To make a blanket statement like "[Contributing to keeping prisoners in prison] is in no way an inherently good thing" is just madness.
I don't understand this point of view. At least in the US a very large portion of the prison population are in jail for non-violent crimes related to drug sales and/or possession, and are being imprisoned unjustly. Some if not all "white collar" crime prisoners should probably also not be imprisoned. I for one certainly do not see jail as having any sort of innate "goodness" or nobility associated with it. It's a horrible, brutal, inelegant hack at best, and a travesty of justice in many cases.
I don't understand this point of view. At least in the US a very large portion of the prison population are in jail for non-violent crimes related to drug sales and/or possession, and are being imprisoned unjustly. Some if not all "white collar" crime prisoners should probably also not be imprisoned. I for one certainly do not see jail as having any sort of innate "goodness" or nobility associated with it. It's a horrible, brutal, inelegant hack at best, and a travesty of justice in many cases.