en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2410361 Comments by ajd5443 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/for-what-purpose/#IDComment144885547 This prisoner is a strong person. I do not know about you, but I would for sure find the courage to kill myself after 22 years in prison. I think he has a strong feeling that no matter what he accomplishes in prison; realistically his life has no meaning anymore, which has to be the hardest emotional feeling to deal with as a human being. Personally, I would at least attempt to kill myself because it would be something that I could not deal with. However, he has not tried. I believe this is because he was 14 when he got the life sentence. Therefore, this is essentially all he has known. It reminds me of the movie Shawshank Redemption. Even though that movie may not be the most accurate, it shows that some prisoners that are raised in prison should not be released to the outside world, because they will be lost. In the movie, a prisoner gets released when he is an old man, and the world has progressed so much that he no longer fits in with society and ends up killing himself. I believe this would be the case for most prisoners. I believe hope is what keeps the world moving. I could not go through my day without hope of being successful. That is what keeps people striving for more. Scientists search for the cure for cancer in the hopes that millions of lives will be saved, athletes train everyday in the hopes that they will score the winning goal, and students go to class in the hopes of getting a good job. Everything revolves around hope. It is strange that even when most of your rights are taken away, hope is still present. As a prisoner, it would be hard to imagine what you have hope for when the judge has already crushed your hopes of being free one day. The prisoner states that he does not know what will happen if hope disappears. He is unsure if he will die or “find a way to see in the dark”. I believe that without hope, you are ultimately worthless, and it will most certainly end in death. This is most likely why so many prisoners kill themselves. Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:02:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/for-what-purpose/#IDComment144885547 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/lifer/#IDComment142926299 There is not one person in the world that has a label that they would like to get rid of. We all like to brag about our accomplishments putting us on top, so when someone puts a condescending label upon you, it is often not easy to deal with. For example, my friend recently changed majors from Architectural Engineering to Communications. Now we are all aware that Communications is considered significantly easier than Engineering, so obviously we all rip on him and label him “stupid”. However, he used to be an engineer, meaning he is capable of doing the work, but Communications is more interesting to him. Therefore, the label of him being stupid is incorrect. There is no doubt that most labels placed upon someone are most likely incorrect, however, our society will never be label free. In fact, labels are how we associate ourselves with others, and think we know people without actually knowing them. For example, if I was interested in a girl and she was from Colorado I would be more interested in her because she is associated with me. On the other hand, if she was from Pittsburgh I would place all the labels I associate with Pittsburgh on her, making me a lot less interested. This works out, because someone from Pittsburgh would choose her over the Colorado girl. In the case of the prisoner, this is the worst label that anyone could have. The label he has is the label that makes everyone he is around uncomfortable. When he walks into the room with the Temple students, his prisoner label scares the students, because they know he is a criminal and is a possible threat to their safety. However, he does not believe he is. He believes that he is a normal human being, and wants to escape this label, but like I said earlier, this is impossible. The only thing that one can do is to recognize the fact that society operates on labels. Having the knowledge of this, we can see other people in their label frame and in a normal human being frame, and go from there in terms of choosing where they belong. Therefore, more people will be accepting of others. 4/14/10 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:49:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/lifer/#IDComment142926299 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/what-a-man-is/#IDComment140835046 While I was reading over this post, I was thinking to myself that this is not a normal prisoner. The way he speaks gave me the impression that he went to prison and got soft. Usually, prisoners go to prison and get hard, right? This got me thinking that maybe it was a false reality that prisoners get “hard” in prison. The way documentaries, the media, and folk tales make it seem is that in prison you must be tough or you won’t survive. So how could this prisoner be talking about all the sympathetic things he would do for the love of a women? This post made me realize that life in prison is portrayed incorrectly sometimes, and this man is a prime example of that. If I were to see this man behind bars I would initially assume that he has no respect for anyone, let alone has these softer feelings towards women. Clearly this man did something cruel enough to deserve life, but he believes in treating women with more respect than I even do? Therefore, this made me believe that maybe prison does provide a sense of therapy. A man alone with his thoughts for life goes a long way. Also, this made me revaluate myself. Do I treat women with enough respect? Or do I take them for granted and only believe that they are interested in having sex with me? Maybe going up to a girl and immediately grinder on her isn’t what she wants. Maybe I should be more prudent in the way I approach girls. As you can see, this prisoner regrets not treating women the right way, and is truly remorseful. I would hate to be in the situation where I got locked up and had a regret on my mind, because it would tear me apart emotionally. In conclusion, I believe this prisoner didn’t get soft, but got harder. He has manned up enough to admit his faults in his free life, which he will never get back. It takes a lot for a man to be able to do this, so I applaud him. Thu, 7 Apr 2011 21:47:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/what-a-man-is/#IDComment140835046 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment139749844 I hate to say it, but I agree with most of what this prisoner is saying. I believe that to the outside world either prison looks horrifying or prison looks normal. For example, MSNBC and National Geography air shows that goes “behind bars” to examine what jail is like. They portray it as a constant struggle where no can find any peace or serenity. On the other hand, movies like Shawshank Redemption portray prison as a laid back atmosphere where old men like Morgan Freeman form brotherhoods. In reality, prison is what a prisoner makes it out to be. Meaning that depending on the attitude of the prisoner, is the type of prison experience they will face. I also agree with him when he says, “Most of these people are of good nature, they just made poor choices somewhere along the way.” My freshman year of high school I went to a school located in the middle of a trailer park. I considered myself one of the most fortunate kids in that school and was able to stay away from drugs and bad influences. One day my algebra teacher and a student had a conversation during class in which the student stated he was a bad person, and she replied you’re a good person who makes bad decisions. This has always stuck with me, and I believe it is very true for most of the people in prison. This article makes me wonder if that teacher actually prevented the student from one day making the wrong decision and going to jail. Furthermore, would most prisoners be free right now if they had someone there to tell them the same thing? This article got me thinking of what it would be like if someone close to me went to prison. Would I write them letters? Visit? Or even talk to them anymore? I believe that like he said overtime I would begin to forget about that person, and contact them less and less. Someone close to you going to prison is similar to death. You lose the connection you once had, and there is no preventing that. Sun, 3 Apr 2011 23:58:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment139749844 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/20/frost-bitten/#IDComment136347464 For the sake of this response, I am going to assume that this prisoner is getting life because he committed murder, and since that is what we have been discussing in class. To be honest, I do not like this poem. It kind of angers me. I feel like the prisoner is trying to get sympathy from the audience that he is in prison. However, I do not feel bad at all. In fact, it makes me even gladder that he is in prison. If he killed someone, they do not have the opportunity to feel anything anymore. Not to mention, the loved ones of the person he murdered that as well feel “frost bitten”. He says, “I am cold because around me are cold souls”. He says this as if he is not a cold soul when he is the reason that he is in that position in the first place. Therefore, this person does not understand the severity of his crime and deserves to be in life for prison. Sam in class talked about how we never know if we are going to kill someone. For example, we could be driving down the street and the sun shines in our eyes and we hit and kill someone. If this is the case for this prisoner than it semi-justifies his emotions. It is true that we truly have no idea how fragile life really is, and killing someone could be one bad decision away. Lifers who experience this type of situation are the only ones who may deserve a second chance at free life. However, this would have to be a very difficult decision based on behavior and other factors. The other situation that stood out to me in class was when Sam said that man had killed the man who beat and raped his girlfriend in separate occasions. This is by far the most difficult situation to give someone life in. I do not believe murder is ever justified unless during war or self defense. To me the man should have beaten the man who raped his girlfriend within an inch of his life, however, murder makes him a worse person that the rapist. Mon, 21 Mar 2011 03:12:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/20/frost-bitten/#IDComment136347464 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135675525 Many people believe that America’s justice system is corrupt, however, I do not. I believe it is very just. I understand how people believe that the death sentence, and in this case sentencing children to life without parole, is completely out of line. However, I believe that it is necessary. First, the children that have earned this sentence obviously did something to justify life without parole. I do not care who you are, if you do something that interferes with human rights, like murder, than you deserve life without parole. The part in the passage that stands out to me the most is when it says that children cannot vote, drink, or serve in the military, but they cant go to jail for life. Hell, children can’t even go to rated R movies. However, this is completely logical to me. Clearly children cannot vote because they are uneducated. They cannot drink because that will damage their brains, and they will get killed in the military. It makes sense that anyone can lose their rights by violating the rights of others. It is completely logical to believe that if you don’t have the rights of an adult than if you commit a crime you should lose your rights even more, because obviously you cannot handle typical human rights. I think it would be very difficult to control these type of people if they are committing such serious crimes at a young age. If they get let out of juvenile they will be unable to adjust to the ways of life. It will be almost impossible for these kids to live a normal life without getting into a life of violence and drugs. I believe that people deserve second chances, but come on. Children know the difference between right and wrong, and when they ignore that instinct as children it will only get worse. Their life will become a real life example of the “snowball effect”. Being exposed to crimes and prison will lead to a disaster life. Therefore, I hate to say it, but life in prison without parole is almost the best option for these children. Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:08:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135675525 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/the-lottery-as-a-blessing-or-a-curse/#IDComment131504822 The old saying, “money doesn’t bring happiness”, is very complex. There is no doubt that 99 percent of humans wish they had more money. This is because we do everything for money. We go to school so we can get a better job, we invest in the stock market for more money, and we even play the lottery in the hopes of getting more money. We do this because, obviously, our economic standing is a major factor in the lives we live and the people we meet. However, when someone wins the lottery, they drastically change their economic standing, meaning they alter their whole lifestyles. For some, this is impossible. If you really think about it, it makes sense that most lottery winners face tragedies after they win. Like we learned earlier in the semester, people who play the lottery are uneducated. Therefore, the average income of lottery players is low. Sociologically, when someone wins the lottery, the people they associate with will feel entitled to some of the money. They don’t understand how fast someone can blow threw millions of dollars. This is why people face tragedies. The impoverished people that they might be associated with will do anything to get their hands on the money. What I am trying to say is that no matter how much money you win from the lottery you cannot escape what you have been. Even though a single mom with 4 jobs can land $1.3 million dollars overnight, deep down she is still the person she was before with 4 jobs. This is why people say, “Money doesn’t bring happiness”. Money, in fact, can cause a lot of trauma. People believe that if they had millions of dollars they could buy anything they wanted and not worry about work or anything else. They do not realize that you have to pay taxes on the money you earn which is proportional to the money you gained. In the sociological world, winning the lottery is a big issue. Sociologist have found that lottery winners are too naive to handle the amount of money they have received. Therefore, playing the lottery is a game of luck, as well as risk. Tue, 1 Mar 2011 06:37:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/the-lottery-as-a-blessing-or-a-curse/#IDComment131504822 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment130253019 After watching this video, I think it is good advice to tell children not to talk to strangers. Yes, maybe 99.99 percent of the time nothing will happen, and the stranger will turn out to be a normal human being; however, there is still a chance of something happening. I know that seems very paranoid, but why would children need to speak with strangers anyway? I believe there is a fine line between talking to strangers and trusting other strangers. Children are too naive to understand how manipulative people can be, which easily lands them in dangerous situations. This is why parents advise their children to stay away. Therefore, I would not consider parents telling their children to stay away from strangers bad advice. It is a safety precaution that saves many children’s lives. Personally, I was always taught to stay away from strangers. I believe that this saved me from being kidnapped. I was approached by a stranger in a white van who asked if I wanted to pet his puppy. I immediately remembered my mom telling me to stay away, therefore I told him no. The girl I was with initially said yes, but changed her mind when I said no. Obviously, she was not instilled with the teaching from her parents that I was. I concluded that this saved both of our lives. I do believe that we think kidnappings happen more than they actually do though. The evening news is filled with stories such as these, because this is what people want to hear about. The news doesn’t report about every kid who made it home safely from school that day, only the one in the whole nation that ran into trouble. We are instilled with the idea that there is an incident everyday when really this is very untrue. With this being said, it is still good advice to tell our children to stay away from strangers. If we can look passed the influence of the media, we can clearly see that is a long shot that any of us get kidnapped. However, as the old saying goes, it is better to be safe than sorry. Thu, 24 Feb 2011 05:15:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment130253019 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment128486477 I especially like this song because it contradicts all the gushy music that dominates the billboards. Every song talks about loving that one person and how they cannot live without them. However, I do not buy this. It is very reasonable to believe that if you break up with the “one” there is someone out there that can replace them. I think the sociological message of the lyrics is that people are controlled by invisible strings such as music to make them believe that there is only one match for them. This guy is trying to say otherwise. I walk down the street everyday seeing a new girl and thinking “wow, she is the one”, but she is not actually. The choices we make affect the people we meet and shape who we fall in love with. However, it is safe to say that taking one choice over the other could lead to meeting different counterparts. This would prove the lyrics of the song when it says, “someone else would do.” Therefore, it is almost by pure luck that everyone meets their partner. Thu, 17 Feb 2011 06:19:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment128486477 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment128486442 I wish that this song was sung by someone with a different appearance than this guy. I wish this for a couple reasons. First, it is hard to take him seriously with his hair and eyeliner. Since he chooses to look like this it makes me wonder what invisible strings have affected him to look like this, and could they also be responsible for the reason why he thinks this way as well? I believe that something has happened to this guy, like a girl breaking his heart, for him to believe that anyone is replaceable; therefore it is an example of confirmation bias. If someone who is considered to be “normal” sung this song, I would be in total agreement. I strongly believe that there is more than one counterpart for someone in the world. It is highly unlikely that there is the “one”. He makes a good point when he uses math to claim that the probability of finding the “one” out of 6 billion people is near impossible. Thu, 17 Feb 2011 06:19:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment128486442 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127234415 I think Americans fear the worst in other counties. It’s no secret that a lot of foreigners do not appreciate Americans very much. I visited Sweden last summer and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. However, there was no avoiding the criticism from random people on the streets when they heard you speaking English. For example, waiting in line for a club, we would often get yelled at to “get out of Iraq”. I couldn’t help but worry a little bit because all of the conditioning the media has done covering all of the stories of American’s being abducted in foreign countries. However, I do not believe that these are valid excuses. I believe that everyone should travel abroad as much as possible. It is a great experience. Personally, I learned a lot, and will take any opportunity to travel abroad again. The people who do not travel abroad do not know what they are missing. Fri, 11 Feb 2011 01:20:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127234415 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127234370 After reading the article, I was very shocked to hear that only 30 percent of Americans own passports. Personally, I have had a passport since 5th grade when I took my first travel abroad to Mexico. However, I do not believe that going to an all inclusive resort in Mexico can be considered traveling abroad since the resort is crawling with Americans that do not leave it the whole trip. This is what many families do for vacation. They do not experience any type of the culture, which to me is the whole reason to travel abroad. I think that many families do not travel abroad for many reasons. First, cost. It is very expensive to travel because you have to include the price of airline tickets, hotel, food, and entertainment. With the economy the way it is, there is a lot of strain on people’s check books so travel is an easy expense to reduce. Second, I agree with the article when it claims that Americans are comfortable here. America has a lot to offer. We have beaches, mountains, plains, cities, and other geological hotspots. Therefore, why make the stretch to visit another country for those reasons when we have them right here? Fri, 11 Feb 2011 01:20:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127234370 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment125986099 Like we talked about in class, when the fraternity hazed the pledges by making them catch fresh feces with a bucket. Now to me, that sounds absurd and I would never do that, but I believe that most of the kids who did it would think the same thing. However, when they got in the situation and saw that others were going to do it, they conformed. Conformity is shown perfectly by this video. The person who stood out to me the most was the first person. This man clearly knew that everyone was facing the wrong way. You could see the hesitation in his movements, but eventually turned sideways, almost as if he was conforming half way. This is a sign of the dangerous type of conformity. Even though the man knew that the people were facing the wrong way, he joined them in doing the wrong thing. This alludes to future conformity when he knows that what others are doing is wrong, but joins them to avoid going against the grain. For the other in the elevator, some of them simply could have been blind to the fact that the others were facing the wrong way, therefore did the wrong thing without even knowing. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 20:41:32 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment125986099 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment125986023 Conformity plays a huge role in society. Sometimes it’s a good thing, sometimes it a bad thing. It’s a good thing when they conform to society’s rules and regulations; therefore society becomes a safer place for everyone. If I weren’t for conformity, there would be no unity or patriotism, but anarchy. Everyone would be out for themselves, almost as if we were animals. However, conformity can also be bad thing. When people get in large groups it is hard to underestimate their power. I saw one of those corny t-shirts the other day that said, “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups”. I thought it was a dumb shirt at first, but it is also very true. People who conform to large groups of other people gain confidence and are more likely to do something dangerous or out of line. For example, hazing becomes a big issue when people join large groups. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 20:41:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment125986023 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cd%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment125980292 soc 001 Fri, 4 Feb 2011 20:10:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cd%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment125980292 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122894624 The strongest point the prisoner makes is when he states, “Of all the choices I can make the one that I pay most attention to is being the person that I want to be. At the end of the day is there any greater choice anybody can make in life?” I believe the greatest freedom we have is the choice to become whoever we desire to be. We can chose to be a nice person, a bad person, a funny person, or any type of person we want to be. This is the ultimate freedom. I believe that the prisoner is positive throughout the whole letter which is strong message to the audience. If a prisoner who may never see the free world again can has a positive outlook on freedom, than we as well should be positive. It is necessary to enjoy our freedom, because it is fragile. Even though progression is derived from desire, we must also keep in mind our limitation so that freedom is no abused. Abusing our freedom can result in losing it. Sat, 22 Jan 2011 01:44:43 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122894624 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122894584 I could not agree more with the prisoner than when he stated that American’s take freedom for granted. I couldn’t read the entire letter without checking my Facebook and grabbing a drink from the refrigerator. When I initially did these things I was disappointed that I had no notifications or drinks. However, after reading the letter, I realize how lucky I am to be able to even run my own life. As an American citizen, I believe we need to stop taking freedom for granted. Since America is based on capitalism, we always want more and more. We never stop to treasure what we have now. This is same for the case of freedom. In some societies, women cannot even leave the house without the company of a man, no one can speak badly of the government, and wages are barely enough to get by. However, in America we control our lives. We have the freedom to go anywhere we want, say anything about the government we want, and control our destinies. Sat, 22 Jan 2011 01:44:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122894584