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NEWS & LETTERS, February 2008 - March 2008Voices From the Inside OutCapitalization of prisonersBy Robert Taliaferro Raya Dunayevskaya, in AMERICAN CIVILIZATION ON TRIAL (ACOT), wrote of capitalistic development, "Swallowing up of smaller capital, destruction of cutthroat competition alongside of monopolization, not to mention cheating on top of exploitation--that was the way of all great American fortunes built by means more foul than fair..." Though Dunayevskaya was talking about Andrew Carnegie, her ideas could address today's capitalization of prisoners, their families, and friends. MONOPOLIES USED AGAINST PRISONERS Monopolies, illegal in the business world, run rampant when businesses deal with prisoners. In fact, many state governments receive kickbacks and incentives from phone companies for allowing exclusive contracts that charge prisoner families and friends exorbitant fees for using their services. The phone service "Embarq," for instance, charges up to $9 for a 20-minute call in the same state. Of this $9, $3 is charged to connect the calling and receiving parties. They also decide who can and cannot receive calls. If a phone bill gets too high, even if the bill is not Embarq's, the company will cut off access to their service until the bill is paid. There are much cheaper alternatives to the current system, but Embarq--and similar companies around the country--block all efforts to cut into their profits shared by the company and the states who are in their pocket. Typewriter ribbons, sheets, toothpaste, soap, and nearly all products, carry the label, "Made in" anyplace but here. The items sold were once manufactured by U.S. prisoners or in small communities. Though prisoners are paid pennies a day (if they are paid at all), they and their families are required to pay premium prices. With the prison-building frenzy of the 1980s and 1990s, many small operations grew exponentially. Companies like Access/Keefe Supply, have a near monopoly on canteen items sold to the majority of prisons around the country. Recently, some states have exacerbated this monopoly by requiring prisoners to purchase personal items exclusively from the "Prison Four" (Access, Walkenhorst, J.L. Marcus, and Union Supply). "Approved" catalog items are often more pricey than the same item in catalogs that are not designated "approved" for prisoners. Families can't shop around for cheaper or better products. One such catalog offers various reams of typing paper in price from $9.99 to $45.99 a ream. Those prices could buy several cases of paper in bulk. Highly consumable items like paper, pens, and envelopes--sold in prison canteens as a staple for generations--now must be bought from the "prison four" at inflated prices. The biggest fraud in the capitalization of prisoners is money spent for so-called "rehabilitation programs." The scourge of prisoners everywhere, they offer little if any accountability, and are pronounced failures whenever anyone takes the time to conduct an accurate and impartial assessment. Programs, in essence, are a form of socialized slavery, designed by the white middle class to imbue their values and principles on a population they do not understand: the "Borg-like" mentality of science fiction, that does not allow resistance, not if you want to get paroled, or get a prison job. Aspects of incarceration that do work to lessen recidivism rates--educational and vocational programs--receive less and less funding each year, while the funding of programs, which require prisoners to quit their education, grows--even though studies have shown that few if any treatment programs have any sustainable success. In the U.S., the capitalization of prisoners, their families and friends have become a runaway imperative. The country currently incarcerates one out of every 32 persons, and one out of every eight Black males between the ages of 25 to 29 years. VIOLATION OF FREEDOM Prison capitalization on any level is a violation of the basic tenets of freedom. We should be reminded from past words why it is imperative that the concept of freedom be reinvestigated and perhaps reinstituted in this country: "Slavery is no more. No more shall the salesman's hammer barter human flesh and blood in your market places, causing humanity to shudder at its cold barbarity... "...As injustice to a section of your people has produced dire results, let that cease. Let your citizens of today be declared free and equal without reserve... "We warn you then, as brothers in the common cause, to remove every shackle from freedom's limb, and your victory will be complete." (Karl Marx, 1865, letter "To the People of the United States of America") (ACOT, 116-117). |
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