Keeping order in an inherently socially unjust capitalistic society

How stupid and corrupt are Americans? Very.

We spend more on prisons than we would on college for people we incarcerate.

We certainly are not the land of the free. As a capitalist, materialistic society where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer the price we pay for social order is a huge prison and criminal justice system to keep the poor folks in line. It works but it is costly. Is this how we want America to be?

Here is a snippet from an article on Bill Moyers web site on prisons in America.

The United States is the number one jailer on the planet, and by a comfortable margin: with 5% of the world population, the U.S. holds 25% of its total prisoners, 2.3 million people. If you include those on parole or probation, the number grows to 7.3 million Americans, one in every 31 adults. Incarceration is not cheap. The U.S. spends $60 billion dollars every year maintaining its ever-growing prison system. It is the second-fastest growing state budget item, after Medicaid.

To read more click here.

This is article #1 in a series on Prisons In America.