Night in The Box
Thursday, November 13th, 2003 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flwydPrivate prison construction is a $2 billion a year industry. Its profitability is rivaled by the private administration of prisons. This is a fundamentally flawed system because it gives groups a financial incentive for lots of people to break the law. It is in the interest of prison service companies for people to commit rape, burglary, arson, and murder. It is further in their interest for as many behaviors to be criminalized as possible. The prison industry contributes more to political campaigns than the NRA, and you can bet they don't support the decriminalization of nonviolent private drug use.
I have a better solution which could increase the profits of such companies while decreasing the crime incentive. When your system administrator wants to protect a computer, he doesn't build a firewall around everyone who could compromise the computer in question. Rather, he builds a firewall around the computer.
Analogously, prison companies could offer their services to people concerned about the dangerous world. The terrorists won't blow you up if you lock yourself in jail. I imagine such customers would be willing to pay more for better accommodations. Comfortable beds, private showers, better food. And just think of all the annoying tasks they'd do for you -- cooking, shopping, cleaning, screening mail... And most of it is provided at minimal cost by prisoners!
Jail: The Original Gated Community.
I have a better solution which could increase the profits of such companies while decreasing the crime incentive. When your system administrator wants to protect a computer, he doesn't build a firewall around everyone who could compromise the computer in question. Rather, he builds a firewall around the computer.
Analogously, prison companies could offer their services to people concerned about the dangerous world. The terrorists won't blow you up if you lock yourself in jail. I imagine such customers would be willing to pay more for better accommodations. Comfortable beds, private showers, better food. And just think of all the annoying tasks they'd do for you -- cooking, shopping, cleaning, screening mail... And most of it is provided at minimal cost by prisoners!
Jail: The Original Gated Community.
