So all we need to do is find a way to put people in prison!
Win-win!
Important to add, once freed they will be ineligible to take a job as a firefighter in California.
this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2025
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That's the first sensible advocacy point I've seen sense I started reading these threads. It really doesn't make sense to assign prisoners to jobs they're legally barred from.
From what I've heard this is actually an excellent job for many of them. It's good pay (for prison labor) doing valuable work with a lot of dignity. And it's work for their community that's valuable on the outside. It should always be truly voluntary else it be horrifying, but if they can't do it once they get out it's not job training and it's not reducing recidivism. These prisoners are doing heroic work, let them be heroic once freed.
All prison jobs should pay actual wages and be voluntary though. While the firefighting job is voluntary, many prison jobs are not. Including jobs making products for private companies.
Fine by me - I've hired ex-cons to do work on my house and would hire them again. But there's a lot of vindictiveness about people's past deeds. An excellent computer programmer I worked with got fired when her background check turned up a prostitution arrest from when she had been a homeless 18-year-old. Then at age 32, after turning her life around, she found herself being abruptly escorted from the building by two security guards. The problem was that we worked in a school district headquarters - nowhere near away students, but rules are rules and bureaucrats gonna crat, right? I would have had her give talks in front of high school kids. But it isn't just misdirected authority - ordinary people social media will equally crucify somebody for Liking the wrong tweet. Maybe flinging shit is just a primate instinct, I dunno.
A large force of inexperienced indentured servants fighting the blaze, yet so much coverage about the horror of a handful of female hires.
I mean...if you've got a trained firefighter, someone who understands fire science...do they need to be the ones holding every hose? Why not just a bunch of muscle holding the hose (or digging the trenches) under the guidance of a pro?
A lot of them are experienced though. They’ve been using prison labor for wildfire fighting for years.
Slavery live and alive
I don't think we have chain gang type prison programs in Canada. It's so archaic. Making license plates to have an occupation might be reasonable, but this chain gang shit is inhumane.
So you and people who get free room and board should get equal pay, or they're slaves, but you're not. Got it.
In most states it's not free. You have to pay room and board after you get out. Or they send you back, even if you served your full assigned time. The fees are legislated as part of your sentence and you're not clear of the system until you've paid it for imprisoning you.
My issue really isn't how fair it is or isn't, and you can always bring up the most unfavorable laws as if they're a universal standard. My issue is simply with calling prison labor "slavery", which not only is inaccurate but cheapens the experience of people who have endured actual slavery.
What are you thinking slavery actually was? American slavery ended up being the worst kind. But there were all kinds of other slaves throughout history. At the end of the day, forced labor is slavery. Even if it has an end date.
If by "at the end of the day" you mean "overdramatic words make my argument sound stronger."
Really living up to that name lovablesidekick
Thanks, I'm actually very cuddly!
How about everyone should be able to live somewhere without having to pay for it.
I totally agree with that and I believe the end of the scarcity economy is definitely on the horizon, but let's discuss current issues within the current real world if that's okay.
"Let's discuss current issues" while you try to pit prisoners against wage slaves?
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