Reply #44: Yes, of course, that's what the radio show is about... [View All]

[JackRiddler]

Well worth listening to. The war on drugs was the single most important factor, of course.

But there's more at work here: the war on the poor; incarceration as an alternative to welfare; fear, reaction and punishment of urban black dissent.

The fear factor: stoking fear of crime gets votes, politicians escalate in an effort to outdo each other (three strikes, two strikes, death penalty).

And, of course, the profit motive, once the prison-industrial complex got into swing: Wackenhut, cheap prison labor, etc.

Finally, there's your awesome bureaucratic and political momentum. Hundreds of billions in budgets and huge institutions employing tens of thousands now depend on crime and punishment!