Slavery is wrong, no matter how many extra steps you add.
Are you high? All inmates in the program VOLUNTEER to be in the program.
If they’re getting something in return – which is equivalent to having that thing withheld if they don’t participate – then it’s coercive, not truly “voluntary.”
The FAQ claims that “incarcerated people do not face disciplinary action if they choose not to serve their time in a fire camp,” but also says “[m]ost incarcerated fire crew members receive 2-for-1 credits, meaning they receive two additional days off their sentence for every one day they serve on a fire crew.”
So yeah, inmates who don’t “volunteer” don’t get any punishment for that choice… except a longer prison sentence than if they did “volunteer!”
The point of prison shouldn’t be punishment, though. It should be rehabilitation. If these prisoners are volunteering to perform an important civic function that could potentially save lives, that sounds a lot like rehabilitation to me. If prisoners can show they have been sufficiently rehabilitated, why are you wanting to continue punishing them?
Your argument would be persuasive if they were also paid a market-rate wage for their work, but they’re not.
So money is more important to you than giving people a chance at a new life with meaning and purpose and long-term job prospects? Think of it like an unpaid internship, except that in this case wealthy children aren’t getting the benefits.
Your argument makes sense for unskilled manual labor like pressing license plates and digging ditches, where no personal or professional development is gained, leading to no benefits after incarceration. But this program provides both training and a path to full-time employment and a real career after incarceration, as well as personal development.
Unpaid internships are unethical too. Why are you making excuses for slavery?
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Do one day of work and get paid two days of freedom (when they can work to get paid money). That doesn’t sound like slavery to me. Additionally, this is a program that helps rehabilitate prisoners, gives them a purpose and a job to look forward to, instead of just having them languish in a cell.
If the ratio were one day of work for two years of freedom, is that slavery? What about one day of work for twenty years off their sentence?
The slavery part is that they’re not paid. Ironically you’re making all the same arguments slavers did for not abolishing slavery
They also argued conditions weren’t that bad for slaves, and therefore it should be allowed
The difference here is that they volunteer, presumably
Is an unpaid internship slavery? I know those have their own issues, since they typically benefit the kids of wealthy families who can support them when they aren’t being paid; but leaving that aside, do you consider it slavery to give someone the choice to work without monetary compensation in exchange for a path to long-term professional employment in the future?
They are paid.
Until recently, they were barred from working for forestry or cal fire after because those government entities can’t hire convicts, so that was pretty fucked up.
Voluntary and paid. That’s not slavery.
Paid next to nothing. Like 10 bucks a day or minimum wage when they actively are fighting fires.
Then don’t voulebteer? They’re convicts, Jesus. It’s jail, not a fucking country club.
I might agree with this sentiment if conditions were appropriate in jails, or if they weren’t trying to jail as many people as possible to keep up the slave population.
I said the exact same thing and my comment was removed by the mods. PTB going on here.
Its okay, none of these comments or posts really matter.
