Posted: 12/6/2010 3:12:14 PM EDT
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I was thinking about the state of the economy and solutions to get us out of this mess. This led me to prison labor. 1. Do you think forcing criminals/prisoners to work is a good thing? On the surface it sounds like a good idea to me. I also don't think they should be compensated, maybe $2.00 per hour if anything. Hey, it may sound cold but it creates incentive not to go to prison (syntax?). Prison isn't supposed to be a way to make money, it's punishment. 2. Won't this take away jobs from non-criminals that need work? I'm not talking about making prisoners pick up trash or paint over graffiti, IMO that doesn't really help anything. I'm saying they need to do jobs like grow food, build structures, menial labor that actually helps the economic situation. They also need jobs that are easy because they won't take pride in their work, so they need something that's unfuckupable. But once again, won't this take away jobs from good people? I know I would pick up trash for $6/hr all day. 3. What about making people on welfare/HUD/WIC/medicaid contribute in a tangible way? Force them to do something. 4. This is in response to question 3. Is forcing people to work like I've presented a path to socialism or some other undesirable ideology? My main question is how can we utilize prison labor in a smart/effective way? I realize there has been corruption in the past with these types of deals; what kind of safeguards can be put in place? Any other ideas on how we can get debt under control. 1. Cut military budget by 15% using efficiency, then add 20% of original budget back into certain areas of the military. Yes this would be increasing the budget but I'm not done. 2. Cut all social welfare programs by 25% 3. Cut foreign aid in half. We still need to play chess though, we need allies. If we don't help a country, someone else will, and in the future this could be bad. Other benefits as well. 4. Raise social security age or whatever I keep hearing on the news by 1 year. Small amount but everything helps. 5. Shrink government, combine agencies. End WOD. Get rid of a bunch of programs and put those emplyees on border patrol. 6. China is making stuff too cheap to compete. What can we do? 7. Stop scaring companies over seas. Disclaimer: Don't really know what I'm talking about, just want to throw ideas out there. A lot of my ideas conflict with my micro economic ideas. Like maximum consumer/producer surplus; if China can make it cheaper then let them and let us do something else. What's so hard about not spending more than you have? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuu where are we headed, I'll admit my life really hasn't changed much at all since birth. My life is good and reading arfcom makes me think the sky is falling. I don't know anything, sadly we all know just as much about life as anyone who has ever lived. (borrowed from joe rogan) |