Prisons and Economics

Have you ever thought about why the U.S. has one of the largest prison populations in the world as a percentage of our total population?  In this country with so much to offer, why is it so many people end up in prison?  Is it drugs alone that drives it, or is that merely a symptom?

I suspect it is at least partially a result of our affluence.  The growth and application of technology displaces people.  There is no country on the planet that has experienced this more than the U.S.  When workers are displaced -- lose their job -- they often have difficulty finding other meaningful employment.  Lack of employment leads in some cases to crime and in others to substance abuse and often to both.

In our self-centered culture, where comparison with our peers is encouraged through marketing and media, there is virtually no safety net for those going through the trauma of forced job change.  It isn't an easy situation and it is worsened by the isolation of going it alone which is often the case.  The pressure to "succeed" may drive misbehavior.

Our inner city ghettos are to a large extent the result of the displacement of workers -- either from agriculture or from industry.  Not everyone is suited for an office career.  When there are fewer and fewer unskilled, or low-skilled jobs available, not everyone is able to find work within a commutable distance.  What do those individuals do for income? -- they may become dependent on the government, or they may turn to crime.  Rarely are they able to relocate to opportunity.  Mobility requires a certain level of affluence.

Some might suggest it is a Darwinian process brought on by an improved societal structure where we move closer and closer to universal availability, or access to unlimited energy, food and land (or, space).  This is a Utopian dream of those whose view includes a dependency on technology as a force of good that frees mankind from the drudgery of labor.  I wonder though, without labor -- the work of one's hands -- where does one find the value of contribution?  If I have nothing to do, how can I contribute to society?

For those who are committed to the future of a technological age where machines allow each and every person to experience a life of luxury and leisure, only the wealthy, those who "own" the tools and methods of producing those machines, will experience that Utopia -- at least that is the case in a capitalistic economy.  The remainder of humanity will either die out, congregate in increasingly larger slums, or become wards of a pervasive and universal government.  Those who conform and meekly submit to a life of dependency will become a temptation to the powerful who would find ways to exploit them, while those who rebel against the loss of dignity will spend their lives as wards of the state in ever expanding prisons.

I'm certainly no expert on any of this, but the whole issue concerns me greatly.  I don't have any clear answers, but a few things come to mind.  1)  We must raise the dignity of manual labor.  2)  We must find ways to evaluate the societal and environmental cost of technology.  3)  We must examine how our economic system can reward behavior that accounts for more than the short-term transaction cost of a micro-economic decision.

Just my thoughts this morning....