Rumor What's going on in Portland?

Yah I didn't catch the part about them running the girls out of the upper gym because of bouncing balls. That is bullshit. I do think they should be allowed to use a gym if they need it though.

 

True. I'm okay with it as well.

 

Advocates worry new camping ban ‘rushing to penalize’ homeless people

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a...n&cvid=3875664a146948f98bb73884d59e0a0f&ei=25

 

And we still have tons of vacant office space and empty buildings...

 

Portland voters have a pretty dim view of local elected leaders

 

I thought this was an interesting video stating that homelessness is no longer legal in Portland ..pretty thorough breakdown by a Portland native.

 

PDXFonz’s post whining about trash in Portland reminded me that the method we had relied on for cleaning up trash had been prison slaves doing litter patrols, usually the ones arrested on bullshit drug charges. So every time I hear someone complain about the trash, it sounds like complaining about how we don’t have enough slaves anymore… if the city can’t keep itself clean without slave labor, maybe that’s a symptom of a larger unsustainability of the city’s priorities.

Maybe we could turn half the police officers into janitors and get some fucking use out of them.

 

You are actually objecting to using inmate crews for local litter control??? Really???And they are "slaves"????? As much as your heart bleeds I'm surprised that you're still breathing. I'd rather my tax dollars be spent on them providing productive labor than having them loll around the cell block until their time is served. They broke the law. They are paying for their poor decisions. It's called "accountability". If you don't like "bullshit drug charges", then work to change the laws (like they did with weed). Though I suspect the majority of those folks were busted for vandalism, theft and a wide assortment of offenses. Bullshit or not, they are laws. And those individuals broke them and were found guilty. Quit portraying these people as victims. They had choices and they made them. Calling them slaves because they being utilized in productive work that benefits society (rather than engaging in behavior that is harmful to society) is absolutely fucking ludicrous.........and I lean "liberal" by the way.....

 

Slave labor is literally what prison labor is. Read the 13th amendment:

“Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

I underlined the part that matters here.

So yes, slaves. People, even criminals, are humans, and should not be subject to unpaid labor. This is just my opinion; the city could pay to have the litter cleaned up but they don’t.

 

Actually prisoners volunteer to become trustees and work outside during the day...get some fresh air and exercise...I think it's a false equivalency calling them slaves..they also get free ddental and medical and gym membership....Bikers used to brag about wintering in jail and getting sober and new tats pumping iron and networking, all the free medical shit and then get out in the summer and ride. Any prisoner who doesn't want to work in a trustee program or kitchen or library, etc doesn't have to as far as I know..

 

I mean, I didn’t write the 13th amendment but they did explicitly say slavery was legal if the slave is a prisoner. I don’t know how false the equivalency can be if it’s in the text itself.

Free services are not income; at best it’s a company town/company scrip situation, and I don’t think that should be allowed either.

My best friend spent 18 months in the pen when he was 19. He didn’t really like to talk about the time and he came out really messed up by the experience; maybe he didn’t earn a spot with the trustees and his time was just not as cozy.

 

I volunteered for free for the Gleaners program to distribute food to the disabled and elderly and I know it's not the same but there are lots of things that get accomplished with volunteer labor. In places like the Congo they have forced labor in the cobalt mines, etc...we use trustees here to do county cleanup projccts..

 

I think where I struggle with it is considering it "voluntary" if it is only done by prisoners and is done below market rates.

At least pay them minimum wage.

They should be allowed and even encouraged to do those jobs, sure. But they should be paid at least minimum wage to do it.

 

I think the ones that destroyed property with their protest should be on clean up patrol.
SubscriberKeyKey that denotes Subscriber Exclusive content.Cost of repairing occupation damage at Portland State library estimated at $750KThe university has insurance and is seeking a claim to offset some of these costs, according to a university spokesperson.4h agoMaxine Bernstein

 

That, I'm okay with. Fine anybody you can actually prove did actual damage with so many dollars worth of repair and they can pay it off by working to clean up/repair it.

 

Never trust Fox news polls BGD

 

Yes, there is no ethical production under capitalism; there’s blood on the cobalt in our computers, along with everything else. It’s unsustainable. But I’m talking about prisoners in the US and how they are legally slaves. The prisoners should be paid and if they aren’t they are slaves, by the definition of the constitution.

I’ve talked in other threads about how I would love a situation where non violent crime is met with rehab and public service. But even then, if the work is not voluntary, they should be paid minimum wage at least. You volunteered, and volunteer work is wonderful. It’s also voluntary.

Prisoners get so much stigma and difficulty finding work or making ends meet immediately after being released. It contributes to the recidivism rates we see. If they got paid for their work, and had money waiting for them when they were released, that might help lower that rate by giving free people who served their time a cushion to land on. (Of course these are all steps towards not needing so much retributive justice in the country but that’s going to take time)