Slaves to the Corporation The Private Prison System

Slaves to the corporation: An analysis of the private prison system Inhumane treatment of inmates and poor living conditions seem to be reoccurring issues within the private prison system. Oddly enough the United States government continues to allow the privatizing of prisons when as it stands private companies already owned and/or operate over more than half of the U.S correctional facilities (Mason , 2010). Privatization of prisons was initially expected not only relieve the overcrowding of prisons but also to house inmates for a lesser cost. Yet until this day there is no tangible evidence that private prisons have met these goals. It seems that time and time again private prison companies are costing society much more than they are helping while simultaneously exploiting inmates to make a greater profit. It is evident that the privatization of prisons has created a multi-billion dollar industry at the expense of taxpayers and with the enslavement of prisoners. What is a prison? The Webster dictionary defines it as an institution in which people are confined to, as punishment for a crime they were convicted of. So, it would be safe to say that their punishment is being imprisoned in the facility. It does not include however; being treated inhumanely or subjected to barbaric living conditions. Thus they are protected under the eighth amendment, against â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment†. â€Å"There’s a perception that the private sector is always going to do it moreShow MoreRelatedThe Prison Industrial Complex And Its Implications896 Words   |  4 Pagesinstitutional discrimination was demolished in 1865, however, the prison industrial complex and its implications has transformed slavery, making incarceration susceptible to people of color that reinforce racial oppression for profit.Private prisons thrive on the exploitation of enslaved bodies, for motives strictly leaned for profit and social control. The war on drugs, created and reinforced by the United States government, supplements the prison industry by imprisoning non-violent drug offenders, preferablyRead MoreThe African Of African Diaspora1329 Words   |  6 Pagesroute. According to PBS’ How Many Slaves Landed in the U.S.? â€Å"Between 1525 and 1866, in the entire history of the slave trade to the New World, according to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, 12.5 million Africans wer e shipped to the New World,† out of the 12..5 million who were taken, approximately 10 million survived the dreaded middle passage. These freshly chained slaves afoot on unknown terrain were then separated and sold to the highest bidder at a local slave auction. Upon being bought, AfricansRead MoreThe Prison Industrial Complex Is The Economic Interrelation Between Private Prisons And Various Public1748 Words   |  7 PagesThe prison-industrial complex is the economic interrelation between private prisons and various public and private job sectors that have become dependent on the expansion of the private prison system. A partial list of these sectors includes construction, pharmaceuticals, and law enforcement, including probation and parole. The prison-industrial complex also runs a cheap inmate labor force for various corporations. Approximately 2,266,800 adults are currently imprisoned in America. In addition toRead MoreThe Prison Industrial Complex ( Tabibi )965 Words   |  4 Pagesfirst to coin the term prison industrial complex, in his research of the California penal system in the 1990s. The prison industrial complex refers to the coinciding relationship between corporations, government, correctional communities, and their collective economic interest in prison expansion and high rates of incarceration (Davis, 2003a). That is, each of these components benefit economically from perpetuating the notion that increasing crime rates are the causation for prison expansion. HoweverRead MoreDisproportionate Incarceration of African Americans Essay1673 Words   |  7 PagesAfrican Americans The disproportionate numbers of African Americans in the prison system is a very serious issue, which is not usually discussed in its totality. However, it is quite important to address the matter because it ultimately will have an effect on African Americans as a whole. Of the many tribulations that plague Americans today, the increase in the amount of African American men and women in prisons is unbelievable. It would be naà ¯ve to say that the increase is due to the factRead MoreIncarceration Of The United States1113 Words   |  5 Pages1990 - 2000 the prison population increased by 1,000,000. The main reason for incarceration as a punishment in this country is rehabilitation, or so we have been told. In recent years an industry has developed that revolves around high incarceration rates and lengthy sentences, needless to say business is booming. The for-profit prison industry now makes millions off the backs of American inmates their families and every American taxpayer. The two largest for-profit prison corporations today are theRead MoreAnalysis Of Angela Y Davis s The Black Panther Party1384 Words   |  6 PagesAfter the mass mobilization of the sixties that radically transformed society, a huge pushback as a response to political liber ation was the privatization of prisons which allowed corporations to set motives that increase the prison population, and normalize imprisonment as a way to solve social problems. For Instance, the Black Panther Party was a radical organization that challenged the status quo and a major response to pushback the work they were doing was to criminalize their behavior, in orderRead MoreThe Role Of Private Prisons During The United States901 Words   |  4 PagesIn our nation’s history, the use of private prisons has played a major role in domestic slave trading. The 13th Amendment officially abolished slavery in 1865. However, due to the plain language of the 13th Amendment, it is be interpreted in a way that allows slavery so long as it is used as criminal punishment. The 13th Amendment reads, â€Å"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United StatesRead MoreThe Prison Industrial Complex : How Do We Define It?1640 Words   |  7 PagesWhat if I told you that prisons in America aren t built for the main purpose of locking up â€Å"criminals† and making them better to re enter society and keeping other citizens safe but for some companies to make profit off of cheap labor? In essence that is the prison industrial complex. How do we define it? A few define it as a term that is used to explain rapid expansion of the US inmate population to the political influence of private prison companies and businesses that supply goods and servicesRead MoreSummary Of The Miniseries Of Roots By Tracie R. Porter987 Words   |  4 Pagesdialogue about the legacy of slavery that in sued thereafter. I remember very well that several of my fellow African-Americans touted that they could never be a slave, nor enslaved! Unfortunately, in a subtle way, legalized slavery is rearing its ugly head in the United States. After reading this article, by Tracie R. Po rter, â€Å"The school-to-Prison Pipeline: The Business Side of Incarcerating, Not Educating, Students in Public Schools,† She produced brilliant research and data as evidence of this issue

Viva Raperos How Music Can Interact With Politics Essay

Introduction Passion: what does it mean? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, passion is defined as: â€Å"a strong and barely controllable emotion†. Humankind has expressed passion in multitudes of ways for as long as humans have possessed communication skills. Through art, science, literature, music and even politics humans have showcased passion. Passion can be either supportive or oppositional. Music has been the greatest medium for humans to express passion, due to the great range of emotions that can be realized through song. Due to the high level of passion felt in both music and politics, politically-themed music has become a marriage made in heaven. There are untold numbers of songs and musical genres that have†¦show more content†¦By looking back into the history of Cuban music and its interaction with Cuban politics, we can create a foundation to help us understand the current state of the Cuban anti-government hip-hop underground movement. By telling t he histories of Cuban music and politics independently of one and other a background knowledge can be obtained, which will facilitate the analysis of the Cuban hip-hop movement. 1. History of Cuban Music To begin to understand how music and politics are so closely tied in Cuba, one must first understand the history of music in Cuba. This understanding of Cuban music history is crucial because Cuban music was born and matured in a constant state of political unrest, which led to a unique blend of art and politics. 1.1 Traditional Music of Cuba Traditional Cuban music has its roots in African music, brought over by slaves from West Africa in the 18th century. While the roots of Cuban music are in West African rhythms and storytelling lyrical styles, the Spanish musical tradition of the slave owners began to blend with the slaves African styles and a unique new musical genre was born. This forced blending was the first example of music in Cuba being created during times of unrest. The slaves did not appreciate their slave owners forcing them to learn white European music that they did not understand or love. This blending of

Sustainable Fashion Free Essays

One of the most heavily discussed topics, in this last decade, is the environmental decay of our planet. Diverse concepts have materialized in order to find solutions for the problem. Ecology and sustainable growth have been confirmed to be the main solutions currently. We will write a custom essay sample on Sustainable Fashion or any similar topic only for you Order Now Innovations for sustainable growth include: creation of hybrid cars, recycling and minor discharge of carbon dioxide in factories among others (Christ 23). Environmental awareness was also introduced to the world of fashion, unfortunately, it wasn’t very successful; lately there has been a change of situation and that is what we are going to attempt to understand. For almost twenty years now, people have been relying on fast fashion, a fairly new notion, which entails rapid garment production in a cost efficient manner. This efficiency is attained through the retailers understanding of the customer’s wants, which consist in having high fashion looking garments at reasonable prices. Lots of stores have mission statements that endorse this concept of affordable high fashion such as Zara, Mango and HM and so forth, they are very successful worldwide, has completely taken over; this position for fashion is at its most of unsustainability, as Sandy Black says: â€Å"The production and consumption of fashion represent the two extremes of a very long, fragmented and complex supply chain that transforms fiber into yarn and fabrics, which is mediated by designers, manufacturers and buyers into the clothing on offer at retail. †. Fast and cheap fashion implies more disposability, which incites more consumption. Therefore, when eco friendly fashion made its appearance, people weren’t convinced because it looked too cheap and unfashionable––when envisioning eco fashion, people automatically associated it with a variation of earthy colors (brown, khaki, grey, etc. ), highly flammable fabrics, to cut a long story short, people thought of them as ugly. It is an eco friendly clothing cliche. Hence, a global pejorative connotation built up over time and these clothes were perceived as cheap which also meant that they were unfashionable in some way. Sustainable fashion isn’t an entirely new phenomenon, we know that past generations recycled clothing without knowing it; when there were special occasions, they would take their casual clothes and add ornaments and all kinds of things to make their garment look dressier––they knew how to transform they’re clothes–– Also in families with siblings, most of the time, the younger ones wore â€Å"hand me downs† from their older siblings, some people still do it now. The point is, back then they knew how to remodel something they already had as well as create something new; and we kind of lost that for a few years with the rise of fast fashion. However, nowadays with this eco movement, it is all becoming about knowledge once again; Today on numerous fashion blogs and sites (HonestlyWTF. com; ecouterre. com; woolandthegang. com and many more) people can find the DIY (Do it Yourself) category, it gives us all the steps on how to create fashion items that are trendy and/or featured on the site/blog. In general, the materials needed to create DIY pieces are ones that we are most likely to have already, so we can recycle. Currently, people still shop of course but they also spare time for things they can put together themselves. Eco fashion reflects a natural change of values. Another solution for being â€Å"green† in fashion is to reduce the impact of washing and aftercare. As Black explains: â€Å"With most clothes we wear close to the body, the environmental impact of washing, drying and ironing is far greater than the manufacture of the items themselves, so any reduction in washing needs can be very significant in terms of carbon footprint. With nano-coatings and treatments, clothes can be made stain and dirt repellent and reduce their need for frequent washing. This potential longer life using less energy needs to be balanced with the fact they will not be able to be recycled after use. Basically, Black tells us there is another answer to maintaining our clothes; it is eco-friendly on one point of view and not from another point of view. The fact that it is possible to treat the clothes for them to simply not be able to receive dirt is eco friendly on long term because that means we wouldn’t need to wash the clothes as much but then th ose same clothes cannot be recycled and that is not eco friendly––Is it better to keep clothes as they are and waste more energy or to treat them but not recycle them after use? It is a dilemma. Finding an exact definition for the terms â€Å"sustainable fashion†. â€Å"Green†, â€Å"Eco fashion† to a name a few, is close to impossible. We all have the impression everyone understands it the same way but it is false, it has different meanings for all of us. The word sustainability itself implies some sort of length, in the sense that something can last long, it also. Here are some of the definitions people have of sustainable fashion: â€Å"Quality items that stand the test of time – it is this concept of sustainability, symbolized by a timeless handbag that ou wear again and again, and can pass on, that I am always thinking of when I design. † Says Frida Gianni Accessories are a very important part of fashion and should be considered so a good example for this definition of sustainable would be the Hermes’ Birkin bag. The Birkin bag is a highly exclusive handmade bag from France; it is very expensive because of its exclusivity but al so because of how it is constructed and the materials used to put it together. These bags are made of calf leather, ostrich, crocodile, and lizard and are a symbol of wealth due to their high prices and elusiveness to the public As Black says â€Å"Fashion is full of contradictions––it is ephemeral and cyclic, referencing the past but constantly embracing the new; it represents an expression of personal identity and difference, while also demonstrating belonging to a group [†¦]†. â€Å"Sustainable fashion implies a commitment to the traditional techniques, and not just the art, of making clothes. I work today in the same way that I first learnt in the ateliers of Balenciaga and Lanvin 50 years ago. We need to ensure that the next generation of seamstresses and tailors have the skills necessary to develop clothes that are not only beautiful but extremely well made. † Says Oscar de la Renta, Oscar de la Renta and Frida Gianna’s definitions are quite similar, although de la Renta is specific about clothing. According to him, what truly makes a garment sustainable is the way it was crafted. As mentioned previously, a few years back, the fashion may have been slower but the garments were carefully created with â€Å"traditional techniques†, therefore they lasted much longer than fast fashion pieces. This type of clothing is still available but only to a certain crowd; pieces that are meticulously sewn are most likely to be found in the expensive range of clothing (Couture or designer wear). â€Å"I would define the ideal as locally sourced materials that don’t pollute in their creation or demise (preferably recycled) and with limited transportation to achieve the completed product. Says Anya Hindmarch, initiator of the â€Å"I am not a plastic bag† initiative. With her campaign (I am not a plastic bag), Hindmarch designed a tote bag and used her influence in a positive way to make it fashionable not to use plastic bags. â€Å"Most of what we may currently refer to as sustainable fashion is a contradiction in terms. It refers to how the fabric used for a new garment has been produced †¦ Yet, I believe, we need to consider this issue from a more macro and profound perspective. Though cotton may be unbleached, we need to examine how it arrives to the manufacturer or to us the wearer. What was the ‘carbon imprint’ of its delivery, for example? † Says Dries van Noten. Dries van Noten doesn’t think that changing the method of production for a garment’s fabric is enough to claim its sustainability; the fabric’s â€Å"journey† should also be considered otherwise there is no major difference between fast fashion and eco fashion. It is well know that fast fashion products are most likely to be manufactured in foreign countries for more production and lower cost and that is exactly the opposite of what the eco movement is about. When the eco movement first appeared in the food industry, people had to be educated on how it better to consume products that are locally produced to reduce carbon imprint among other reasons––the same thing has to be done, when it comes to fashion because people are unaware if they don’t inform themselves. With all these definitions above we cannot say that one is true or false they are all relevant in a way. All that can be observed is that most of the time when people approach the subject of sustainability, ethical, green and whatnot, their definitions are closer to the ones that Anna Hindmarch and Dries van Noten provided. The Eco movement in general, has now gone from being just a trend to a lifestyle. We can be â€Å"green† in every aspect of our lives now; people are trying to combat the fastness of our lives with it; to be more specific, they are privileging the Eco movement to go against, the fastness of our economic development and the associated mass production. Eco friendly fashion in not only about tangible aspect, which is the material that is used when and how it is also about the human aspect, the ethical characteristic it has which respects social standards such as limited working hours or minimum wages; Ethically correct production also means child labor is forbidden. Back to the material side of things, sustainable fashion supports cotton farming, and the changeover to more environmentally friendly materials and dyes. As mentioned anteriorly, sustainable fashion also includes recycled materials used to create new ones. People are craving lifestyles based on health and sustainability. Today, when looking for new products, customers not only look for quality and design but also ecological awareness. Green designed products are a path into the green lifestyle which now combines once opposing fields eco and fashion. Environmental awareness has taken over every aspect of our everyday life: fashion is the latest target. Therefore the rise of Eco chic makes perfect sense, it was bound to happen. People want to promote the fact that they are green and show that they are in style. However, it not only about the physical aspect now, people also want to show off their good conscience or sometimes they simply care when it comes to ethical fashion –– Ethical fashion is healthy, sustainable, and fair. Eco chic clothes tend to be more expensive than regular clothing so people also like to show ¬Ã‚ ¬ –– especially in these hard financial times–– that they can still afford expensive clothes. Having noted designers join the movement by the creations has really increased people’s desire to be green. It looks like sustainable fashion is attracting more people; the future of this movement is very promising. How to cite Sustainable Fashion, Papers

Female Images in Taoism free essay sample

This is a paper that looks at the many different female images in Taoism. It looks at what they are and the importance they have to the religion as a whole. This paper discusses the religion Taoism, and the connection females have to the religion. Taoism is not necessarily a feminine religion, but females feel a close connection to the religion due to its female imagery, females goddesses and methods of enlightenment for females. The presence of feminine elements in Taoism is sweeping, and these elements have influenced the participation of women in this particular religious movement. The use of this female imagery gives women, and the qualities associated with them, a favored status in this religion. However, just because Taoism does value such qualities as softness and fluidity, usually associated with the feminine, does not mean that it favors a feminine model or can be seen a stronghold of feminism. We will write a custom essay sample on Female Images in Taoism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Rather, it allows for a greater acceptance of women into the religion, and an easier relation between the woman and her religion.