A Modest Solution To The Labour Problem

Since the end of the World Wars, cheap, plentiful labour has been hard to find. The colonies are independent, children are no longer viable, and slavery is frowned upon. However, there is one social group that can be used to carry this undesirable load throughout the ages - criminals. Instead of counseling, education, or rehabilitation we can replace the over-publicised third-world sweatshops with a group that people already don’t care about. Companies can save money, the population won’t feel guilty for exploiting people, and prisoners get to earn 7p an hour; it’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Scrapping rehabilitation programmes is an obvious must. Not only do they cost a lot of money, they will distract the prisoner from their main task - making other people money. After all, it’s not like these ‘people’ will ever amount to anything, we should stop giving them false hope. Plus, why would we want to rehabilitate criminals? If they re-offend, they can return to the production line with previous experience.

This new system will perpetually maintain itself. As prison workers are relied upon more, the price of labour will drop. Underpaid and unemployed people are more likely to commit crimes, which means they can get off government benefits and into a private sector job contributing to society in prison. Since workers are only there to make money for a select portion of the population, this is clearly the most effective way of redistributing their wealth into rich pockets.

In conclusion, while they may have taken slavery away from us, we can claim it back in all but name. When your company can own the lives of hundreds for no real cost, the rewards are clear. Now is the time to end government prison and their commitment to second and third chances.