I’m fond of pointing out that a lot of people make money off poor people in the ghetto. You know you’re in the ghetto as soon as you see a check cashing joint or liquor stores with malt liquor signs. In every city, there’s a grocery chain doing business in the hood. They have big signs about the various forms of food programs they accept. The lottery, of course, is about ripping off the poor, but its for the children so it’s OK.
Whenever I mention this the libertarians tell me that the poor need stuff too and besides, they don’t have to buy cheap beer and snacks with their EBT cards. They have choices. Maybe so, but it takes a soulless person to think this is a proper way to make money.
Middle-class white people simply cannot fathom the impact prison has in the black ghetto. For the typical white person, prison is something you see on TV. It’s where bad men are sent to be raped. In the ghetto, prison is like college. The boy hits a certain age and he goes off to prison. Everyone has a relative in the can. In some parts of the ghetto, 80% of males are either ex-cons or in the system. That means waiting for trial or on probation.
I don’t want you to think I’ve gone soft. The people in prison are there because they belong there. The nonsense about our jails being full of potheads is exactly that, nonsense. Almost all of the drug offenders are there because they pleaded down a more serious charge. There are a lot of very bad men in the ghetto, but nothing like our prisons.
Still, the warping of civil society in this way is troubling. In California, the prison guard unions lobby for more and more laws and longer sentences. The reason is it is good for business. More laws means more criminals. That means more prisons and more prison jobs. You can be sure the people behind this new scheme will be all in favor of more jails and more people in them. Prison is their business now.
Speaking of… Last Week Tonight: The Lottery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PK-netuhHA
In the 18th century, states used lotteries to fund many infrastructure projects. They were like the 50-50 drawings churches and social groups use. Half went to the winners and half went to the project. Lottery tickets signed by George Washington are collectors items.
There’s an argument that state sanctioned gambling, particularly lotteries, broke the back of the Mafia. Why play the numbers with the mob when you can play with the state? Legals gambling put a very big dent on the Italian Mafia, for sure, but whether it was determinative is debatable.
Sometimes I think we were better off when the mob ran gambling- I’m sure there were neighborhoods where gambling- numbers, sports betting, etc. were easy to find- but I’ll bet there was less gambling. 50/50 raffles don’t really strike me as gambling- most who contribute do so to support the organization- and lots of people just turn in their winnings minus their initial contribution. I find sin taxes to be a problem- the state is making money off the weaknesses of its citizens- I feel that way about cigarette (life-long non smoker here) and booze (known to take a drink… Read more »
Yes the criminal justice system is a huge industry based the the misery and suffering of human beings, both perpetrators and victims. There is little incentive to correct the societal problems that place millions of mostly young, black men behind bars. I know they have committed crimes and cannot go unpunished but can’t we do better? Recidivism is so high it seems foolish to release any of them. But, but can we not find incentives to stop the continually escalating wave of criminality? I am not smart enough to know the answer but surely there are those who are. Please… Read more »
The criminal justice system sucks, but the alternative is worse. America has some of the worst prisons, but also some of the worst criminals, too.