--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let's stop wasting billions of dollars on…" description: "\"Let's stop wasting billions of dollars on prisons, which send people home who are too often less capable and more damaged than when they went in. We wo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/van-jones-984_billions_let-s-stop-wasting-billions-of-dollars-o_212171.png" --- # Let's stop wasting billions of dollars on prisons, which… ![“Let's stop wasting billions of dollars on prisons, which send people home who are too often less capable and more damaged than when they went in. We would have safer neighborhoods if we spent the same money on true rehabilitation, job training, employment and entrepreneurship.” quote by Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/van-jones-984_billions_let-s-stop-wasting-billions-of-dollars-o_212171.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/van-jones-984_billions_let-s-stop-wasting-billions-of-dollars-o_212171.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/van-jones-984_billions_let-s-stop-wasting-billions-of-dollars-o_212171.png) > “Let's stop wasting billions of dollars on prisons, which send people home who are too often less capable and more damaged than when they went in. We would have safer neighborhoods if we spent the same money on true rehabilitation, job training, employment and entrepreneurship.” [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Investing in rehabilitation and economic opportunities yields safer communities more than costly incarceration. **In simple terms:** Rehabilitation beats prisons for safety. Key Takeaway Prioritize job training over prison spending. Themes justice rehabilitation economics public safety Mood hopeful determined Type policy activist When to use this quote - prison reform - community development - employment programs Key Concepts policy economics social equity Questions to Reflect On - What incentives can shift budget priorities? - How can communities support reintegration? A Different Perspective Implementation faces political resistance and funding challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dollars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dollars/) [Employment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employment/) [Entrepreneurship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entrepreneurship/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Job training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-training/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Neighborhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighborhood/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Prisons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisons/) [Rehabilitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rehabilitation/) [Training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training/) ## Related quotes > [“Governments are wasting billions of dollars on attempting to predict events that are produced by interdependent systems and are therefore not statistically understandable at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/governments-are-wasting-billions-of-dollars-on-attempting-to-predict/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [A green jobs bill would include both job creation and job training.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/a-green-jobs-bill-would-include-both-job-creation-and-job-training/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [That's one component: rather than creating job-training pipelines that put these kids at the back of the line for the last century's pollution-based jobs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/that-s-one-component-rather-than-creating-job-training-pipelines-that/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [We need to invest in job training programs, especially those that include child care, transit stipends and paid apprenticeships and internships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/we-need-to-invest-in-job-training-programs-especially-those-that/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [In 1989, I started the National Association of Business Women. 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I'm ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/reform-prosperity-and-peace-these-are-major-challenges-to-the-united/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [Employees cannot become more productive in every sense of the word unless they are provided with continuous on-the-job training.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-balestrero/employees-cannot-become-more-productive-in-every-sense-of-the-word/) Gregory Balestrero ## More by Van Jones > [Right now, the government is spending billions of dollars supporting the problem-makers in the U.S. economy - the polluters, despoilers, incarcerators, and warmongers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/right-now-the-government-is-spending-billions-of-dollars-supporting/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [ If \[Donald\] Trump throws 20 million off of health care, that's going to be - if he handles this badly - and it's very… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/if-donald-trump-throws-20-million-off-of-health-care-that-s-going-to/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [America should be leading the world in green and clean solutions, and human rights. 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