Prison System

I was having a talk with a conservative friend of mine the other day. He felt that the prisoners ought to be working and paying their way somehow instead of laying around doing nothing . I would totally agree with this. The idea you can survive doing nothing is the last idea one should want to give these guys. I think we should put them to work doing agricultural work, making clothing and other
products it takes to run the prison. In other words, make it self sustaining. That ought to put a big dent in our tax bill. I told him the conservative argument against that is the loss of jobs to private businesses. It didn't see to bother him much. Me either. There will still be a need for some private contracting for materials, shipping etc.
Next question. Isn't the idea that incarcerating people is one of the fastest growing businesses a cause for concern. Not just from the "police state" angle but also from the, why do so many people need locking up, angle. What are we doing wrong here? For a good background on today's prison"system" click here.