The US Prison System Is Actually Larger than Soviet GulagsBy Joshua Krause Whats more shocking, is that our prison population has reached an ominous milestone over the past few years. The number of Americans who were in jail and prison, or on probation and parole, was 7 million people by 2009. When you include former inmates who have since left our prison system, you wind up with 19 million people as of 2010. This number exceeds the 18 million people who endured the Soviet Gulag system, between 1929 and 1953. While the conditions in the gulags were far worse than American prisons, our facilities still utilize slave labor and torture techniques like solitary confinement to keep their inmates in line. And with a per capita incarceration rate that might only be exceeded by countries like North Korea and Cuba, theres no reason to believe that the United States is still among the free nations of the world. Image Credit Also See: Joshua Krause is a reporter, writer and researcher at The Daily Sheeple. He was born and raised in the Bay Area and is a freelance writer and author. You can follow Joshuas reports at Facebook or on his personal Twitter. Joshuas website is Strange Danger . Free country? Surely you jest. A government so criminal and rogue, giving a simple thumbs up gets your threat level raised, you being blacklisted, and put on a terrorist watch list People do not know liberty anymoretheyve been brainwashed! Slave labor is still used in USA! Theres no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there arent enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. ~(paraphrased: Page 406 of Ayn Rands, Atlas Shrugged ) 