John Rawls Critique Of Mass Incarceration

What is mass incarceration? Mass incarceration is the increase of people incarcerated in the United States prisons. America has a very high number of people incarcerated compared to other countries. This causes many problems and crime rates are still high. I do not believe John Rawls would agree with mass incarceration because it is not beneficial in some aspects and it goes against the veil of ignorance in certain ways. Although his critique of mass incarceration maybe harsh under several of his principles the problem can be fixed. Rawls suggestion is that you imagine yourself in an original position in society under a veil of ignorance. Being behind the veil means that you do not know anything about yourself and your natural abilities. You also are unaware of your race, sex, nationality, and talents. In other words, you are being born into the world blind to everything. If people came into this world under the veil of ignorance they would have a better chance of picking the person they would grow into. I say this because there are many stereotypes that makes a person who they are and some people follow those stereotypes and mold themselves into the person they are. For …show more content…
This means that mass incarceration would have to benefit poor people. The problem is that many people from low income places are being imprisoned for small to large crimes. The question then comes if all criminals are put in prison will that help society and encourage them to do better. Statistics state that the United States has the largest prison population and the highest incarceration rate in the world (Snyder, 2014). With this being said crime rates are still high and the imprisonment rate is steadily increasing. Rawls would go against mass incarnation because it is not beneficial to the least advantage people or