Let My People Go

I suggested, yesterday, that many of our government functions should be outsourced, but I didn't say much about which ones. I cannot leave the topic, however, without mentioning one role we could well do without, and whose absence could provide a series of benefits. Let me elaborate.

To be specific, it would be of great benefit to us all if we followed the British example from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. During that period they sent close to 175,00 convicts to Australia. Wouldn't it be nice if we could export the prison populations of both our Federal and State facilities. I'm confident that there is some country with a lot of extra land that could build facilities to house them, in a location not conducive to attempts to escape. And I suspect that our convicts could be accommodated for far less overseas than locally, even after factoring in travel costs. And how it would improve the atmosphere if there were no correctional facilities nearby. The entire NIMBY problem would be solved – at least as it applies to this particular assemblage of bad guys (and gals).

Additionally, we could pay a bounty to those prisoners who agree to stay away from our shores after release. Ideally, we'll let our people go and hope they don't come back. We might have to pay the recipient country as well, but since most criminals commit many crimes, their absence from our country would probably lower the crime rate and cut the cost of law-enforcement. There would probably be fiscal benefits far in excess of the money we'd have to offer the criminals and their new home countries. In addition, our streets would be safer and our law-abiding citizens would be more comfortable walking home at night. And other times, too.

There will certainly be cries of racism, since the prison population is not reflective of our population as a whole. And there may be the commission of new crimes by those who would like to go elsewhere and be paid to remain. Indeed there may be a swarm of illegal immigrants – especially from the countries that house our convicts – with the intent of having a bankroll to use on their release in their own country. These are questions with which we'll have to deal, but accusations of racism and illegal immigration are problems which we've faced for a long time.

It is also inevitable that the families of those who are incarcerated will protest that visiting is difficult or impossible. Perhaps we should export the entire family. With his family nearby, the criminal is more likely to accept the offer to remain where he is when his term is completed. Since anti-social behavior often affects later generations (whether due to Nature or nurture) there is a good possibility that future criminal activities may be avoided as well. That will lower future costs, an added benefit to current savings.

It will be a wonderful addition to the aggregation of tools to cut the National Debt. Now all we need is a way to export the debt itself.

[Happy Shushan Purim]