Well, after slavery we had peonage, and CCCP? during the depression.

Isn't "CCCP" Russian for the official name of the Soviet Union? My dad's younger brother was in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) during the 30s. Being in the CCC may have been akin to enlistment, as he received a discharge form when he left the CCC. That form always cracked me up, because it had "honorable" typed in, above the printed text about being discharged. That version is probably now a crazy valuable collectable, as I tossed it, along with a lot of other papers, when I moved in 96. During an antique car show in Greenfield Village, they have a CCC set, with reenactors who present information on the program, and display artifacts. They have several of the discharge forms on display, but none like my uncle's, with "honorable" typed in.

The thing about prison labor is the labor can't walk away if they are maltreated. In Plan Steve, people can leave the camp any time they want, but they don't receive any assistance, like SNAP or Medicaid, on the outside. It might be similar to the "protected" workshops that my cousin was in, from time to time, as he was too slow mentally, and too low on ambition, to hold a job on the outside, on merit. People from the wrong sort of family may have not developed personal habits like getting up, and going somewhere, on a schedule. I have read of automakers, making an effort to recruit workers in the inner city, giving them an alarm clock, because they had never had one before, because they did not have a reason to get up at a particular time.

But, as I said earlier, do we, as a society, want to go there?

I loved the old Christmas Story I watched as a kid.

I think the version I grew up watching was the 1951 version, with Alastair Sim. With several viewings of the Mr Magoo musical cartoon version, from 62.

Steve