Originally Posted by deacongirl
Oh, I don't know. Maybe the prison industrial complex? the money spent on appropriate education and social programs, (oh, and perhaps comprehensive sex education and access to birth control) would be less than the cost to society of not investing in ALL children.

Indeed. That's why I always find it so shockingly dumbfounding that the same people who so readily cast blame on people for circumstances they're totally unequipped to understand are the same people who are often arguing that government should be run as a business.

YES! Run it as a business, please! History has demonstrated that humans are a resource which, if you invest properly, pay off big!

The cost to incarcerate one prisoner in CA, as of 2008-2009, was $47k. That was roughly the median household income at the time. Factor in government subsistence now required by any dependents left behind, and the total cost to society goes even higher.

http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/laomenus/sections/crim_justice/6_cj_inmatecost.aspx?catid=3