The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery?
NOVANEWS
By Vicky Peláez
Global Research
From our archives. This incisive and carefully researched article was first published by Global Research in March 2008.
Human rights organizations, as well as political and social ones, are condemning what they are calling a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million – mostly Black and Hispanic – are working for various industries for a pittance. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don’t have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don’t like the pa...