Prisons and the Industrial Reserve Army

Marx speaks about the idea of a Industrial Reserve Army in Capital Vol. 1, chapter 25. The main idea of it is that the working population is never kept fully employed, there is always that bit of flex, that three per-cent unemployment that we always hear about. With technological progression, capital inflows and outflows, workers will be drawn in and out of various industries. If a sector suddenly experiences a boom, due to some factor or another, a mass of free laborers is suddenly required. This is the purpose of the industrial reserve army, to have ready hands to sway hither and thither according to the needs of capital.

Not only this, but due to supply-and-demand, which Marxism by no means denies but rather explains, a certain degree of unemployment, of replaceability of the worker, does help keep wages down. If a man out of work needs money to survive, and any money is better than no money, an employed worker will have to work much harder for less to ensure he cannot be replaced -- this applies especially for simple labor, less so technical or skilled labor.

When this surplus-population is too large, it is often merely left to cull itself naturally. Welfare programs are instituted to maintain some degree of a surplus population, the Industrial Reserve Army, and to keep wages down, but if the surplus population grows too large, these programs are criticized for expenditures, wastes, and so on. Benefits are cut or eliminated. This, through death or emigration, ensures the surplus population stays manageable. Or, in other times, wars are often started. It is no secret that wars are good for the economy, and following both world wars was a period of economic boom in America. As Bordiga wrote in The Great Alibi:

The focus here is not on war or starvation, but a different phenomenon. By tracing deindustrialization, an interesting example of the Industrial Reserve Army comes to light. In the United States, the shift of jobs overseas resulted in entire communities losing their main income. For example, a car factory may employ a thousand people, as well as various auxiliary businesses and jobs such as nearby leatherworkers, steel mills, diners, bowling alleys, and so on. The loss of a central economic engine for a town can destroy the entire town's economy. This pattern played out across the Rust Belt, as well as the various auxiliary industries to heavy industry such as Appalachian coal-mining.

Drug use has been linked to poverty. Drug use is expensive, and keeps people poor, but often itself is caused by poverty. Poverty is a miserable existence, and many of those impoverished turn to substance abuse as a way to cope or escape, to feel nothing for a time. Alcohol, heroin, and so on are common drugs for this purpose. Various scientific journals of repute have noted a connection between drug deaths and deindustrialization.

When deindustrialization occurs, the surplus population swells, and the Industrial Reserve Army, no longer producing value, becomes a drag on resources and a danger to stability. After all, those who lack the means to survive will break the law much more often than those who are economically sound, often to survive, and this is bad for business. The surplus population must be removed, culled, for economic purposes. This is precisely what happened.

The link between deindustrialization and drug use became the perfect launchpad for this purge. In the seventies, beginning most strongly under Nixon, the "War on Drugs" was started. The most relevant result was the harsh criminalization of drug possession and usage. As a result, the destitute, drug-addicted ex-workers were rounded up by the millions and imprisoned. Here, they could be exploited much more intensely than in the typical capitalist relationship. Rather than the worker receiving a wage for his means of subsistence, the means of subsistence are provided to the workers, who are then compelled to work often by force -- it is worth taking note of the exemption in the amendment abolishing slavery specifically for prisoners.

Prisoners also are not merely producing license plates. Prison labor has been traced largely to the agricultural industry, with prisoners often working machinery, driving tractors, and processing food that ends up being sold to the general public by brands such as Wal-Mart, Coca Cola, and McDonald's. Other times, producing for the government, prisoners produce office furniture, military uniforms, park benches, and road signs. In some states, clothing such as jeans and lingerie are made by prisoners for sale to the general public. The variety of goods made by prisoners is shocking to many, and a sign of how profitable this industry can be.

This isn't mentioning how those released from prison are released with nothing but the clothes on their back and a kick in the ass. Often times, they end up right back in prison, due to the inability to start a new life. Even besides this, prisons are one of the easiest places to get drugs -- they are by no means detoxing anyone. As said earlier, people often turn to drugs when miserable, and how miserable must it be to be a prisoner-slave! It becomes a cycle, with more than half of released convicts ending up in prison again within two years of their release. Before judgements of character are made, Kollontai's analysis of prostitution serves relevance here:

This new system has been and continues to be a great success for the capitalists. Rather than the now unnecessary workers simply dying off on their own of starvation or overdoses (how unprofitable!), they can be much more efficiently exploited by formal, organized prison systems, producing plentiful value for their overseers. Killing two birds with one stone! The mass of industrial workers converted to prisoner-slaves for far more dependable and exploitable labor (you can't quit when you're a prisoner), and the excess population culled and removed from circulation. A truly brilliant scheme!

This is by no means a formal, planned-out occurrence. This is merely coincidence, interests lining up. The companies can raise profits by exploiting cheaper labor overseas, and freight costs are low enough to support this. The surplus population generated by this is going out doing drugs, causing a ruckus, and being bad for business, so we can lock them up to keep our streets clean of this filth! And all this free labor sitting here, it would be a waste for them not to work, why, they ought to earn their keep! And so through a chain of mere circumstance and opportunity, of profit-seeking behavior, the industrial reserve army is converted into prisoners; the old mode of existence, factory labor, being less profitable than slave labor, is abolished and replaced. Those condemning sweatshops overseas paying pennies an hour should take a look at the prison system, and ask a few questions to themselves. Are we really reforming anyone here? Am I really that much different from the people in there? Doesn't this make a conflict of interest, making prisons for profit? The prison system must be clearly seen for what it is!