$15,080. This is the most money a single person can make at a minimum wage job in a year. This is not a lot: a standard new car or light truck will easily cost twice this number. Yet, this isn’t what minimum wagers receive in a year. A portion of their already small paycheck goes to taxes, which are used to pay for criminals to live carefree lives behind bars. The same money that could be used to support the suffering lower class is being used to feed the scum of this country. Prison does not work the way it is intended. Prison is not an effective deterrent of criminals, not only due to its over comforting of its charges, but also due to its lackluster success rates and overall waste of time, money, and resources. Prison is not an entirely uncomfortable place to be. Any prisoner can expect three meals a day,running water, air conditioning, and a bed to sleep on. This seems so little to most. The food is terrible, the beds rough and unmerciful. Yet, these things that we see as necessity are gone without by well over a million citizens everyday. Many do not have the …show more content…
Similar to landfills, a prison’s sole purpose is to hold the trash of the human race. Yet, when trash enters a landfill, it is most likely never seen, nor heard from, ever again. As is evident by prison success rates, however, the prison system does not keep the trash in. The trash is constantly being released and recaptured in a never ending, wasteful loop. For every five prisoners, a new guard is added to the watch. This means that, for the millions of criminals currently being detained, we also have to pay to support these officers. On average, each of these guards makes over $40,000 a year. Additionally, we also have to pay for the teams of janitors and technicians necessary to maintain a rough 1,800 state and federal prisons nationwide. This is an immense waste of our time and money, both of which could be utilized to help the less fortunate lower class of