They're Trying to Build a Prison for You and Me
Many people are under the impression that slavery was abolished in this country. It's not, and it's about to get worse. Time to explore our for-profit prison system and "slavery as punishment"
The title of this newsletter is a reference to “Prison Song” from the album Toxicity by System of a Down. This album came out in 2001, so some of the figures have went up. I suggest listening to the song or at least looking up the lyrics.
I buy my crack, my smack, my bitch
Right here in Hollywood
Nearly two million Americans are incarcerated
In the prison system, prison system of the U.S
So, why is it that the US, who has 4.3% of the global population, we have the the 5th highest prison population per capita, and has the highest number of incarcerated people in the world, with almost 2 million people incarcerated as of February 2025. So, here are some of the figures to keep in mind throughout this article.
Slavery was never entirely abolished
From the 13th amendment:
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.[1]
Emphasis mine. This was brought to the spotlight in recent months with the California wildfires. But this common. Here is an article from 2022:
Nearly two-thirds (65% percent) of incarcerated people report working behind bars—amounting to roughly 800,000 workers incarcerated in prisons.
More than three quarters of incarcerated people surveyed (76%) report facing punishment—such as solitary confinement, denial of sentence reductions, or loss of family visitation—if they decline to work.
Prison laborers are at the mercy of their employers. They have no control over their work assignments, are excluded from minimum wage and overtime protections, are unable to unionize, do not receive adequate training and equipment, and are denied workplace safety guarantees despite often dangerous working conditions.
As a result, 64% of incarcerated workers surveyed report worrying about their safety while working; 70% percent say they received no formal job training; and 70% percent report not being able to afford basic necessities like soap and phone calls with prison labor wages.
Incarcerated workers produce at least $2 billion in goods and $9 billion worth of prison maintenance services annually, but this number is not closely tracked and is likely much higher.
Yet, most states pay incarcerated workers pennies per hour for their work. Seven states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas) pay nothing for the vast majority of prison work. Other states pay on average between 15 and 52 cents per hour for non-industry jobs. Prison laborers often see up to 80% of their paycheck withheld for taxes, “room and board” expenses, and court costs.
More than 80% percent of prison laborers do general prison maintenance, which subsidizes the cost of our bloated prison system. Other tasks represent less than 10% percent of work assignments, including: public works projects (like road repair, natural disaster assistance, forestry work, and maintenance of parks, schools, and government offices); state prison industries, agricultural work, and coveted private company work assignments.
We still rely heavily on slavery, but we don’t think about it because it’s “punishment”, right? Well, for one thing:
Look at that. There’s a large number of Black Americans in the prison system, thanks to well-documented discrimination from our justice system. By the way, almost half of the incarcerated population is in for drug charges.
Drug charges disproportionatly affect Black Americans, as they are more likely to be charged and be given longer sentences. There is also the issue of “mandatory minimum sentences” which basically means you’re fuck. So you have Black Americans behind bars who are now forced to work as punishment in unsafe conditions. We did fight a war over this, right? And it’s going to get worse.
Privatized prisons make billions
You know capitalism has gotten way out of fucking hand when social services are now making bank. Health insurance companies made $9 trillion since the ACA was passed. 9 TRILLION. Let that just sink in. So of course, within our capitalist hellscape run by vile ghouls who literally do not care if you can’t afford lifesaving healthcare, it makes sense that they would also work towards making prison profitable. They have a captive workforce, with no over-site, and they can do whatever the fuck they want with no repercussions. Currently, only %8 percent of the prison population is in a private prison, but we know they’re looking to make every prison a for-profit hellhole.
And by the way, shocker:
In 2018, 8.41% of prisoners in the United States were housed in private prisons.[63] On January 25, 2021, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14006 to stop the United States Department of Justice from renewing further contracts with private prisons, although most facilities are run by the states so the order will only apply to about 14,000 inmates housed in federal prisons.[64] This was later rescinded by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025.[65]
Gee, I wonder why trump would rescind the order to shut down for-profit prisons? And by the way, you should read this entire page. It’s horrifying. And also, don’t forget, these ghouls are now most likely going to be branching into illegal immigration detention centers. And we know for a fact that incarceration is going to explode once they start arresting political dissidents, if they don’t decide to send us all to El Salvador instead.
By the way, that image is from 2013. It’s likely a lot worse now. And by the way private prison stocks jumped when trump took office in both 2016 and 2025.
Last year, CCA reported $222 million in net profits, and GEO Group reported $139 million.
And there it is. Because we should absolutely be making as much money as possible off of the suffering of other human beings. Just like healthcare.
They’re going to create a new slave workforce using the 13th amendment
You wonder why they’re doing all this? That’s my speculation. They’re trying to turn the entire US into a plantation in anyway they can. We haven’t seen it yet, but we all know that they are looking to create a techno-bullshit future where only rich people can succeed, and everyone else can work from the time they can stand until the time they die. This is only one of the avenues to do this, and this is the one that is most legally viable, since we, for some fucking reason, did not completely abolish slavery. The other ways? RFK’s “Wellness Camps” and the “Freedom Cities”. We know that the wellness camps are going to be unpaid labor done by people with mental illness. The freedom cities are just going to be a larger example of company towns. You know:
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
This goes hand-in-hand with everything the government is doing to our social services, education, Medicare and Medicaid, and the loosing of child labor laws.
Trump is a fucking moron, but the ones pulling his strings aren’t. This pattern of orders and laws and bullshit all points to what a lot of us have been saying for years: They want more wage slaves to toil while they sip champaign on their yatchs with more money than god.
This is speculation, but if you connect the dots, it makes sense
There is one common thread among all of the outright bullshit we’ve seen: The only ones benefiting are rich. The stock market tanking? Disproportionatly affected the middle class after the mega-rich, particularly seniors who have a 401K. Now, the rich obviously benefited after the backlash, but many people have had their 401Ks decimated. Meaning that people near retirement age are now fucked, with some reporting they now have to work longer to retire.
Oh and dismantling social security? Without an income, what is a senior citizen, who has already worked for their whole life, going to do? Well, take up a shitty, low-paying job, of course. Same with medicare. If they can’t get healthcare through the governemt, it may force people to continue working for their health care needs. Mentally ill people can work the fields, unpaid, instead of migrants. Children are already being used to fill labor shortages in dangerous industries without any oversite and at the expense of their education.
And what about people who can’t work because of disability? Well, I’ll quote something from Charles Dickens:
“If they’re going to die, then they better do it, and decrease the surplus population”
Yes, here we are again, like something out of the fucking 1800’s. And it’s become progressively more frightening since I started this article over the weekend, with trump openly defying the motherfucking Supreme Court and being caught saying he wants El Salvador to build “5 more prisons for homegrowns”. In case anyone reading this is unclear, he means us. A US Citizen who was born and raised here "mistakenly" received a deportation letter. This is where we are at now.
Continue to be vigilant. Do not comply in advance
We need to remember this is a marathon, not a sprint. We do have power, and we need to continue to up the pressure. Whatever way you can help, either via writing or boosting important content, protesting, boycotting (Check Courtny Waller’s substack for details.) We need to harrass our congresspeople EVERYWHERE. It doesn’t matter if they’re out living their lives. It doesn’t matter if they’re with their family. They do not get peace while innocent people rot in a extrajudiciary prison or in an ICE detention center. I would even suggest organizing peaceful protests at home if we can (Though after someone tried to burn down PA govenor Josh Shapiro’s home with him inside, might be way more risky.) Donate to bail funds. Learn your rights. Speak out in the small ways, to neighbors, friends, relatives. Donate to a bail fund or legal aid fund.
This is a turning point in our country where we are faced with the ugliness of capitalism and “Exponential Growth” at the expense of everyone else.
And I’m not going to lie, this is fucking hard. As someone who has constantly struggled with mental illness, often without the safety net of therapists or psychiatrists, I am fucking scared. I am hoping that love and hope win the day. If we can continue to grow, I think we might be able to live through this nightmare. At least, I need to keep thinking that. Anyway, here is an adorable picture of a cat and dog.
Be safe, everyone.
-Ana Nomis
Everything you wrote here is absolutely true. They intend to profit from the misery and death of immigrants, inmates and even homeless people in this country. It is a move back to the systems of open slavery and subjugation.
You are so right. Please read my Substack from 4/17 that Trump will throw Republicans under the bus when he has total power, and they are useless to him, just as Hitler killed and incarcerated the Conservatives that put him in power. Take care and keep doing what you are doing. Great essay!