Monday, May 2, 2011

Prison Nation

Came on this article, comparing the job/benefit prospects of a potential Harvard student versus a California prison guard. Analysis: Skip Harvard.
As a California prison guard, you can make six figures in overtime and bonuses alone. While Harvard-educated lawyers and consultants often have to work long hours with little recompense besides Chinese take-out, prison guards receive time-and-a-half whenever they work more than 40 hours a week. One sergeant with a base salary of $81,683 collected $114,334 in overtime and $8,648 in bonuses last year, and he's not even the highest paid.

Once upon a time I lived for the day when the country would see a glut of lawyers, because when I was younger that was a real growth field. I finally got my wish, only to look around and find myself living in a country where the only growth industry is prisons. And that industry has gotten so big and out of control that entire communities depend on it as nearly their sole employer.

Too many laws? Naw, that can't be it...

1 comment:

Matt said...

Here in AZ, prison is a booming business. So good in fact that we import convicts from other states to keep them full. Several communities are kept alive only because of the prison(s) and the locals see nothing wrong with it even when its their kids or loved ones incarcerated.