Why doesnât Carcel give jobs to these women BEFORE they are imprisoned? Like just say, âOh wow, we see that these poor women are so desperate and impoverished that theyâre taking risks that land them in prison. Maybe we should open up a shop here to give them a fair shot at a decent life before theyâre put in jail.â
Or why doesnât Carcel give jobs to the women AFTER they get out of prison? I mean, giving them âa skillâ but not giving them any capital investment (like a sewing machine of their own) is kinda suspect, donât you think? Donât you think Carcel could open up a shop locally to employ them straight out of prison? Or get them visas and hire them in their own country?
Why not hire them before theyâre incarcerated? Why not hire them after theyâve been incarcerated? Why is hiring them in prison the only sweet spot?
The answer to all of these questions is the same: because Carcel is exploiting these disadvantaged women to make a profit.
If Carcel opened up a business to make their overpriced clothes (that the prisoners cannot even afford) then they would have to pay for expensive things like a warehouse, they would have to pay for safety items like fire extinguishers and safe floor plans, they would have to pay fines for failing safety inspections, they would have to pay for heating to keep the building warm in the winter and air conditioning to keep it cool in the summer, they would have to pay for ventilation so their employees donât get ill from fumes, they would have to pay for electricity to keep the building well lit, they would have to pay for desks and chairs and workstations, they would have to pay for toiletries for when people have to go to the bathroom, they would have to pay for running water for those toilets, and maybe even hot and cold running water for sinks, and hey, if they splurged, maybe they would have to pay for vending machines and refrigerators for workers who brought their lunches from home.
These are not extravagances. The handful of very minor things Iâve mentioned are some of the unseen costs of doing business anywhere. And thatâs without even getting into paying for healthcare or pensions.
Carcel is ONLY paying these captive women a low salary, and getting much more out of the bargain because tax dollars provide the prison with everything else. All that money not spent on basic business costs goes to their profits. THAT is what this is all about. Pure capitalism and profits. NOT altruism. Not âteaching skillsâ to women, but exploiting women who have no other options while they serve their time.
Paying them âthe prevailing wageâ is absolutely meaningless, because even in allegedly âfirst worldâ countries, the garment industry is notorious for paying low wages and sweatshop working conditions. Theyâre paying them shit wages in an industry that pays shit wages.
Not to mention how prison labor drives down fair wages. If I wanted to open a business to compete with Carcel, I wouldnât just have to pay living wages and healthcare benefits to my employees, I would also have to pay for all those other expenditures I mentioned above. If Carcel used prison labor to skip paying building expenses, then there is no way for me to ethically compete with them. This is precisely why so many garment companies seem to always be in the news for cutting (safety) corners and paying starvation wages.
No matter how you try to dress Carcel as white saviors, itâs exploitation of prisoners. And it is peak white feminism to try and dress it up as anything else.
My God, the people blindly supporting this exploitation sound just like people who said slavery was good because it provided slaves with âskillsâ and âjobsâ.
I understand that white people are a lot more susceptible to believing that this is somehow altruistic, but JFC, open your eyes and just try to think about why this is wrong on every level.
