Since When Did America Re- Introduce The Concept Of Slavery?

This morning, as I settled down to my breakfast on the terrace of my Bali house, I scanned my i Pad to catch up on the goings on around the world as portrayed by the ever ‘-reliable’ fourth estate. A couple of articles did jump out which made for interesting reading, one being the recent visit to a correctional facility by Barack Obama.

Seems that, at the current rate of incarceration, soon there will be precious few young citizens, who are currently not behind bars in that country. I do find the use of the words ‘correctional facilities ‘ to be a bit of a double entendre, but who am I to comment?

Perhaps one of the good things to come out of Obama's visit is that congress is currently considering setting free over six thousand inmates who have been languishing in prison for years for relatively minor misdemeanors, having fallen victim to the 'three strikes and you’re out’ rule.

Curious, I decided to do a little research into the state of America’s prisons and how they operate.  What I discovered is that this is a thriving industry run in part by private corporations whose inmates are little more than slaves themselves. If Abraham Lincoln were still around today, he would no doubt wonder why there was a civil war to eradicate slavery, for today, hidden behind high walls and barbed wire, slavery is alive and well in the land of the brave and the home of the free!

Imagine this if you will.

In America, current laws state that no goods are allowed into the country, which are perceived to have been manufactured using slave labour or indeed, prison labour. That's OK I thought, that’s an admirable and highly ethical standard to adhere to and one that should be applauded. However as I delved deeper into various articles covering policies relating to correctional facilities, I discovered a world I had no idea existed.

 Slavery.

According to recent statistics, America has imprisoned more of its own citizens than any other society in history! That's right HISTORY. Forget Stalin. Forget Lenin, they were pussies compared to the policies employed by our friendly superpower.

The draconian, " Three Strikes and You're Out " rule has, over time, resulted in this jaw-dropping statistic;

White Males 24 - 34 incarcerated                      1 in 30

Black males   24 - 34 incarcerated                      1 in 9

There are now more 17-year-old black youths in jail than there are in college!

When one does the math and includes older demographics,  (most articles I found neglected to mention women's correctional institute statistics) it equates to over 1% of the population currently residing in jail. So, what on earth does one do with all of these people imprisoned at a huge cost to the American taxpayer? The short answer is, they have to work and work they do!

All of the military’s combat helmets, ID tags and Body Armor are produced using prison labour. Inmates produce 93 % of all paint manufactured in America. 36% of all household appliances are assembled and dispatched from a variety of institutions scattered across the country. 21% of all office furniture is manufactured and distributed by prisoners. (Think about that when you are sitting around the desk at your next sales meeting)

The list went on and on, which made me look around my own home and I began to wonder just how many goods I use every day are made by someone serving a life sentence?

Now for the really, really good bit!

Wages.

America rewards its inmates for their hard labour at the princely sum of 25c per hour, or roughly  $2 per day. Granted, the workers do get three square meals a day, shelter and as much sodomy as they desire, so, by capitalistic standards, it is one of the cheapest labour pools in the world!   To sweeten the deal for these, mostly private institutions, all overheads, including housing, feeding and clothing the inmates are charged back to the taxpayer!

As a champion of democracy and freedom, (excuse the pun) the country does not force its convicts into work. Oh, no, that would be undemocratic. Of those prisoners who choose not to participate in the labour pool, as is their right, they are simply locked away for 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. However, they are permitted an hour’s runaround in a concrete pen the size of a half of a tennis court.

I am certainly not using this piece to champion prisoners rights; all I am saying is that, we in the west are mindful of buying goods produced by 'cheap, exploited labour' in the East. But the scenario that exists is in correctional facilities in the West, it becomes a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.

America’s three strikes and you’re out law means anyone with a couple of convictions committed in the flush of adolescence, will have these misdemeanours follow them for life.  Steal a Hershey bar from a convenience store and, "if you got prior," it’s off to churn out helmets and the like for Halliburton and other companies for the foreseeable future. Well pretty much for the rest of your life actually!

Spielberg’s wonderful production, ‘Lincoln’ was a watershed film and one that touched the hearts of many Americans making them feel good for what their forefathers achieved in eliminating the horror of enslaving one's fellow human beings. 

With the resurrection of modern-day slavery, it seems to me that Spielberg could quite easily conjure up a sequel. 

Paul v Walters is an international best selling author and when not cocooned in sloth and procrastination in his house in Bali scribbles for several travel and vox pop journals around the globe.