Why Rich Folks Have the Biggest Stake in the Incomes of Poor Folks
February 13, 2011
By: Dave Rogers
The main focus should be on how to reduce -- permanently -- the prison population.
One factor stands out in the debate about keeping Michigan in the black.
PRISONS!
Gov. Rich Snyder wisely is consulting all interest groups in trying to keep the ship of state on steady financial waters.
The main focus should be on how to reduce -- permanently -- the prison population.
Since prisons are the highest cost item in the state budget, and the number of people going to prison seems to relate quite clearly to income status, educational levels and, of course, race. this focus is the most sensible.
There is no question that efforts so far to keep the prison populations under control have been weak and ineffective. And, adding to the problem, recidivism is hardly declining.
Too many former prisoners end up recycling back into the highly expensive prison system that duns the taxpayer $30,000 to $40,000 a year for each inmate.
Rich folks have usually said "we don't care about the cost, as long as the bad guys (and now more often, girls) are off the street."
Growing evidence that attitude is changing comes in the current talks in Lansing. The 800 pound gorilla in the room is the prison system.
The recent Kids Count in Michigan report reveals the "domino effect" that a weak economy has on children, and, on our future as a society. More kids are in poverty, more are being abused and neglected and are under-achievers educationally.
The result of all this is that too many of our young people end up in prison -- at a really astronomical cost to all of us, especially the rich who pay most of the taxes.
But also consider this: Mr. Bigtime Store Owner (you can fill in the name) has fewer viable customers, and the ones he has have fewer dollars to spend because they are under-employed or unemployed.
So, who has the biggest stake in helping children succeed, and stay employed and out of prison? Mr. Bigtime Store Owner, and all his employees and stockholders!
That's a simplified analogy about the rich having the biggest stake in helping poor folks. The comparisons and the aspects that support this thesis are countless. Just one factor in this continuum of decline, -- crime -- costs us all in its financial effects and in added law enforcement, courts and probation.
The obvious costs of welfare (it is still with us, bigger than ever) in the philanthropic arena of supporting children, mainly. Fathers in prison, unemployed or under-employed just can't support their families to the extent they should. In point of fact, they can't support those children at all. So the burden of these children falls on society -- us -- and the decimation of the family structure is the ultimate result.
For too long our economic elites seem to have been oblivious to these concepts, and have turned a blind eye to social conditions. Those failures in our society will come home to roost, and our lack of understanding of the effects of poor economics and weak social support systems will be devastating.
The political trends that undermined the labor movement have exacerbated this problem and added to our costs. We don't save by shipping jobs overseas, or getting rid of jobs by forcing unions to disband, or keeping more people in low wage and benefit structures. It may seem like the right thing to do for the philosophical leaders of the wealthy elites and their political allies, but the ultimate effect is to undermine our society and cost us all more money.
And, the combined impact of more people in poverty, more in prison, more under-educated, more unable to contribute adequate work skills to the economy, all of these add up to make the future of our American society ever more at risk of slipping into Third World status.