5 Assignment 07

Prison population and restructuring of the state are two phrases that begin a theory. With the 70s, the prison world was being groomed in the current state it is in. Though the crime rate was dropping, prison were accumulating numbers, while also inheriting a drug issue and being rejected from employment opportunities (Gilmore, 1999, 172-173). This invented the crisis that begun the cycle of relapse in the prison world, bleeding into the 1980s and 1990s. However, in the 1990s, the crisis was more centered on race, especially anti-Black propaganda (Gilmore, 1999, 174). The prison population was exponentially growing in numbers where black Americans were being incarcerated, compared to their white counterparts. This is the crisis Gilmore discusses, and it is dated back to 1968.
For the African American community, 1968 was a prolific period. Not only does it involve civil rights being a forefront in the American population’s minds, but the Black Panther movement was on an upswing. The idea of Kenyanism, a reversion back to the African roots, was in the air, becoming more of a central idea to the average African American (Gilmore, 1999, 175). An educated African American, suave in politics and culture, is the stark contrast to the prison reality, uneducated and ignorant to current events. However, this is the type of “surplus” the prison world wanted. The prison world realized that to stop this knowledge and growth, they needed ways to discreetly scapegoat the group. This is what we see happening in the 1970s, with accusations of drug problems and crime issues surrounding the African American community.
Now, to resolve the issues of crime and drugs, prison was used as the ultimate incentive. This was the way to “fix” the problem at home (Gilmore, 1999, 177). Thanks to the prison population, a “surplus” was able to happen for the rest of the United States. Instead of having more competition for jobs, houses, cars and other essential expenses, Americans were able to consume without the fear that the media created. Instead, the “crisis” was the reason for the imprisonment, and the imprisonment in return creates the surplus. The surplus was created at the expense of an entire group of the United States, but this was ignored. To have a surplus, the media tricked the American people into concepts that were not true, and because of this false thinking, many individuals were wrongfully imprisoned or misrepresented and labeled as deviant.

This reading by Gilmore was very interesting and shocking to read. I was so surprised to the percentage of people who are in prisons. Nearly 2 million people are locked up in prisons in California. Mostly African-American and Latino men make up the majority of persons who are doing prison time.

The “crisis” started with the moral panic over crime. Young people on the street, people of color (black and brown) out of control. During the 70’s and 80’s drug epidemic exploded. Leaving many families without fathers and husbands to provide for their families economically. This became a social crisis. Gilmore argues and explains that crisis and surplus work hand and hand. This means that the society can reproduce itself as it did before in the past. Through crisis comes struggle and people struggle because they have no other choice.
People who are convicted of crime and have done prison time are subject to a lot of restrictions. Prisoners with records are not eligible for benefit and entitlements (i.e. Food stamps, housing and their right to vote) are taken away. Making people with conviction records lives extremely hard and not much hope for a better life. A lot of convicts would go back and commit new crimes becoming a cycle. California in 1982 planned only to replace small prisons. But instead made room for new “mega prisons” which are built and in use now. The State of California used money raised to buy land and built prisons. Also, California make new laws that guarantee convicts to fill their prisons. The majority of revenue comes from the prison system at an enormous levels. In the US almost 95 per cent are either publicly owned. Making prisoners require to work in the public sectors, there work would pay their own cost and make the state a profit on their free labor. Military Keynesianism is an increasingly building of prison. This military Keynesianism was made after the Great Depression (WWII). Nixon in 1968 explained why so many prisons were built because of the social disorder, rise in crime and drug use.  In the US having almost two million people in prisons.
Lastly, Gilmore counter explanation is about racism and profit off the prisoners free labor. The prison system has an underlying “racism” which is behind the prison industrial complex on working men and women.  The laws must be reformed so that people don’t have to do such long prison times. Also, the US must implement programs (work development, free education) and give convicts more opportunity to get out of these criminal activities. The US must enforce unity and freedom to all people.

Ruth Wilson Gilmore argue that expanding prison population is not helping the people. It is sad to know that USA is the country  has more people incarcerated, and instead  of helping people the system is trying to build more prisons. The main idea of Gilmore’s reading is all about the system and what they are doing? instead of helping, they just building more correctional facilities and spending money that can be use to help the population in so many ways.

During the reading Gilmore gives the cost of prison, and how much they spend to build one. “California has completed twenty two new prisons (1984), the new prisons, PLUS the state’s twelve previously exciting facilities, PLUS four new prisons being planned, PLUS internal expansions and PLUS….” Reading this paragraph make me think in the plus, California is not helping the population is just building more prisons to recruiter more  prisoners and erase the problem by keeping the “bad people” in a prison.

There is a lawyer Bryan Stevenson that is trying to make a difference and created a way to make people see what is happening in our country and what can we do to change the system. He said that slavery still here but with a different name “prisoners”. It is sad to know that the story repeats from enslavement to mass incarceration.

Gilmore also mention the reason why the massive incarceration ” another explanation for the burgeoning prison population is the DRUG epidemic and the treat to public safety posed by the unrestrained and trade of illegal substances”…. that is true people have to survive and some times when poverty hits there is no choice, the only choice is either you use drugs to forget or sell them to try to get out of poverty. Here is when the system just see the problem as a crime, and it has to be punish by taking away the people and just incarcerated like an animal. In California there more african american and latinos incarcerated and every year the percentage is increasing just like I mention before PLUS more prisoner.

If only there is a way to created a system where can solving the problem is not just taking away women or men who commented any kind of crime, is finding a way to help those people not to committed a crime, using the money that is use to build prison, to make more programs, help communities, created more schools, and more jobs just to keep the population a better system.

Globally many corporations have intricate relations with government. The government has an alliance with multiple corporations that is like the slavery arrangement. For instant, prison inmates are working to make commodities valued far more than the $1.00 a day they are paid. For example, most items labeled made in America has been made in prison. Major corporations have contracts with the state to create products. The state has found a way to encourage business in the prison complex at the lowest cost. Most contracts consist of space rented or purchased. Other contracts involved the expansion and construction of the prison complex. Also, prison laborers covered the commodities or objects made. The wealth created has allowed the state to continuously dispense labor below the minimum wage. The hegemony determined that inmates that are incarcerated must product physical work which settles America’s financial debt. The laborer’s make license plates. repair roads, and make clothing among other things. Where can you find factory work in America? Factory work in developing nations are done for minimal pay. America has shifted their out of the country. The work is cost effective when there is no factory. America has no factories because they have sent their work to third world countries. yet, the purpose of permitting inmates to finish work was all in the commercial trading of a commodity. The buying and selling of prison labor was ensconce. America had established government incentives to prison facilities.
The globalization remedy extended to all parts of the world. The world crisis was resolved. Prison labor solved major economic problems. Although individuals were not imprisoned based on deviant behavior. The state no longer represented respectable behavior. The state has linked prison growth to social order. So, prisoner’s labor consists of any product that has been made in the facility at a cost-effective price of $1.00 a day for labor. Prison population has been established based on economics. Brown, black, yellow and red individuals were quickly sent to prison. Whether they had a minor or major problem with the law they were sent to prison. Strategically law makers imposed stiffer sentences to individuals because there was a reduction in crime.
The state must stop implementing contracts with corporations for labor beneath the minimum wage. All individual must work for a living with the dignity. Whether an individual is executive of the company or the maintenance man the state must employ all individuals. Employment must not be shifted to individuals whereas minorities find other ways to make money.

In Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s work “Globalization and US prison growth: from military Keynesianism to post Keynesianism militarism” she explains the prison population and it’s connection to the state. The prison population is expanding because the use and trade of illegal substances. In 14 years the drug commitments to the federal and state has surged 975 percent and this has raised prison expansion. Changes in employment has also cause an expansion in the prison. When people are left without jobs how will they pay for their mortgage. They will turn to illegal entitlement which is a property crime. This has doubled in 1982. Wages were frozen and it made it hard for workers to buy things that they needed like a home. Racism is a major counter for prison expansion. 70 percent of those that were arrested were white and 70 percent of those that were put behind bars were black. The prison system punishes different people differently. Some communities and industrial sectors depends on prisons for income.

Surpluses is symptomatic of globalisation. Surpluses that may rang from finance, land and labor and state capacities. Labor had achieved protection and military workers was crushed and US hierarchies stayed in place. Youth in the streets, political alliances, and women and children without husbands and fathers were social crisis. The surplusing meant that society depends on the production. The recession has produced displacement and unemployment. The displacements became socialized to produce equilibrium from profound imbalances.

In her work “Globallization and US prison Growth: from Military Keynesianism to post-Keynesian militarism”, Ruth Wilson Gilmore takes us through the capitalization of the US crime crisis of the 80’s and 90’s and the explosion in growth of the US prison system. She uses California as the basis of her work. Crime at this time was getting out of hand, mainly due to the increase of drug use and dealing, gang activity, racism, and the changes in employment opportunities that, in turn, led to property crimes. This creates a cycle of complexities, contradictions, and a lose-lose situation for the people. She discusses crisis and surplus, where there is capital made from the crisis of crime.

Since Nixon’s “law and order” platform during his campaign, there has been a rising moral panic amongst society over criminality and crime. Since the piece was published more than 2 million people were incarcerated. Nixon campaign had generated an increase of 1.4 million people added to the prison population. This population mainly consisted of African Americans and Latinos, which was two-thirds of the population. Another demographic of the accumulated prison population was the fact that the population also consists of the workless poor or the working poor. With the widespread of drug use and trading running rampant in communities predominantly consisting of people of color, this also brought gang activity that established drug markets. In addition, with the structural changes in the job market, employment opportunities changed and this left people without a source of income, thus having them turn to a life of crime in survival mode. At this time in history, it seemed as if society has created this overlapping cycle of crises to generate prisoners instead of creating outlets to reduce crime. This crisis and surplus cycle spanned across three decades.

In regards to surplus, by creating more prisons, capital for the state increases in the form cheap labor, finance capital, and land. In her work, she doesn’t really mention specifically how prisons generate capital by having super prisons built and filled to max capacity with prisoners. She does emphasize the point that the state does pay it’s way buy selling off its assets such as prisons and public utilities. With the tax revolt of 1978, in rural areas, there was a cut in schools, employment in agriculture and social programs that left a surplus in land that these prisons would be built on eventually.

Toni Mitchell

Assign 7

Prisons, I believe, are put in place to ‘fix’ one’s behavior so that the individual may never repeat the same actions. However, after reading Gilmore’s piece, it is quite the opposite. instead it is used as a tax write off to some, while others struggle to get by. Ironically, Gilmore points out that struggle is a politically neutral word and that people struggle because they simply have no choice. I’d somewhat agree with Gilmore on this argument. Systems are continuously put in place to promote the failure of minorities and further the riches of the wealthy. If there are no jobs, then one is forced to seek employment elsewhere which may require the individual to partake in illegal actives resulting in them going to jail. The Great Depression era for one is the perfect example of the survival of the fittest. Although employment was at it lowest, those in the upper class were able to maintain stability.

The idea of collaborating the term ‘prison’ and  ‘restructuring of state’ stemmed at the end of World War II. Policy makers adopted the militia strategy of Keynesianism as a way to improve the countries’ economic status. In other words, warfare was the production of wealth. This is due to rigidities within the macroeconomy caused by wage contracts which prevents prices from immediately reaching an equilibrium given a change in demand. Because of this, a change in demand can lead to changes in real economic variables such as unemployment and overall output.

Keynesian economics largely advocates government ‘intervention through fiscal polices in the event of changes in aggregate demand. This allow the government to ‘lean against the world’ in the event of a shock in the market, or to counteract the effect of existing government expenditure. In my opinion, the effectiveness of these policies is the subject of significant debate. As always any means to promote financial development (especially for those individuals involved in agriculture) favored white males in the suburbs as oppose those from a colored background. Although there has been some progress made when referencing our economic background a few decades ago, I feel as though we as society, are still fighting for social welrfare rights; wouldn’t you agree?

In Gilmore’s essay “Globalisation and US prison growth: from military Keynesianism to post-Keynesian militarism”, the author leads us from the start of whether the massive incarcerations are reasonable in acting upon or weather the actions taken have “purpose” behind the naked eye in being beneficial.

She uses the State of California as a model of which people of color have been the greatest population to be imprisoned, roughly two thirds of them. With such high numbers as it continues to increment, there is a consideration of being utilized as an economic factor uprising the financial growth of the state. She suggests that some of the reasons for a high percentage of imprisonment has to do with societies way of departing from the normalized behavior conducted within society in which also has to do in relation with the high usage of drugs (Gilmore 172). The people who suffer, these injurious actions are for the most part from poor local populations, as much as these areas are affected, the confinement of out of order persons does provide accomplishment for a safety space.

Yet even with the “presumable” violence going on in society, there still was the fact that racism promoted an inflicting punishment, particularly towards blacks. Not to mention that an operation of production was on its way, a pecuniary gain known as carceral Keynesianism (Gilmore 174). It so happens that statistics show an unidentical treatment from white prisoners to colored ones. When all these components, that are negative, part take in the large-scale community of the state, they become factors that arise financial improvement. Under such indispensable circumstances, forms an extreme organizational system to which clears up serious questions solved.

In spite of prisons having some form of surplus where it hopes to maintain a tendency of economic growth, it does not serve well in being relied as a basis of producing again. This comes to cause an ascent in the number of persons who are unemployed, becoming a deeper agency of elevated levels for people who were engaged in particular fields or activities for themselves and their loved ones (Gilmore 178). It starts influencing more over to specific groups of agricultural businesses whose making of goods diminishes. At the same time that this is happening the area of ground comes into undergoing devaluation. No true method of solving came forth into view where we can say that the government was going to find the solution in dealing with the excessive amounts.

In her essay “Globalisation and US prison growth: from military Keynesianism to post-Keynesian militarism”, Ruth Gilmore tackles the complexities of the united states prison system. Specifically, Gilmore addresses why the prison population continues to increase even as crime decreases. She proposes that it is a purposeful, and radical, restructuring of society. When I originally read ‘radical restructuring’, my eye read it as ‘racial restructuring’, which is not far from the truth. For as Gilmore points outs, seventy per cent of those arrested are white, yet seventy per cent of those incarcerated are persons of color (174).  To understand why this is happening, Gilmore turns to economic theory, focusing on the concept of ‘surplus’ and ‘crises’, in California.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, Gilmore carefully explains how a surplus leads to a crisis. In this particular case, a surplus of labor, in the form of those willing to work but unable to find jobs, and land, in the form of unused agricultural land, lead to an economic crisis. This crisis, coupled with the social crises caused by inequality, lead to a government response that was a highly inhumane political, rather than economic response – higher incarceration rates. But how to justify the high incarceration rates? To find the answer to the question posed, Gilmore brings us back to 1968.

1968 was a tumultuous year and may be considered the apex of the social movements of the 60s. One movement in particular Gilmore points to is the Black Power movement, positioned as an alternative to assimilation given white America’s refusal to substantially address racial discrimination and inequality. Alongside the rise of the Black Power movement, Gilmore also examines the rise of urban riots (whereas prior to the 1960s riots had historically been instigated by either whites or police). The radicalization of black and brown Americans lead to fear amongst white America. The answer to both the radicalization of the marginalized and the crisis caused by the surplus of labor and land, lead to the rapid expansion of the prison system.

As we have seen throughout the semester, capitalism and globalism are often the cause of human rights violations. And if not the cause, then either a propelling force or a way to hide true motivations. Although not mentioned in Gilmore’s essay, it is worth noting that in most states, you lose your right to vote if convicted of a felony (a California bill went into effect this year granting the right to vote to felons once they were no longer serving their prison term). The purposeful incarceration and disenfranchisement of people of color serves many purposes for those in power and as Gilmore states in her conclusion, it is time for us to fight mass incarceration and racism before it is too late.

In the article Globalisation and US prison growth: from military Keynesianism to post-Keynesian militarism, the author discuss there are racial, social and political issues that are increasing the jail population rather than moral ones. Since the biggest prison construction in California in 1982, the percentage of inmates in prison rose severely with the highest percentages of African Americans and latinos, and even 7% of women of all races formed part of it. In general this people were the poor class. However she argues that this has a lot to do with globalisation and the increament of economy through  prison’s expansions. First, this was created to maintain the social order even though that was not really the issue, other aspects such as unemployment and inflation during the recession were.

One explanation for the growing number of people in jail was the drug epidemic. Primary, the common use of drugs in the late 1970s and 1980s influenced this expansion where people of color were more decimated. Not only drug dealing but also gang violence which go hand and hand connected provoked the imprisonment of several people even though according to the BJS illegal drugs were used by all kinds of people and had actually declined in the mid 1970s. Another factor was unemployment which pushed people to commit property crimes when looking for new sources of income. Furthermore the percentage of people in prison for this reason doubled significantly since 1982 even though property crime had declined and pushed down crime rate as well. The change in new kind of sentences making them longer and adding more punishable behavior were the causes of the growth in prison.

Anti-black racism and profit generating were the major causes of prison explanations the second one tied to the restructuring of the state. In the mid-sixties radical activism began to appear, including all kinds of people. A prominent one was  The Black Power Movement since African Americans were the ones facing racism.  They fought for equality. However, Los Angeles Watts riots and black or other people protested in the street to condemn economic exploitation, police brutality and social injustice. Different people joined together against Us capitalism and Euro-American racism.

There was not only a social crisis but also a capital disorder or profit crisis, and the population in prison are supposed to fix. The global recession was so detrimental for US, first because the dollar devaluated impeding capitalists the power of buying, it affected everybody specially big corporations and factories that eliminated jobs leaving many people unemployed. There were no strategic plans to employ the state’s capacities and absorb the national surpluses of finance capital, land or labour  (179).