Join Policy: Open
Created on: 17 Jan 2009
Description:
In a country that prides itself on its freedoms and opportunities for all its citizens, on its supposed equality for all, why is the United States incarcerating more of its citizens then any other country in the world?
Incarceration Statistics
As of 2006, a record 7 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole, of which 2.2 million were incarcerated. The People's Republic of China ranks second with 1.5 million. The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population. (Associated Press)
About 2 million people are currently in American prisons. Women represent the fastest rising prison population. Since 1980, the number of women imprisoned in the U.S. has risen by almost 400 percent. (Critical Resistance)
In the 25-29 age groups, 8.1 percent -- about one in every 13 -- of Black men are incarcerated, compared with 2.6 percent of Latino men and 1.1 percent of White men. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
What is the Prison-Industrial Complex?
The prison industrial complex (PIC) is a complex system involving governmental and private interests that uses prisons as a solution to social, political, and economic problems. It refers to interests groups that represent organizations that do business in corrections: such as construction companies, surveillance vendors, and weapons manufacturers or companies that benefit from inexpensive inmate labor.
The PIC depends on the institutionalized systems of racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia in the United States. It thrives on the public’s uninformed fears about crime and safety to build the culture of incarceration and punishment it needs to survive. While statistics clearly show that imprisonment is not and has never been a deterrent to crime, the State and corporations continue to use fear-mongering tactics to convince us that incarceration is the answer. Solving the issues that create crime or rehabilitation of “criminals” has never been their intent. After all, the less people they incarcerate, the less money they make.
How can I fight the Prison-Industrial Complex?
It is important to recognize the size and all-encompassing nature of this institution. It is not only in the justice system, news media, or police force. It is in the values of our society. It is in our way of thinking.
In order to fight the PIC, we must first reject archaic ideas of “vengeance” and “punishment.” We must realize that we need real solutions to the problems that plague our communities, not cookie-cutter reactions to individual incidents.
Opposing the PIC means we must organize and demand that the police and the State they hide behind be held accountable for their human rights abuses. We must oppose “No-Knock” laws and other violations of our basic rights. We must oppose discriminatory hiring practices and other institutions that deny ex-convicts opportunities at rebuilding their lives. Most importantly, we must oppose the government and economic system that has oppressed us for generations. Demand Liberation!
“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything… you take it.”
– Malcolm X
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Shoutbox
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lanathel gayvomitsex, stop joining silly groups, you silly!
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kennyken07 lol! at all you coffee shop revolutionaries..... lets all go to starbucks or the internet and talk about how upset we are at the system.
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noo_dog wow I think I disagree with just about every shout on this box, except the one about how much of a troll asmoron is. And wait yeah I'm a member
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stupidstuff Yes, we are animals - regardless of what j rotten says. I don't think that's such a bad thing.
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bens0n The prison system in its current implementation is nothing more than punishment, people who commit crimes should be rehabilitated to the point that they truly understand why what they did is wrong, not simply locked up and punished.
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Kszsztof "If we do what you say, we'll become extint :)" You're right, because everyone is a murder.
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g0dsavethequeen Murders should be publicly executed??? Are we animals or what? An the one who kills a murder... isn't a murder too? If we do what you say, we'll become extint :)
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mcc1200 Altough I presume that this group is made of communists/socialists/anarchists and such, I, as a conservative liberal monarchist agree that prisons are a bad thing. The state spends so much money on parasites siting in tight spaces, also resocialisation is a joke, a person locked up with criminals for years will not become an honest citizen. In my opinions minor offenders (like thieves) should be whipped, for heavier crimes whipped more, murderes should be publicly executed.
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Iowa656 I've got a communist blog I've just started. Current affairs, political theory. Check it out. http://confessionsofamarxist.blogspot.com/ Thanks!
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deepfriedbrain Also, free speech or freedom of expression, as a guaranteed right, implies that there is some kind of governing body that protects this right. Anarchists and some Communists believe in community action over state control... that being the case, me as a member of the last.fm community, has every right to confront and silence hatred... same as in my community in real life, I expose, confront, and fight hate-groups, religious fanatics, and an oppressive police force. I'm not gonna "live and let live" because they do not let me live. If we're talking revolution here, at some point you have to realize that it is impossible to have a revolution if you are not willing to ELIMINATE the enemy.
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deepfriedbrain
also if you re-read the post i referred to the person with that username as a "he"... not that I wanna be imposing gender roles on you but your profile says "female" therefor it should be obvious I'm not talking about you. However I do think that the "clean up last.fm" group is great and I will always defend it... if you believe in the "I may not agree with what you say, but I'll fight to the death your right to say it" Voltaire bullshit, you couldn't possibly be an anarchist. Anarchism is about direct action against oppression... speech can be just as, if not more oppressive, than actions. Nazis and KKK marching in a non-white community, IS oppressive, even if there is no violence involved. Are you going to tell people in Toledo, Jena, Selma, Nashville, Oakland, and every other city that has been recently plagued with hate group propaganda that they should just let these groups be? What gives you the audacity to claim that the oppressed are at the same level of the oppressor?
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deepfriedbrain
some stupid kid with the username "drjosephmengele" posted some ignorant shit right after you, that was who I was referring to. I'm not offended by "killyougood," I personally would like to see every racist scumbag "killed good" I am not against killing people... and all of these "idiot clubs" as you call them, incite people to violence... and how can you call yourself "anti-racist" if you believe in allowing people to spread racism? sounds contradictory to me... and I'm not berating you specifically, but I'm sick of people who claim I'm "stooping to their level" because I bash a nazi's skull in. Your argument is not at all original or insightful, it is merely the same peacenick liberal bullshit I've been hearing forever. I am not stooping to their level because I am not a racist, sexist, or homophobe. I believe in the equality of all human beings and an important part of that is fighting those who don't.
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killyougood thats not anti revolutionary, its just not your opinion. im an anti-racist anarchist. i just think if people want to get together and discuss their views, no matter how stupid or fucked up, fuckin let em. let them have their idiot clubs. it also makes them easy to point out when they represent that bullshit, too. sitting by and letting them act on those views is another thing. im not saying that at all. racism is ugly and ignorant, but im also against not letting people express how they feel about shit, no matter how wrong they are. i would imagine you started this group to have discussions about matters like this but all you did was jump down my throat. you think im wrong? maybe you should try to change my mind instead of berating me and suggesting i should be banned for my username. its a fuckin inside joke with some friends of mine. not condoning murder for fucks sake...
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deepfriedbrain
a guy I know once said, "Intolerance of intolerance is the only intolerance tolerated."
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deepfriedbrain
lol deleted the "asshole below me" ignore that point
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deepfriedbrain
stooping to their level? are you serious? "isolating, silencing and removing a certain group of people... sounds familiar" you're equating antifascism to fascism here... I really don't think this group is for you... the description specifically says "For Communists, Anarchists, Syndicalists, and general revolutionaries"... that attitude is very anti revolutionary. how could you ever believe you can make any sort of change in society if you're not willing to FIGHT against those that oppose you? It's your kind of attitude that has caused some of the history's greatest atrocities in the past 150 years to take place virtually unopposed. That asshole below me should be BANNED for having that hate-filled user name, for example. Fuck his free speech, he is a hate monger. I believe people have the right to express themselves artistically... but spreading hate, the same kind of hate responsible for the institutionalized murder and repression of billions for centuries, should not be tolerated.
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killyougood
then you're stooping to their level. isolating, silencing and removing a certain group of people... sounds familiar.
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deepfriedbrain
the group bogus85 is advertising focuses on "cleaning up" all the hateful nazi filth on last.fm... the war against fascism should not get caught up in the ideological pitfalls surrounding whether nazis should be given their "free speech." If bogus85's group was about removing dirty words from last fm it'd be different, but actually it's about silencing racist, sexist, and homophobic bullshit on last.fm. As Aus-Rotten so eloquently puts it "Fuck nazi sympathy! Don't give them freedom because they're not gonna give you yours!"
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killyougood
bogus85, this is probably one of the worst groups ever to advertise a pro-censorship group in. i mean, what the fuck?
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deepfriedbrain
hey guys sorry I haven't been as active in this group as I would have hoped... I've started working 2 jobs and have no time for anything... please continue the discussion and post more info
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