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BiancaTylek_2020F-_数十亿美元的美国监狱产業，以及如何拆除它_-
[SHAPE YOUR FUTURE] [塑造你的未来]
Not too long ago, a mother told me, 不久之前,一个妈妈告诉我
[Operator voice: The prepaid collect call from an inmate at --] [接线生: 犯人打来的 受话方付费电话]
Her son was in prison and paying for phone calls often meant she couldn't afford her light bill. 她的儿子曾进监狱, 付电话费时常导致 她无法负担电费帐单。
See, families can pay as much as a dollar a minute to speak to a loved one in prison or jail . 看,有些家庭付费高达每分钟一美元 只为和监狱里的亲人通电话。
prepaid:adj.先付的,已支付的;v.预付(prepay的过去式和过去分词); inmate:n.(尤指)同院病人;同狱犯人;同被(收容所)收容者; afford:v.给予,提供;买得起; jail:n.监狱;监牢;拘留所;v.监禁;下狱;
These egregious rates have created a 1.2-billion-dollar prison telecom industry and with visit costs forced one in three families with an incarcerated loved one into debt . 这些恶劣的收费 创造了十二亿元的监狱电信产業, 探访犯人的费用 也促使三分之一的家庭负债。
Eighty-seven percent of those carrying this financial burden are women. 87% 背债的是女人。
And as a result of decades of racist policies and policing, they're disproportionately Black and brown. 也因为数十年的种族政策和治安, 不成比例的是黑人和有色人种。
egregious:adj.惊人的;过分的;恶名昭彰的; telecom:n.电信,远距通信;电讯; incarcerated:v.监禁;关押;禁闭;(incarcerate的过去式和过去分词) debt:n.债务;借款;罪过; financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的; burden:n.负担;责任;船的载货量;v.使负担;烦扰;装货于; as a result:结果; racist:n.种族主义者;种族主义的; policies:n.政策;方针;原则;为人之道;保险单(policy的复数) disproportionately:adv.不成比例地;
Prison telecom corporations claim that these high rates are necessary to pay site commissions to prisons and jails and provide security and surveillance . 监狱电信業者声称高的收费 是为了要付监狱的佣金 来提供安全和管理。
While the government's hands are far from clean, these corporate claims are simply not supported by reality. 政府的手不干净, 这些公司的主张并非现实。
Consider this. 思考这个。
In Connecticut, where families are charged as much as 32.5 cents per minute and the state takes a 68 percent commission, the telecom provider takes home 10 cents per minute. 在康涅狄格州, 打一分钟的电话要价三十二点五美分, 州政府拿走 68% 的佣金, 电信業者每分钟赚十美分。
corporations:n.[贸易]公司,[经]企业(corporation的复数形式); claim:v.要求;声称;需要;认领;n.要求;声称;索赔;断言;值得; site:n.地点;位置;场所;v.设置;为…选址; commissions:n.[会计]佣金,[会计]手续费;现金奖励情况(commission的复数); jails:n.监狱;监牢;拘留所;vt.监禁;下狱; surveillance:n.监督;监视; corporate:adj.公司的;组成公司(或团体)的;法人的;社团的; claims:v.宣称; n.声明; (claim的第三人称单数和复数) provider:n.供应者;养家者;
Now, in Illinois , where the state takes no commission, families pay the same corporation nine tenths of a cent per minute. 伊利诺州的州政府不收佣金, 家庭每分钟付 0.1 美分给同一家电信公司。
In other words, even after the government takes its cut, the corporation makes 10 times more in Connecticut than it does in Illinois for providing the same service. 换句话说,就算政府收了佣金, 在康涅狄格州的电信業 比伊利诺州的多赚十倍以上, 纵使提供的服务相同。
Illinois:n.伊利诺斯州(美国州名); tenths:n.十分位(tenth的复数形式);
And prisons in Illinois are no less secure than those in Connecticut. 伊利诺州的监狱的安全程度 也与康涅狄格州的差不了多少。
These are simply corporate arguments used to justify predatory business practices and distract from the very simple truth. 这些都只是公司 用来合法化掠夺性商業行为的论点, 偏离了最简单的事实。
Corporations in the prison industry have a financial interest in seeing more people behind bars and for longer periods of time. 在监狱产業的公司 越多人被监禁越久 获得的经济利益就越高。
In reality, providing families and their incarcerated loved ones with regular communication is not just the right thing to do. 在现实中,提供家庭与监狱犯 常规的联络管道 不只是一件好事,
justify:v.证明合法;整理版面;替…辩护; predatory:adj.掠夺的,掠夺成性的;食肉的;捕食生物的; distract:v.转移(注意力);分散(思想);使分心; behind bars:坐牢;在狱中;在监狱服刑;铁窗之后;
It's also the most fiscally responsible and safe thing to do. 也是最负财务责任和最安全的方式。
If you think taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook for phone calls for people who have committed crimes, remember this. 如果你觉得纳税人不应该 为犯人是否能打电话负责, 记得这个。
The most expensive rates are charged in jails where the majority of people are awaiting trial and not yet convicted . 在监狱里最贵的费用 是当大部分的人还在等待判刑, 还没被审判的时候。
fiscally:adv.财政上; responsible:adj.负责的,可靠的;有责任的; taxpayers:n.纳税人(taxpayer的复数); hook:n.钩;挂钩;鱼钩;钓钩;v.挂住;箍住;钓(鱼);打曲线球; committed:adj.坚信的; v.做出错事; (commit的过去分词和过去式) majority:n.大部分:大多数:多数票:成年人: awaiting:v.等候;等待;期待;将发生在,将降临到(某人头上);(await的现在分词) convicted:v.定罪;宣判…有罪;(convict的过去式和过去分词)
Prison wages range from nothing to a few cents an hour, so it's hard working, taxpaying families that are paying for calls. 监狱薪水从甚么都没有 到一小时几美分, 因此轮到那些勤奋的纳税人 付监狱犯的电话费。
And maintaining strong community ties is one of the most important factors in a person's successful reentry upon release . 维持紧密的社区连结也是 对狱犯在释放后重新进入社会 决定性的一环。
It improves housing, employment and social outcomes , making it less likely that people need government support or end up back in prison. 它也改善住房、就業以及社会成果, 让人们不再需要过度仰赖政府 或回到监狱。
wages:n.[劳经]工资; v.开展(运动等)(wage的第三人称单数形式); taxpaying:n.纳税;adj.纳税的; maintaining:n.维护;保养;v.维持;保养;(maintain的现在分词) community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体; factors:n.因素(factor的复数); v.做代理商; reentry:n.[航]再入;再进; release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与; improves:v.改进;改善;(improve的第三人称单数) employment:n.使用;职业;雇用; outcomes:n.结果;成果;后果;出路;(outcome的复数)
The bottom line is that prison telecom corporations, and the thousands of others in the prison industry, prioritize profit as they promote the caging of people to exploit them and their families. 最重要的是监狱电信業者 和在监狱产業许许多多的人们, 把利润放在前面, 倡议把人们送进监狱 来剥削他们和他们的家庭。
See, prison telecom is just one sector in the 80-billion-dollar prison industry. 看,监狱电信只不过是 八百亿产業的一小部分而已。
When I say prison industry, 当我说监狱产業,
I'm talking about food service corporations that serve rotten meat to people behind bars, health care providers that deny incarcerated people care, and architecture firms that design windowless six-by-nine-foot cells for solitary confinement , where people spend weeks, months and even years. 我指的是那些提供腐败的肉 给在铁栏杆后人们的食品公司, 那些拒绝提供健保给犯人的健保業者, 和设计没有窗户的 6*9英尺单人禁闭房间的建筑公司, 人们在那里度过几周、 几月,甚至几年。
The bottom line:底线;本质内容;最底线; prioritize:v.按重要性排列;划分优先顺序;优先处理; profit:n.利润;利益;v.获利;有益; promote:v.促进;推动;促销;提升;晋升; exploit:v.利用…为自己谋利;剥削;压榨;运用;发挥; rotten:adj.腐烂的;堕落的;恶臭的;虚弱的;极坏的;adv.非常; health care:n.卫生保健; providers:n.供应者;提供者;供养人;(provider的复数) deny:v.否定,否认;拒绝给予;拒绝…的要求; architecture:n.建筑学;建筑风格;建筑式样;架构; windowless:adj.没有窗的; solitary confinement:n.单独监禁;单独禁闭;
We invest in these corporations through our retirement funds , public pensions , university endowments and private foundations , and we celebrate their executives on the boards of our favorite cultural institutions . 我们透过退休基金, 公共养老金, 大学捐款和私人基金, 往这些公司投资。 我们还在最喜欢的文化机构的董事会上 庆祝他们的高管。
And in all fairness, it's not just the private sector . 公平地说,其实不只有私人企業获利。
It's also government agencies that charge excessive fines and fees and abuse free or grossly underpaid prison labor to manufacture license plates, staff DMV call centers, fight wildfires and, yes, even pick cotton. 政府单位也收额外的罚金和费用, 一起压榨免费的或报酬极低的监狱劳工 来制造汽车牌照, 为监理所接电话,灭山林大火, 对了,还有采棉花。
invest:v.投资;(把资金)投入;投入(时间、精力等);授予; retirement:n.退休;退职;退休年龄;退休生活; funds:n.[会计]资金,现金(fund的复数);基金;v.资助(fund的三单形式);提供资金; pensions:n.[劳经]养老金(pension的复数形式); v.发放退休金(pension的第三人称单数形式); endowments:n.禀赋;才能(endowment的复数); foundations:n.基础;地基;基金会;粉底;(foundations是foundation的复数) executives:n.经理,主管领导,管理人员;领导层;行政部门(executive的复数) cultural:adj.与文化有关的;文化的;与艺术、文学、音乐等有关的; institutions:n.机构;慈善机构;风俗习惯,制度;(institution的复数) private sector:n.(国家经济的)私营部分; agencies:n.代理;代理处(agency的复数); excessive:adj.过多的,极度的;过分的; abuse:n.滥用;虐待;辱骂;弊端;恶习,陋习;v.滥用;虐待;辱骂; grossly:adv.很;非常; underpaid:adj.所得报酬过低的;v.[会计]未足额支付(underpay的过去分词); manufacture:v.(用机器)大量生产; n.大量制造; license:v.许可;批准; wildfires:n.野火(wildfire复数);大火灾;鬼火;古时攻打敌船所用的燃料剂;
So this begs the question, how can we address our crisis of mass incarceration if an entire segment of our economy is fighting to put more people behind bars and for longer? 这也衍生出了一个疑问, 我们要如何应对这个大型监禁危机, 如果我们的整个经济体系 正在努力的把更多的人关进牢中 还关得更久？
We can't. 我们不能这样。
But we can demand and create change. 但我们可以要求和做出改变。
The key is running coordinated policy and corporate campaigns. 重点就是要发表 一致的政策和公司宣传。
That's the playbook I put to use when I founded Worth Rises, a nonprofit prison abolition organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry. 那是我在创办 Worth Rises 这个非营利废除监狱组织时 所用的剧本, 致力于分解监狱产業。[04:25]
crisis:n.危机;危险期;决定性时刻;adj.危机的;用于处理危机的; mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集; incarceration:n.监禁;下狱;禁闭; segment:n.段;部分;片;弓形;v.分割;划分; economy:n.经济;节约;理财; coordinated:v.使协调;使相配合;搭配,协调;(coordinate的过去分词和过去式) policy:n.政策,方针;保险单; playbook:n.剧本; put to use:使用;利用; nonprofit:adj.非赢利的;不以赢利为目的的; abolition:n.废除;废止; organization:n.组织;机构;体制;团体; dedicated:adj.献身的; v.把…奉献给; (dedicate的过去分词和过去式) dismantling:v.拆开,拆卸;废除,取消;(dismantle的现在分词)
Let's go back to prison telecom for a quick example. 让我们看回去监狱电信产業这个例子。
In 2018, we led a campaign in New York City that passed the first piece of legislation to make jail phone calls free, saving families with incarcerated loved ones, nearly 10 million dollars a year and increasing communication by roughly 40 percent overnight . 在 2018 年, 我们在纽约市开始了一个活动, 成功地通过第一条立法 让监狱电话变成免费, 为那些家中有犯人的家庭 近乎每年省一千万美元, 也一夕之间增加了 大约 40% 的联络量。
In 2019, we helped local advocates in San Francisco introduce a similar policy and launched several statewide campaigns to do the same. 在 2019 年, 我们幫助旧金山本土的支持者 带入一个类似的政策, 也发起了几个全州的活动。
That same year, we fought the consolidation of two major market players in front of the Federal Communications Commission and won. 同一年, 在美国联邦通讯委员会面前, 我们反对两大市场主体的合併也赢了。
legislation:n.立法;法律; roughly:adv.粗糙地;概略地; overnight:adj.夜间的; v.在夜间; n.(美)前一天的晚上; advocates:n.拥护者; vt.主张(advocate的第三人称单数); launched:v.发射;发起;开展;开始;(launch的过去式和过去分词) statewide:adj.遍及全州的;遍及全州地; consolidation:n.巩固;合并;团结; Federal:adj.联邦的;同盟的;联邦政府的;联邦制的;adv.联邦政府地;
We blocked 150-million-dollar investment by a public pension with a private equity firm that owned a prison telecom corporation. 我们阻止一家拥有监狱电信公司的 私募股权公司的 公共养老金投资 1.5 亿美元。
And we removed one of the largest investors in the field from a major museum board. 我们从一个主要的博物馆董事会中 移除一个该领域最大的投资者。
In just two years, we toxified the industry and threatened its business model, causing an investor sell-off . 在两年之内, 我们使这个行業带毒, 威胁到它的商業模式, 造成投资者变卖。
investment:n.投资;投入;封锁; equity:n.公平,公正;衡平法;普通股;抵押资产的净值; investor:n.投资者; sell-off:n.证券的跌价;
But more importantly, that means millions of families connected and billions of dollars protected from the predatory hands of prison profiteers . 但更重要的, 这代表从监狱不再取得利润, 几百万的家庭产生连结, 还有保护住的十亿美元。
It means fewer dollars invested in and promoting human caging and control. 这代表花更少的钱投资于促进坐牢。
And it means at least one mother won't have to sit in the dark to talk to her son again. 这也代表至少一个妈妈 不用再坐在暗处 才能够和儿子通电话。
profiteers:vi.赚大钱;牟取暴利;n.[贸易]奸商;牟取暴利的人; invested:v.投资;投入;(invest的过去分词和过去式) promoting:v.促进;推动;促销;提升;晋升;(promote的现在分词)
[Operator: You may start the conversation now.] [接线生:你可以开始通话了]
Thank you. 谢谢。