How did America’s prison population become the highest in the civilized world, and what hope is there for changing this disturbing trend? Part of the provocative Empire Archives series, the aptly titled new documentary “The Largest Prison System in History” examines the origins of the pandemic and boldly takes aim at the institutions behind the incarceration of more than 2 million US welfare citizens and rulers.
“America has only 5 percent of the world’s population,” the film’s reporter, Abby Martin, recites, “but a staggering 25 percent of its prisoners.” The scourge of mass incarceration precedes a series of orders appalling human rights violations and belittles the country’s moral standing with the rest of the world.
Victims of the U.S. prison system suffer countless abuses, but the motivation behind these atrocities often comes down to one key factor: money. Even telephones provided to prisoners are devices for making obscene profits. According to the data provided in the film, most American prisons today are equipped with pay phones that charge by the minute they are used. The phone coverage provider returns a whopping 42% of its revenue to the states, a staggering more than $150 million a year. Corporations work with the prison system and hire prisoners behind the scenes for a penny. Prison contracts are awarded to the lowest possible bidder, a phenomenon that seriously affects the quality of everything from food to medicine to healthcare.
History’s Largest Prison System also examines the role of poverty and race in maintaining our status as the world’s largest prisoner, the system’s shortcomings in providing care for the mentally ill, and its failure to adequately invest in productive rehabilitation services. This badass and determined film offers invaluable insight into a system that operates largely in the shadow of most Americans, and points to the various cultural and social ills that have led to its continued domination.
