this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2026
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A Boring Dystopia

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In reporting from 2023 that was resurfaced this week on social media, the publication Prison Legal News revealed that Taylor Farms was contracting labor from the Arizona Department of Correction, Rehabilitation, and Reentry for the low, low price of just $4.75 an hour — far below the cost of a non-incarcerated worker the federal minimum wage. (And to be clear, that’s not the hourly wage paid to the inmate, which is capped at $1.50 in Arizona.)

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[–] EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted@lemmy.blahaj.zone 117 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

And if anyone is wondering how this is legal (yes, it is 100% legal), I hereby direct them to the US Constitution, 13th Amendment, Section 1,

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

In other words, slavery or involuntary servitude is fair game if you've been convicted of a crime.

Which is very fucked-up in my opinion. "Land of the Free", my ass...

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 47 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

The article mentions some portion of the enslaved people having been detained by ICE, which doesn't seem like quite the same thing as having been duly convicted of a crime

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Tbf, many if not most of the people convicted were already poor people, especially minorities, who were railroaded by the prison slavery industrial complex even BEFORE ICE existed, let alone became one of the top 15 military forces in the world by funding.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 weeks ago

True, it would still be terrible if they followed the law, but it's worth noting if they don't even bother.

[–] queerlilhayseed@piefed.blahaj.zone 33 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

So coincidental that the US has one of the highest per capita incarceration rates in the world, one that just happens to skew heavily non-white. Land of the free indeed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 5 points 2 weeks ago

Damn. They had to reserve the darkest color solely for the USA ... and El Salvador.

[–] gagcar@lemmus.org 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I mean, it’s not a secret. That’s what the clause was almost explicitly for. Slaves freed, vagrancy or similar becomes a crime, former slaves become prisoners because people won’t give them jobs so they don’t live in a house (also at the judgement of legal/judicial officials as to what counted as housed), many go back to the same plantations/workhouses they were already at.

It didn’t slip through, it’s not a conspiracy theory, and it isn’t the quiet part being said out loud. It was always loud.

[–] queerlilhayseed@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yes...? your tone sounds argumentative, but I'm not sure if you meant to come off that way. I wasn't trying to imply that it is secret knowledge, just regular knowledge that not everyone knows about.

[–] gagcar@lemmus.org 1 points 1 week ago

I was more frustrated that more people DON’T know this about our history.

[–] elvith@feddit.org 13 points 2 weeks ago

Land of the free
Home of the slave

[–] nkat2112@sh.itjust.works 55 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Referring to Taylor Farms as the Diarrhea Lettuce Company is very appropriate.

Meanwhile, the $1.50 per hour "wage" for prisoners really is slave labor.

Let's try to thoroughly end slavery - I know we can do that. And private prisons too, for that matter. There shouldn't be profit involved in incarcerating people - this is crazy.

Emphasis in bold is mine:

It turns out that Taylor Farms, the agricultural company widely believed to be behind the cyclospora outbreak currently raging throughout the US, is also heavily involved in modern-day forced labor.

In reporting from 2023 that was resurfaced this week on social media, the publication Prison Legal News revealed that Taylor Farms was contracting labor from the Arizona Department of Correction, Rehabilitation, and Reentry for the low, low price of just $4.75 an hour — far below the cost of a non-incarcerated worker the federal minimum wage. (And to be clear, that’s not the hourly wage paid to the inmate, which is capped at $1.50 in Arizona.)

[–] Bonesince1997@lemmy.world 20 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Products should be made to list when they've utilized prison labor.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 5 points 2 weeks ago

But then what happens when people learn to look for the suffering? I hear it really adds to the taste and feeling of freedom.

[–] nkat2112@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

Given these circumstances, this is very true.

[–] gagcar@lemmus.org 1 points 1 week ago

If you go by the recent California ruling, that could soon be violation of free speech.

[–] Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 2 points 2 weeks ago

Everyone shitting their pants right now deserves it if they don't work towards abolishing this crap

[–] Danarchy 40 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

When your morals are depraved and your workers are enslaved

[–] OldManWithACane@lemmy.zip 31 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

🎵diarrhea 🎵 🎵diarrhea 🎵

[–] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

cha cha cha?

[–] SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml 23 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

If I was forced to pick YOUR lettuce, I'd shit in your food on purpose.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 9 points 2 weeks ago

Some heros don't use toilet paper.

[–] danekrae@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

STOP, you'll only make the lettuce grow stronger!

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 2 weeks ago

The diarrhea lettuce slavery company.

Hell of a legacy there, Bruce (Taylor)!

[–] HappySkullsplitter@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

I remember hearing at some point that the FDA mistakenly identified Taylor Farms as the source and had issued an apology

Were they mistaken about being mistaken?

[–] Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

The Diarrhea Lettuce Company which was the source of the Trumporrhea Outbreak of 2026

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The avg American pays much more than $4.75/hr for this labour tho as its living expenses are paid through taxes, in effect subsidizing the $4.75 wage.

[–] taygaloocat@leminal.space 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes, but they're producing more than $4.75 an hour worth of value against their will.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago
[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

And as usually the us government is projecting by introducing "forced labor tariffs" to Canada and EU

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 8 points 2 weeks ago

$4.75 an hour — far below the cost of a non-incarcerated worker the federal minimum wage. (And to be clear, that’s not the hourly wage paid to the inmate, which is capped at $1.50 in Arizona.)

That leaves plenty of money for lawyers in any upcoming lawsuits.

[–] snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

A million bucks can cover a multitude of sins.

[–] snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Diarrhea runs in their family.

Forced labor leads to forced shit-geysering.

[–] SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago

The only way to fix this is if all the prisoners have proper healthcare.

So...Politicians get good healthcare AND prisoners get good healthcare but the rest of us have to get by somehow?