Debate: Do you agree with the Death Penalty?
Side: No this is wrong.

"just being locked up and doing nothing is pointless"I agree with you fully. but while the penal system is another flawed example of how our government works, there are things that are implemented to not only warehouse inmates to sit around, but also to give them rehabilitation. they have access to education, some vocational training, counseling and other mental health services to help make sure that when they are reintroduced to society they are not as bad as when they went in. (this is the theory of course and i understand that recidivism is still higher than necessary, but this i believe is due to the lack of support once out of prison regarding economic inequality etc, but that is another discussion entirely). they are not for the most part "living happy lives" and no of course I do not believe that criminals are more important than the poor or needy, but in many ways they are on the same level. I say this because of many factors such as the rate of incarcerated people having a much higher level of mental health issues, an unjust law enforcement system that is levered against many people in society and a few other reasons that lead us down the road you talked about earlier as to the "why" they are in prison. again, my point is not that they have "rented" their space in advance, only that their tax dollars have been collected and so portions of their incarceration are already paid for. look at it like this: if person X was 30 when they went to prison, they have theoretically paid taxes (income, sales, etc.) for at least 12 years (i am figuring on the age of 18). the prison they went to was built when they were 20 so for the last 10 years person X has paid into having the prison built through his tax dollars. It is not foreshadowing any intent on committing a crime, it is just a fact that part of his collected taxes were spent building a prison. Therefore he has already paid into the prison being used. (not trying to complicate the idea presented any further, but it goes back into not having our personal choices on how taxes are spent.)I agree again totally with you that we do not spend enough money on the poor and needy, but you simply cannot force someone into labor simply because of being convicted of a crime. it is not only unlawful but unjust as well. I can predict that your argument will again be to change the laws, but this simply will not work as has been shown before by using "chain gangs". prison inmates, as i said before, have the opportunity like you mentioned to gain skills and experience in the current system. I would suggest to you that rather than focus on the idea of "they are all bad guys who deserve what they get" which i believe is at the root of your argument, try looking up some of the statistics on what is the root cause of why they are in prison in the first place. you have mentioned an interest in this before when discussing the "why" of the crime. while i agree that there are a some that are inherently bad by choice, the majority are in the the system due to influences beyond their control (mental illness, etc) which leads back to the original problem of the death penalty being ineffective, inhumane, and unjust.