In Norway you earn money in prison, and we still have lower percentage of people in prison.
It almost seems like someone wants people in prison, as if someone is profiting off of it or something. Hmmmm....
Norway is relatively small and homogenous compared to the US. And doesn't have a puritanical and pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps culture.
EDIT: I don't mean to defend the US here. It's a terrible system. Rather just point out the societies are so different I don't think what works in Norway can transfer directly to the US.
(Well, I guess you could say that countries like North Korea are worse, but even the thought of having to compare against North Korea should give a hint on how bad things really are.)