re: Rural America faces highest incarceration rates, not black city centers

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Why is high incarceration rates a "bad" thing? If we have that many people breaking the law, putting them in jail isn't bad.

We need to look at why so many people are breaking the law (culture, unemployment, etc.)

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It's a horrible thing because it only makes people worse off in life. No "debt is paid" to society (a bullshite phrase if there ever was one, it costs us more money to house them), and at the end people generally come out of prison worse than when they came in. We have among the worst recidivism rates (if not the worst) of all first world countries. It's nothing but a losing situation.

Of course, you are right that the cause is more important than the reaction, but there's no reason both can't be worked on.