
California short on firefighting crews after Covid-19 lockdown at prison camps - luu
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article243977827.html
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andrei_says_
Am I the only one seeing a relationship between tax-nonpaying corporations
hoarding trillions and a society falling apart because it is unable to
allocate resources where they’re needed?

Covid-19 is a very gentle preview of how different cultures and governments
will handle the truly threatening and unavoidable environmental challenges to
come.

This is our wake up call to soberly look at the existing structures, see what
works, what doesn’t and what changes are necessary.

It is Mother Nature tenderly touching the shoulder of its child trying to wake
it from hypnotic trance...

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tibbydudeza
WTF ... they are using inmates to fight wild fires ???.

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AlchemistCamp
California did that during the 2014 wild fires too... and paid them $2/day.

I still can't understand how people tolerate this or how it's not a top
political issue.

[http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/11/20/prisoner-
labor](http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/11/20/prisoner-labor)

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Fjolsvith
As one who has been through both state and federal prison, I can attest that
an inmate doesn't have to work if they don't want to. There are some
privileges lost, and of course, if there is no alternative income, you truly
know what it is to go without.

Also, you don't have to work any job they assign. An inmate can choose to be a
yard or hall orderly (janitor) or work in the kitchen or laundry.

I earned enough each month to have a soda and candy bar daily, a quart of ice
cream weekly, and enough disposable money to get comfortable sweat pants and
shirts and then a book every month. (I played D&D, so those books were about
$32 with shipping.)

I worked in the laundry, then the commissary (prison store). While in the
store, I took a drafting course and upon graduation, I became a tutor for that
course. At the next prison, I worked in the Electrical maintenance shop until
the prison Engineer discovered I could draft, and then I drew blueprints.

The tutor and draftsman jobs were very cushy and I earned about $120/month.
Plus, I had a side hustle at both of them where I could use a photocopier to
make copies for other inmates that weren't allowed in the law library.

And, if you can get a hustle selling something like cigarettes you can make
upwards of $10000 a month.

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teachrdan
It depends on where you are imprisoned. In Angola prison, in Louisiana,
"inmates at Angola, once cleared by the prison doctor, can be forced to work
under threat of punishment as severe as solitary confinement. Legally, this
labor may be totally uncompensated; more typically inmates are paid
meagerly—as little as two cents per hour—for their full-time work in the
fields, manufacturing warehouses, or kitchens."

It's also the case that federal prisons are usually better than state prisons.
In terms of living conditions, respect for basic human rights, and access to
resources for recreation and rehabilitation, federal low- and minimimum-
security prisons are probably the best places to be incarcerated in the US.
(although that's about as faint as praise gets)

[https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/09/prison-...](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/09/prison-
labor-in-america/406177/)

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therockspush
Slave labor, but I would volunteer if I was locked up.

I'm sitting here on my couch smelling the smoke wondering how I can go up
there and help. Total Rambo fantasies of me up there with an ax and a bandana
fighting those fires and doing something heroic with my life.

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legerdemain
OMFG, does everything in the USA run on prison labor?!

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bzb4
Yes. For example, this website is moderated by a team of inmates.

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SomeoneFromCA
It could be true actually, who knows...

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scohesc
please help me

i am being forced against my will to moderate posts on hacker news they pay me
4 dollars a day and beat me if i dont delete enough posts!!!

