Land of the Free

This little graph was just brought to my attention, and I think it speaks volumes, about something. So, we see that the USA puts people in prison at a rate that is more than four times greater than that of Mexico, followed by various welfare states and one authoritarian regime, China. Something is seriously wrong here, and here in the USA, we don't even seem to think it's a problem.

What will history say about a rich society that is so zealous to put it's members in jail, and that has turned prisons into a thriving industrial sector of the economy? Is it just big business? Has the penance gone out of the penitentiary? Perhaps a legacy of slavery, or a fondness for the Puritain method of the "the rod?" Notice I'm not even mentioning the race of the the jailed - quite apart from that, the numbers are appalling, but when you factor that in, it presents a horrific picture of a society with a very deep social problem that is completely ignored.

...But, we all know that society is just a myth. There are only individuals, right? Statistics don't tell us anything meaningful - these people shouldn't break the law, that's all. Of course, who gets sentenced, who makes the laws, and just what crimes are these people all doing time for?!