Nexus - 0604 - New Times Magazine-pages

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which abolished slavery, excludes prisoners from its protections. Soviet Union or China, transnational corporations see the world as And more and more, prisons are charging inmates for basic their oyster. Agencies such as the World Trade Organization, the necessities from medical care to toilet paper to use of the law World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, bolstered by library. Many states are now charging "room and board". Berks agreements like NAFTA and GATT, are putting more and more County Jail in Pennsylvania is charging inmates $10 per day to be —_ power into the hands of transnational corporations by putting the there. California has similar legislation pending. So, while gov- squeeze on national governments. ernment cannot (yet) actually require inmates to work at private The primary mechanism of control is debt. For decades, devel- industry jobs for less than the minimum wage, they are forced to oping countries have depended on foreign loans, resulting in by necessity. increasing vulnerability to the transnational corporate strategy for Some prison enterprises are state-run. Inmates working at the global economy. Access to international credit and aid is UNICOR (the federal prison industry corporation) make recycled given only if governments agree to certain conditions known as furniture and work 40 hours a week for about $40 per month. The "structural adjustment". In a nutshell, structural adjustment Oregon Prison Industries produces a line of "Prison Blues" blue _ requires cuts in social services, privatisation of state-run industry, jeans. An ad in their catalogue shows repeal of agreements with labour a handsome prison inmate saying: "I about working conditions and mini- say we should make bell-bottoms. mum wages, conversion of multi-use They say I've been in here too long." A A farmlands into cash-crop agriculture Bizarre, but true. The promotional = US Technologies sold its for export, and the dismantling of tags on the clothes themselves actual- electronics plant in Austin, Texas, trade laws which protect local ly tout their operation as rehabilita- . . economies. Under structural adjust- tion and job training for prisoners— leaving its 150 workers ment, police and military expendi- who, of course, would never be able unemployed. Six week later, tures are the only government spend- to find work in the garment industry . ing that is encouraged. The sover- upon release. the electronics plant reopened eignty of nations is compromised Prison industries are often directly ina nearby prison. when, as in the case of Vietnam, competing with private industry. trade sanctions are threatened unless Small furniture manufacturers around the United States complain that they rette billboards to litter the country- are being driven out of business by side or promises to spend millions in UNICOR which pays 22 cents per hour and has the inside track —_ the US-orchestrated crackdown on drugs. the government allows Camel ciga- on government contracts. In another case, US Technologies sold The basic transnational corporate philosophy is this: the world its electronics plant in Austin, Texas, leaving its 150 workers is a single market; natural resources are to be exploited; people unemployed. Six week later, the electronics plant reopened ina —_ are consumers; anything which hinders profit is to be rooted out nearby prison. and destroyed. The results of this philosophy in action are that while economies are growing, so is poverty, so is ecological WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER destruction, so are sweatshops and child labour. Across the globe, The proliferation of prisons in the United States is one piece of | wages are plummeting, indigenous people are being forced off a puzzle called "the globalisation of capital". Since the end of the __ their lands, rivers are becoming industrial dumping grounds, and Cold War, capitalism has gone on an international business offen- forests are being obliterated. Massive regional starvation and sive. No longer impeded by an alternative socialist economy or "World Bank riots" are becoming more frequent throughout the the threat of national liberation movements supported by the Third World. WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER The proliferation of prisons in the United States is one piece of a puzzle called "the globalisation of capital". Since the end of the Cold War, capitalism has gone on an international business offen- sive. No longer impeded by an alternative socialist economy or the threat of national liberation movements supported by the REFERENCES Canada—America's Policy Alternatives. - Gillenkirk, Jeff and Brian Wilson, Books: - Bernstein, Dennis and Leslie Kean, "Mexican Unrest: the '80s Parallels", San = Burton-Rose, Daniel, Dan Pens and People of the Opiate", The Nation, 16 peauciscg Cleerctttla, 10 June VER Paul Wright (eds), The Celling of December 1996. "Latin America’ 's Other Hostages", The America: An Inside Look at the US = "Coca Clashes: Colombia’, The Economist, 25 January 1997. Prison Industry, Common Courage Press, Economist, 17 August 1996. "Leftist Colombian Rebels Free 70 1998. = Cooper, Marc, "Labor Deals a New Troops After Army Pullback", Chronicle + Donziger, Stephen R. (ed.), The Real Hand", The Nation, 24 March 1997. News Services, San Francisco Chronicle, War on Crime, Harper Perennial, 1996. = Day, Christopher, "Neoliberalism and 16 June 1997. = Rosenblatt, Elihu (ed.), Criminal World Revolution", Love and Rage, + "Minnesota Prisoners Strike for Injustice, South End Press, 1996. March/April 1997. Minimum Wage", Prison Legal News, = Dunkel, G., "General Strike Shuts Haiti July 1996; reprinted from Workers Print Articles: for a Day", Workers World, 30 January World, 21 March 1996. -"A Matter of Fact", Prison Legal News, December 1996. 1997. + Mollins, Carl, "Prisons For Profit", + "Another Face of Neo-Liberalism: > Dunne, Bill, "The New Plantation", Maclean's, 5 June 1995. Drug Trafficking and Commercial Prison Legal News, February 1997. Parenti, Christian, "Inside Jobs", New Banks", Bulldozer, Spring 1997; "Furniture Manufacturers Threatened Statesman, 3 November 1995. reprinted from "Report on Canada's Sixth by UNICOR", Prison Legal News, July Parenti, Christian, "Making Prisons Year in the OAS: Focus on Corruption", 1996. Pay", The Nation, 29 January 1996. 24 - NEXUS JUNE — JULY 1999