easy street

in 25 years the US has gained 75M people (+33%) and lost more than 5M manufacturing jobs (-25%, or more, depending on source), most of them during the last 5 years.

workers who lost those jobs had limited choices: stay unemployed, get service-sector jobs (which are generally lower-paying), become criminals. (all 3 share one characteristic: loss of self-esteem.)

one job whose availability grew was guarding those who turned to crime and got caught. the number of prisoners grew faster than population. so did the number of prisons.

so it's not impossible to stay out of trouble: just trade in your apron for a badge.