The US Prison System and Its Ties to the Economy - Final Installment in Six-part Series

What Can Americans Do?

It starts with those of us who have the right to vote, actually getting up and voting. It also means educating yourself and finding out what the candidates have been been doing. Who have they accepted campaign contributions from? What is their voting record and how does it impact the economy over the long run? We must stop seeing each issue as separate and recognize that they all add up to one grand picture.

The middle and lower classes must begin to realize that we have been manipulated by a divide and conquer mentality. The racism, prejudice and hate mongering is all created to keep the attention from the real issues. We are all in the same sinking boat and instead of bailing water, we've been hitting each other with our buckets and blaming each other for making the hole. All the while, the top 1% sit and laugh at us behind closed doors.

They create laws that are designed to target groups of people. Each year right before an election, voting laws are called into question and changed. The vast majority of people argue over whether or not the law is just, rather than realizing that the timing is such that no one can comply with these new regulations in time – it isn't about whether or not I have to show an ID, in other words. It's about whether or not I have time to get one right now. This is a simple matter of causing trouble and then stepping back and watching the people fight among themselves. We are divided and conquered. They are good at it.

Americans need to stop blaming each other and start looking at the people at the top of the food chain. Corporations have taken away your rights, bit by bit, by lobbying congress and paying the bills of your Senators, some of  whom have been in office for life. We need term limits, we need to abolish laws that aren't serving the middle and lower classes. We need tax reform that is fair and forces corporations to pay their fair share. We need to stop paying salaries of career politicians who serve a term or two and then collect benefits for life.

The reason CEOs make so much salary is because it is a tax write-off for their company! We need to close the tax loopholes that allow them to pay 10% tax while that Walmart employee is making $8 or less per hour and paying 35% of his/her paycheck to state and federal taxes. We need reform of the judicial system and to vote those off the bench who do not deserve to be there.


We need to place blame on ourselves for allowing this to happen to us and to wake-up and realize that the only way it is going to change is to get informed. Stop listening to everything that you hear! Read and research before you vote for someone. End the days of picking a name based on a recommendation that you were given or on a snappy television advertisement that you liked. Stop listening to everything that you hear and fully comprehend that your country has been slowly taken away from you and we are truly at a war to win it back. Ask yourself if the rhetoric being spewed forth by someone running for office is really a smoke screen for the things they do not want you to see. What is the political relevance of some of their arguments?

Understand that what is said is not generally the truth and if you want the best person for the job, you must do some research. Take voting seriously - someone died so that you had that right. If you still have the ability to vote, exercise your right because far too many in our country have lost it! This is not about republican or democrat, this is about your fundamental American freedoms that are being ripped away by both parties.



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The US Prison System and Its Ties to the Economy - Part Five of Six

Political Ties

It is interesting to note the ties to the economy that all of this has had. In the 1970s, after the War on Drugs that was instituted by the Nixon administration, there was a huge boon in the prison industry and a recession that followed. In the 1980s, after Reagan's push to “Just Say No,” there was also a large boon whereby private prison systems gained by leaps and bounds. Again, the country fell into recession. In the very early 2000s, George W. Bush instituted new laws that made it easier for Americans to be wire tapped, held longer without being charged and found guilty of new crimes that had never before been on the books. Again, private prisons saw a huge boon and politicians gained in donations to campaign funds. In fact, it became more far reaching than ever with companies like Black Water, who became known as “Bush's Shadow Army” over seas. Again, the country fell into recession. Meanwhile, paid mercenaries were doing deeds on behalf of our government that we were not even being told about.

Each time we have gone through recessions, the middle and lower class grow smaller and a larger percentage of them is disenfranchised. With each recession, the people at the bottom have further to climb to get back on their feet and most have not ever fully recovered from one by the time another hits. With each recession, more people are imprisoned because crime rates go on the rise. Those who have nothing to lose will turn to crime in higher percentages, in order to attempt to feed their families and pay bills with no hope of work in sight. Crime always climbs when the economy is bad.


As more and more money goes into private hands, there is less to be distributed among the poor. This results in more people relying on government programs for housing, food and medical assistance. This money in the private sector is also controlling minimum wage laws that die-out before they can ever make it out of the House. When CEOs of prisons are earning in excess of $5 million dollars per year in salary and the average worker at Walmart is only bringing home $17k per year at $8 per hour, it is not impossible to see why the middle class suffers. Lobbyists ensure that minimum wages stay low, while lining their own pockets and those of your senators and representatives. Either way, the middle and lower class lose while the rich get richer and the poor keep going to jail.

Please, take a moment to consider making a donation to the continuing effort to bring newsworthy reading to your attention. A lot of time and effort goes into interviews, fact-checking and research in order to bring you these blogs. Any donation at all is very much appreciated, as is your ongoing support and readership. Feel free to spread this news on your own social media networks.