Guest Blog: "Why are prison guards paid more than teachers"

Hey everybody,
My fellow comrad Rick Ross asked me what he deemed the "Hundred thousand dollar question." Why are prison guards paid more then teachers? Well for all the Rick Ross supporters out there I sincerely hope you feel my reply. Check this. If I were to tell you that the incarceration of minorities in this country was an intentional guise hidden within layer upon layer of judicial platforms, you and many skeptics might say that its the same old story being told by the same people misfortunate enough to find themselves on the wrong end of the judicial stick. Some might even go as far as to say that theyre tired of hearing the same old rhetoric. But when I look at the various statistics surrounding prison industry, I notice an appalling trend toward enabling criminality and bolstering prison demands. Outrageous? Well answer this. Why are prison guards paid more then school teachers, proffesionals entrusted with the educating of our nations future, and ultimately the worlds future. Lets do some math. With 2 million people incarcerated throughout this nation, with the cost of housing for each one being around 20,000, you have around 40 billion dollars being siphoned out of the tax payers dollars per year. Why? Two points to consider - 1. With Prison Industry, no longer do companies have to look across the borders for cheap labor. All they have to do is go to the local prison. Unicor, the governments thirty ninth largest supply contractor, sold 600 million worth of goods and services to th U.S. government in 2002. 400 million purchased by the Department of Defense. Inmates are paid less then 15 cents a hour to manufactor anything from cabinets and tables to ink cartridges and computer processors. These goods are then sold to the government by the bureau of prisons, another branch of the government, effectively creating a monopoly. Brilliant? Maybe, but look at point 2. An amazing trend toward the privatization of the prison system. It seems that Im not the only one who can add. Private corporations are seeing the financial bottom line of prison Industry, cashing in on the endless supply of inmates provided by a judicial system more concerned to incarcerate then rehabilitate. So again heres the hundred thousand dollar question. Does our government or the powers that be, think it more important or profitable to invest your tax dollars in a ever increasing prison population rather then the future of our children and theyre academic prowess. Are they more concerned with the bottom line of a financial spread sheet then the long term effects that an uneducated populace can have on the future of this country. Ill be your sounding board, you be the judge. Get at your boy.

sincerely,
Thomas (slice) Clarkson 05657-027
F.C.I. Texarkana
P.O. box 7000
Texarkana Tx. 75505