Phil wrote:Yeah, it's kind of interesting--Russia is figuring out ways to avoid putting people in prison, while the US is working on finding ways to put more of them there.
Indeed, and both nations are wrong in symmetrically opposite ways, at least in the sense that the US criminalizes victimless offenses apparently in support of the alcohol and tobacco industries, while Russia is legitimizing organized crime and crimes of violence. But it does seem for what its worth that the American "war on drugs" is running its course and will soon wither on the vine, while Russian distortion of the usual rules of civil society is growing ever more extreme. On the other hand, Russian police militarization is already complete and has been for generations down to the use of military ranks like Colonel and General for police officers and MVD officials, while the American tendency in that regard is still on the increase ... as we have all so painfully just experienced.
I think corporatised prisons are both a clear expression of the essential American problem of corporate control of society and an interesting target for work to adjust the problem, because most citizens likely don't understand how they work and would be appalled by them if they did. But they seem to be very deeply integrated into state economies and hence will be difficult to work through legislatures due to the cash flow and the dependence of the state economies on this system of "criminal" exploitation. So I have no idea how to attack the issue either, sad to say.