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RE: The War On The Middle Class
"Buy American" which is a wonderful idea...
Inmate labor is still technically "American" so because that is an increasing form of product and service production that amounts to basically slave labor "Buy American" is not a good thing if that is how the product is made. :(
I know... That's not the buy American I was talking about. I'm talking about the one that creates value added. That's the foundation of building and sustaining a middle class.
Yes. I know what you were talking about. I wasn't attempting to attack what you were saying. I was simply adding something I try to bring to awareness these days because it appears to be very hidden from the public. "Buy American" is not a good thing if it is being fueled by slave labor and people imprisoned for victimless crimes. I realize some inmates are there with good reason. I also realize hard labor is a good thing. Yet a couple of decades ago it started moving away from hard labor and into an ever increasing number of products and services. At the same time the products and services they would go into business in would eventually result in some types of businesses no longer being viable for people trying to do them outside of prisons. They couldn't compete. Many of them didn't even know why they couldn't compete. Their market simply dried up.
So when I hear "Made in America" or "Buy American" I too want people to be purchasing American products. I simply do not want it to be the products manufactured by the prisons. That is no better, and perhaps even worse than out sourcing to other countries as it gives motivations for enslaving more people with victimless crimes. Prison jobs as far as I am concerned should be the jobs no one else wants to do.
You got that right! Over 60% of prisoners are there for victimless crimes- a lot of them for pot because of mandatory sentencing.