A damning indictment (if one were still needed in 2026) of the prison industrial complex in the US, shot largely from the inside - surely that more than anything is the greatest signal that something’s truly gone wrong here. It is shocking what the guards are able to get away with unchallenged (or at least ineffectually challenged, a large number of lawsuits dismissed at great cost to the state). Fascinating to see how effective or not the strike was, and the response from the pundits more than anyone. A functioning, non-exploitative prison system is surely a necessary cornerstone of a functioning democracy.