canada. But when you look at the numbers in the U.S., it boggles the mind. We have institutionalized racism and called it “justice.” I am literally nauseous just thinking about it.
But let’s talk about the biggest reason for the incarceration rate increase in the United States since 1980: The War on Drugs. Remember that one? – it was before the War on Terror. Apparently, the White House is not happy unless we are at war. It doesn’t seem to matter to them when the wars are on our own citizens (or on peaceful citizens of other nations). I’m too young to remember President Johnson’s War on Poverty; it seems unreal to me that there was a time when a politician actually wanted to address a social issue without attacking people. Now we have the War on Poor People, especially those darker skinned than most politicians.
Persons in jail for drug offenses have increased more than ten-fold since 1980. Despite rhetoric from talking heads in Washington, these are not kingpins: most are for simple possession – and most of that for marijuana. I’m afraid I’ll start frothing at the mouth and become incoherent, but I’ll try to control myself. HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING SINCE PROHIBITION? It didn’t work! Almost all organized crime in the U.S. can be traced to that time. The social costs were enormous. It turned us into a nation of hypocrites. When laws don’t make any sense and are routinely ignored, people lose respect for law in general (IMHO). IF ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO ARE LEGAL THAN WHY NOT MARIJUANA? I’ll answer my own question: classism, racism, business, and history. Peter McWilliams covers this topic very well (and very readably) in Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society. (A great book, except I disagree with him about guns – a topic for another post.)
I would rather the government spend money on education and health care (including addiction treatment) than on prisons. My way would probably be cheaper over all, despite my liberal ways – but then the Republicans would lose their favorite activities of making sure resources stay with the rich, white, and powerful and intimidating everyone else.
The fair-minded like to believe that if people are in jail that there is a reason. In the United States, the problem is that those reasons are just as likely to be unjust laws as it is the commission of a crime. In a previous post, I asked how the United States has the nerve to call itself a democracy. Today I ask: How can we call the United States a free country?
Sources:
Incarceration Nation: The US is the World’s Leading Jailer, by Michael I. Niman, Buffalo Beat, January 4th, 2000
International Centre for Prison Studies (Click on “World Prison Brief” to look at statistical comparisons among nations.)
Comparative International Rates of Incarceration: An Examination of Causes and Trends, Presented to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, By Marc Mauer, Assistant Director, The Sentencing Project, June 20, 2003
The War on Marijuana: The Transformation of the War on Drugs in the 1990s, by Ryan S. King and Marc Mauer, Research Associate and Assistant Director, respectively, of The Sentencing Project, May 2005
posted by Daniel wbc at 5:32 PM
2 Comments:
Keep up the thought provoking posts! And thanks for the references, too.
Awesome commentary!
I keep telling my family we are also moving to Canada so they have a place to seek refuge after the US is ruined by the military industrial complex.
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