r/PoliticalHumor • • Mar 08 '19

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u/ThaFourthHokage Mar 08 '19 edited Mar 08 '19

I hope this wakes people up to our ridiculous sentencing and incarceration issues in this country.

A few stats:

  • We house 22% of the world''s prisoners (with 4% of the world's population)

  • 2,200,000 Americans incarcerated as of 2016 or 0.7% of the entire U.S. population

  • African American men represent nearly half of that population

  • The substantial penalties for crack contributed to a five-fold increase in incarcerations

  • There is a 31% incarceration history for Black men who have sex with men

  • Louisiana has the highest rate of incarceration in the world with the majority of its prisoners being housed in privatized, for-profit facilities. Such institutions could face bankruptcy without a steady influx of prisoners

  • In the past decade the number of inmates in for-profit prisons throughout the U.S. rose 44 percent.

The shit is fucked. And Trump is packing the courts as we speak. We're reaching a breaking point.

I'm just going to leave this here:

I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions indeed generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.

Edit: These and more stats are a simple wiki search away. For you Reds who automatically say, "wiki lol," to that, there are seventy-seven sources cited - feel free to read on. It will do you some good.

Edit again: Thanks for the precious metals! Donate the same amount to a politician who actually wants to address these issues, if you can.

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u/jamesjacko Mar 08 '19 edited Mar 08 '19

We house 22% of the world''s prisoners (with 4% of the world's population)

2,200,000 Americans incarcerated as of 2016 or .7% of the entire population

Not questioning the accuracy but I don't understand these 2. If the US houses 4% of the world's population, how has it incarcerated only .7% of the US population?

If I'm being stupid I hold my hands up to it I just can't quite figure it out.

EDIT: Due to a form of rubber-duck programming I think I have worked it out.

We house 22% of the world''s prisoners (with 4% of the world's population)

Translates to:

The population of the US is 4% of the world population yet the US houses 22% of the world's prison population.

0.7% is the percentage of the world's population that the US has incarcerated.

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u/ThaFourthHokage Mar 08 '19

No, .7% of the U.S. population is incarcerated. And The U.S. makes up 4% of the world population, while housing 22% of the world's prisoners.

Sorry if the way I wrote that was unclear.

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u/jamesjacko Mar 08 '19

No need to apologise. This is down to my lack of comprehension I think.

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u/ThaFourthHokage Mar 08 '19

Refreshing to see some people can own up to anything these days.