this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2025
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Enter “Why should I have to pay for someone else’s kid!!!”
Because you live in a society, dipshit. Plus, it’s cheaper to feed him breakfast and cover his daycare than it is to incarcerate him in 20 years.
have you considered how many americans would be happy to pay to just go ahead and incarcerate poor kids right now
and they're not even factoring in how for profit prisons are literal slave labour camps.
Plus that the low wages outbid other businesses easily and are heavily subsidized by the tax payer.
According to the ACLU and the University of Chicago Law school the value of goods from involuntary prison labor in the US is about two billion annually. That’s not even a rounding error as compared to the annual US federal budget.
hi, public school worker here..it is not only legal but encouraged for districts to buy furniture, air filters, and other goods from prison labor sources. one year we even had a group of convicts come to paint the walls, they did a horrible job and people ended up with stolen money also. it blows my mind that this is acceptable.
Former public school worker here, thanks for sticking it out instead of being a quitter like me! Just curious what state you’re in? I ask cause I don’t remember that from my time teaching in Jersey
iowa, and if i had to interact with students more, i might be a former worker too, so dont feel bad. lol janitorial is fine with me after seeing what the other staff go through.
So you're saying they should have started using child prison labour decades ago?
Tho I guess that's contingent on if there will be a net return from the smaller cells & rations against the lowered productivity.
Im saying it’s not a big enough net boon to the economy that cutting it out would be a problem even from a pure numbers perspective (I feel gross even typing that out). I figure the problem is that people with political power do benefit from that two billion and they don’t want that gravy train to end.
I don't think anyone is suggesting its economically necessary. I am however suggesting that the people who want to incarcerate poor kids would probably view their indentured servitude as a good thing.
My bad, agreed nobody here is saying it. I guess I’m just trying to point out how pointless it is. I remember from my CJ classes in college that potential punishments have pretty much no impact on the likelihood of someone committing a crime, only their perceived chances of being caught, or their perceived necessity of committing said crime. It’s a shame how “Old Testament” people think things should be. Outcomes should be the most important factor.
Cruelty is the point with MAGA.
And that argument would matter if the goal were to improve the state of the budget. But it's irrelevant to the share holders in the private prison/slavery corporations and the politicians those corporations lobby/bribe. And that last group have the power to keep slavery going.
Yeah the cruelty is definitely the point for far too many. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that so many people don’t actually give a shit about the area they live in being a nice, human conducive place. Littering, gated communities, pollution, NIMBY bullshit… I could go on forever.
I know a lot of poor people who would absolutely back this measure bc their favorite politician said so
Most of them are too poor to be in a tax bracket that would "pay for it"
"Why should I have to pay for someone else's kid?"
"Why should I have to pay for a park I'm not going to visit?"
"Why should I have to pay for a road I may never drive on?"
"The American Military Complex is very responsible with my money and keeps me safe from real threats."
Well, last statement a lot of antitax are also antiwar. Ron Paul attracted some people because of his antiwar, anti intervention, and freedom regarding drugs platform.
I think that basic form of libertarian is attractive to many if you don't look too closely at what it actually entails and if you only care about yourself and maybe people you know/family.
I generally think of it as childish selfishness we're expected to grow out of once we learn some basic society facts.
I will say, I have been pretty shocked to watch for president repeatedly blow up his own son’s cocaine supply. He must have switched suppliers
"pay for someone else's kid" is code for "help someone I don't think deserves to be helped".
Conservatives are all about the hierarchy. In their minds it is an immoral act to give someone a benefit that doesn't deserve it. To do so risks that person getting to be in the wrong place in the hierarchy. And if someone is in the wrong place in the hierarchy, that's going to cause the bad kind of anarchy.
"Why should I pay for their burning down house?! Privatise the fire department!"
At some points in history, fire departments were privatized. It wasn't a great plan. Fire tends to spread.
I agree and I am, if not happy, willing to pay taxes. I am starting to get less and less happy paying into social security knowing im not going to see a dime though.
But then how am I supposed to fear him and blame his hunger on life choices?