PRISON INDUSTRY AS A PROFITABLE BUSINESS IN THE USA It is a little strange that there are 2.2 million prisoners in the US, while the US makes up less than 5% of the world population, yet houses close to 25% of the global prison population. The prison industry is hugely profitable, so private corporations keep on greedily building one prison after another. Collecting government money for the administrative costs while exploiting prisoners for unpaid labor. It turns providing prisoners with food, medical services and other basic necessities has greatly benefited the service industry. Securing prisons has become its own economy. This is how the so-called prison-industrial complex has become a booming business. A "prison-industrial complex" is not possible without the "industrial" part. Thousands of US businesses participate in this exploitation system, many publicly traded and household names. These corporations have monetized crime and punishment with the government's help and put profit over everything. Incarcerated people also work, making everything from license plates to body armor vests and mattresses. In California, some even serve as firefighters. In New York, they made hand sanitizer during the pandemic, a hygiene product they were not allowed to use. But in some places, they are employed by major corporations such as Minnesotabased 3M. These American citizens get paid 8 to 15 cents an hour for this labor. In the State of Texas where they have them picking cotton, they get paid nothing – an image of slavery. Before the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, businesses weren't interested in taking a permanent stand fearing economic risks. Now is not the time for weighing economic risk or parsing profit margins. It's time for US businesses to divest from the prison system and play their part in overhaul of List of the Disadvantages and Advantages 1. Private prisons turn human beings into a commodity. 1.Privatization allows the market to maintain taxpayer expenses. 2.It encourages more money to change hands inappropriately. 2.Private prisons help to create jobs in their communities. 3. Private prisons create a system of dependency. 3.A private prison can make money in multiple ways. 4.The private prison industry limits training opportunities. 4.It can provide a job that serves as a stepping-stone into law enforcement work. 5.The companies running a private prison can sometimes choose their population. 5.Private prisons produce consistent results. It is essential to remember that there is an equal number of studies that support the idea of prison privatization as there are ones that recommend against this policy. Even the government struggles to know whether or not this idea is a good one. That means the advantages and disadvantages of private prisons rely on individual perspectives and community involvement. If we work together to keep costs down while maintaining appropriate conditions, then it can be a useful business model for the criminal justice system. When this level of support is not possible, then pursuing this idea may not be in our best interests.
