Many believe slavery ended in 1863 with the emancipation proclamation which led to the ratification of the 13th amendment of the United States Constitution in 1865.
For most people, this is true, but for an increasing number of Americans, it's not. Providing more labor to exploit, Joe Biden's 1994 crime bill allowed private prison corporations and states to take advantage of the following loophole in the 13th amendment:
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
What this has meant is that more and more Americans (primarily convicted of non-violent crimes) have been utilized to revive the once failing private prison industry. This has pushed America's prison population to 25% of the World's incarcerated population while only housing 5% of the entire population on the planet. At two (2) million imprisoned individuals, America has more people locked up than any other country that American leaders demonize for inhumane practices.
And, whether you believe it's merely coincidence or done by design, the fact remains that corporations like McDonald's, Victoria's Secret, and others have and/or are using prison labor to manufacture their products. The fact remains that states like Wisconsin have laid off public employees and replaced them with prisoners. The fact remains that prisons have utilized prison labor to undermine local businesses that cannot compete with the free or nearly free labor that private prisons offer.
While, there may an argument for states using convicts as a way for that convict to pay off their debt to Society, it's a bit of a stretch to say a prisoner owes a debt to privately-owned corporations like McDonald's or Victoria's Secret.
Aside from the fact that private prison corporations get $10,000/year for each convict used by other corporations or states (this $10,000 dollar figure is from years ago), the disproportionate numbers of people of color caught up in this system implies a racial component or aspect to this form of "justice". All of this beggars the question as to why black people would hold Joe Biden in high enough regard to help him win the Presidency. Simply as a precaution, it would make more sense not to choose the guy whose policies have led to more of your own people losing their freedom.
This is why it's so odd to me that black people were so up in arms about statues of historically racist individuals, but not about Biden who has created a space for modern-day slavery. Whether it's modern-day slavery or the extraction and redistribution of wealth, maybe it's time to wake up to things that impact our lives now and ignore distraction that don't. Maybe we follow the money and realize that profit does not care about racist symbols, but it will target you as you tear down those statues, blame teachers for a failing economy and call the homeless a bunch of lazy lay abouts who choose to live on the streets.
Learn more about the ways in which the Establishment seeks to keep you ignorant and distracted from the things that have a real impact on your life. Buy the book "Solutions: Enough complaining. Let's Fix America!"
Today's Regaining American Democracy (RAD) dictionary word or phrase of the day is:
Neo-slavery noun
An economic system that uses a loophole in the 13th amendment to allow states and private corporations to profit from the free or nearly free labor of convicted felons.
