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.
Despite this amendment to end slavery in the United States, slavery still exists. Only this time it is applied to those in prisons at the benefit of Corporations. With the number of people in prisons increasing there is a need to build more prisons. Each prisoner costs the government about $1500 a year, but today private prison companies can help the government by taking those expensive prisoners and putting them to work. Companies like TWA, McDonalds, IBM, Eddie Bauer, Toys R Us, Dell, Microsoft, Victoria Secret, MCI, and Jostens, just to name a few, are employing prisoners and paying them less than $2.50 an hour, sometimes not at all. They are not taught job skills that would be important in the work force, as supporters maintain, because they are mundane and repetitive jobs that are mostly used in second and third world countries. The prisoners are not provided health care, benefits, safe working conditions, and they are not allowed to form a union which makes up the worst working conditions in the industrial world. The eighth amendment clearly states that there is to be no cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. I do believe this to be cruel and unusual because it exploits the inmates who are serving their time for their crimes. They are not to be exploited by corporations who want to maximize profits by employing a cheap and guaranteed work force.
So the next time you call TWA to book a flight remember that you could be talking to an inmate so treat them nice or they might come after you when they get out. Or the next time you visit a Toys R Us remember that the toys may have been shelved by an inmate during after-hours. These private prisons are being built in areas like Flint, Michigan and Eerie, Pennsylvania which have been economically devastated by corporations and as a result the crime rates are high. These are perfect areas for corporations to set up shop and maximize their profits. What we can do is write our Congress persons and complain. Tell them to stop supporting these corporations that enslave people for profit. Who knows? Maybe you'll get to work for Eddie Bauer and get paid nothing per hour. Think about it.