I think this song is an attempt to draw the listeners attention to the way in which criminal justice policy in the US has become increasingly punitive and removed from research recommendations in the last 30 or so years. In particuar, it expresses outrage at the rapid expansion of imprisonment since the 1980s (the US is now the world's biggest incarcerator - incarcerating people at a rate of about 750 for every 100,000 of the general population I think). Something tells me that its no coincidence that inequality has dramatically increased over the same period - as inequality increases governments need to use increasingly repressive measures to keep the poor in check. Anyway, as alluded to by SOAD, the main cause of this RIDICULOUS rise in prison numbers can be attributed to the so called "war on drugs" and the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences. Rather than reserving prison for dangerous (violent and sexual) offenders, it is now being used far more widely and innapropriately for large numbers of petty drug offenders, who as SOAD note - research has proven would benefit hugely from treatment rather than incarceration. The rapid expansion of imprisonment is also a HUGELY expensive way of dealing with petty drug offenders who tend to be socially excluded individuals ("all your taxes paying for the new non-rich") and has meant that the US now spends more on the prison system alone, nevermind the rest of the criminal justice system, than it does on education! So I suppose this song is really just an attempt to draw attention to this fucked up situation.
I think this song is an attempt to draw the listeners attention to the way in which criminal justice policy in the US has become increasingly punitive and removed from research recommendations in the last 30 or so years. In particuar, it expresses outrage at the rapid expansion of imprisonment since the 1980s (the US is now the world's biggest incarcerator - incarcerating people at a rate of about 750 for every 100,000 of the general population I think). Something tells me that its no coincidence that inequality has dramatically increased over the same period - as inequality increases governments need to use increasingly repressive measures to keep the poor in check. Anyway, as alluded to by SOAD, the main cause of this RIDICULOUS rise in prison numbers can be attributed to the so called "war on drugs" and the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences. Rather than reserving prison for dangerous (violent and sexual) offenders, it is now being used far more widely and innapropriately for large numbers of petty drug offenders, who as SOAD note - research has proven would benefit hugely from treatment rather than incarceration. The rapid expansion of imprisonment is also a HUGELY expensive way of dealing with petty drug offenders who tend to be socially excluded individuals ("all your taxes paying for the new non-rich") and has meant that the US now spends more on the prison system alone, nevermind the rest of the criminal justice system, than it does on education! So I suppose this song is really just an attempt to draw attention to this fucked up situation.