en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2423990 Comments by kmp5384 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment144234165 What is interesting in this map is that at first all of the battles were of a rather small explosion size and in similar areas, and slowly they began branching out to other countries and areas of the world. After this occurred, there were constant small wars in these places, such as South American and the United States of America, but majority of the battles and by the far the ones with the largest explosion sizes were in the area where all of the battles began. I am not exactly sure what this says about the world and the reasons we fight. I suppose these are the areas where there are things that are desirable for the world, such as resources. I know this is true, for our current war in the Middle East are as much about oil, if not more about oil, as it is about the other issues that made us enter into these wars in the first place. You could also see how around the time when World War II was going on there were the largest explosions. This shows how the advancement of technologies and the advancements the world has made in firearms and bombs have changed warfare. It is also interesting to think that if we had not advanced to the point we are at today with weaponry, could these conflicts have been handled in similar fashion to the small explosions from the beginning of the video one thousand years ago and saved millions of lives? This video also shows how more and more wars and battles are occurring today than were one thousand years ago, showing that the world has turned to war to solve many if not all conflicts. It is almost as though countries enjoy war because it makes them feel powerful to fight, win, and show off new weaponry they have created. This explosion of war has not only been negative for civilians and soldiers who have lost their lives, but also for the economy of the United States of America. If we did not engage in as many wars and spend as much on them as we do, we would not be so far in dept. The bombing in Libya cost us millions of dollars and it is not even a war we want to fight, it is other countries that want to fight the war and we were just helping and showing our support. This video is very eye-opening and interesting. Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:12:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment144234165 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment141988169 Before I had a family friend come back from Iraq injured and a completely changed person, for the worse, I would have never knew or thought about soldiers being depressed and changed when they return from war. It is something the government never posts when they update casualties of war, even though suicides that are the result of a soldier having been at war are very much so casualties of war. My friend Jeremy was 22 when he left for Iraq, and he was one of the bubbliest, happy people I knew. He was around an explosion and had his ear severed and was in a coma for a period of time. Now he has no hearing from that side of his head and can’t see very clearly. These physical losses are not the biggest thing he lost, he also lost himself. He’s depressed and quiet now, he never wants to be around anyone, and he has become an alcoholic. If the fact that so many soldiers experience depression and many even take their own lives upon their return to the States was more well-known, maybe there could be more of an effort by the public to help them re-enter society. There could be counseling, I am sure many people in the profession would offer free services to our troops. Furthermore, I’m sure business would allow space for groups to discuss their feelings and for them to come together. Also, if family and friends were told about what the person may experience when they return to the states, maybe they could help notice the warning signs and get their loved one help because it snowballed out of control. Another thing this article made me think about is the reasons why this information and these statistics are not made readily available to the public. Is this because the government does not want it to affect the number of people they recruit? Or is it the fact that they do not want people in our country or in other countries to think that we do not know how to handle our military properly? I am unsure as to the reason, but I think it is the very least the Government can do for the men and women who so bravely served our country. Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:50:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment141988169 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/what-a-man-is/#IDComment140206413 I think that this letter does exactly describe all of the things our society considers important and desirable to be in love, but the issue I am having with this letter is the fact that he learned this stereotype and what is acceptable, although he was unable to do this in his previous relationships. Although it is easy for him to read and watch TV and gather this idea of what an ideal man should do and how he will do it, I feel as though it would not be quite so easy to just begin trying to be the model boyfriend, especially when his past relationships were clearly not relatable to this model at all. I had a friend who had a boyfriend who was abusive, physically and emotionally, for years of their on and off again relationship. Every time she finally got the courage to dump him, he always came back spewing things similar to what is written in this letter. As frustrating as it was to watch, she always got back with him and was so excited when he treated her so nicely for the first week or two, but his true colors always came back out. Maybe I am being too hard on this prisoner and his nice letter about what an ideal man should do for the woman he is in a relationship with merely because it reminds me too much of what happened to my friend. I have been in a relationship for several years now, and these qualities are things I admire, love, and value in my boyfriend. This prisoner has clearly learned how a woman should be treated, and things that women like and admire in men, and it is my hope that he some day actually can follow through with his hopes of treating a woman in this way. If all men read this and held themselves even partially to this standard of respect his letter sets for women, only to the parts that are really essential, like being a protector and always being there to listen as opposed to being monetarily able to provide for every outing, relationships would be much better as a whole. Many relationships in today’s society are abusive, not just physically but emotionally, and this may help to cut down on this number. Tue, 5 Apr 2011 17:31:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/what-a-man-is/#IDComment140206413 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment138194400 This letter made me ponder a few things I found to be interesting. The first was what this man did to get his life sentence. I do not think I have read a letter that has not been an inmate who was murdered someone, and it is surprising to me that if he had murdered someone so many people would keep in contact with him. Also, he has been in jail for 10 years, and he said he is 28. Furthermore, he said his family and friends are not from the state of Pennsylvania, making me wonder if he was living on his own, far from his family at the young age of 18 and if this in some way contributed to his ending up in jail. Again, if he was living on his own at 18, he probably was not that close to his family or his home town- thus I wonder if there is some extraordinary circumstance for why he is in prison, thus leading to people such as his high school teachers keeping in contact with him this much later in life and under the conditions of his jail sentence. Aside from the curiosity of his personal situation that this article sparked, I was also yet again interested in the inter-prison relationships that form. Through this class, I have heard time and again that older prisoners befriend and become father figures to new inmates and try to make them better people. This is very curious to me, because I’m sure no one on the outside world would think another inmate sentenced to life could cause anything but a negative impact on an incoming inmate. When I used to think of prisoners, I thought of the show “locked-up” that my boyfriend and I are always amused by. These men fight, act like animals, throw food at each other, throw feces, etc. If the general public got to read these letters or here these men’s stories and transformations, I wonder if more people would be for parole for prisoners sentenced to life in prison. I think this would also make more people realize prison is not a scary place (for the most part) and that most of the men there are interesting and not that different from many people in the outside world, aside from one large, life-changing mistake. Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:01:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment138194400 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment137042902 My first thoughts when reading this article was that I did not know accessories to crimes could be sentenced to life in prison. Even if he had known about the crime, even if he had helped them cover up what had happened, he still did not actually murder or really help them murder the man. I watched a show once about a murder for hire plot, and in this plot the people who actually murdered the woman in the show got 20 years in prison and the man who paid them to do it got life. After this original though, I felt pity for this man. When you are a young teen, especially from 13-15 like this inmate was when the crime happened, you go along with almost anything in order to feel like you belong. Furthermore, since the inmate was not close with his family, I feel as though he looked up to the adult who planned the murder and wanted to believe that the adult would not lead him in the wrong direction. It is sad to me that an adult can lead a child into being an accomplice to the murder merely by putting him at the scene of the crime and that child can be sentenced to life for being there. Although I know he should have thought things through or reacted to his suspicions that they were going to kill the counselor, he still had nothing to do with the planning or murder of the man. He had no one to turn to, no way to get to the police and explain what had happened. I can’t say that if I was in his shoes and realized something bad had happened that I didn’t want to happen or know was going to happen happened I would act any differently. His youth and immaturity at the age of the crime is so evident in his story. I wish the court system sometimes did not go by procedure or the book in every case, for in this case any person with compassion would read this story and realize this man/boy does not deserve life in prison. Yes, he should have received some type of sentence and punishment, but life in prison? Is that really necessary, or helping him or anyone else? I do not think so. Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:26:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment137042902 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment136823246 My first thoughts when reading this article was that I did not know accessories to crimes could be sentenced to life in prison. Even if he had known about the crime, even if he had helped them cover up what had happened, he still did not actually murder or really help them murder the man. I watched a show once about a murder for hire plot, and in this plot the people who actually murdered the woman in the show got 20 years in prison and the man who paid them to do it got life. After this original though, I felt pity for this man. When you are a young teen, especially from 13-15 like this inmate was when the crime happened, you go along with almost anything in order to feel like you belong. Furthermore, since the inmate was not close with his family, I feel as though he looked up to the adult who planned the murder and wanted to believe that the adult would not lead him in the wrong direction. It is sad to me that an adult can lead a child into being an accomplice to the murder merely by putting him at the scene of the crime and that child can be sentenced to life for being there. Although I know he should have thought things through or reacted to his suspicions that they were going to kill the counselor, he still had nothing to do with the planning or murder of the man. He had no one to turn to, no way to get to the police and explain what had happened. I can’t say that if I was in his shoes and realized something bad had happened that I didn’t want to happen or know was going to happen happened I would act any differently. His youth and immaturity at the age of the crime is so evident in his story. I wish the court system sometimes did not go by procedure or the book in every case, for in this case any person with compassion would read this story and realize this man/boy does not deserve life in prison. Yes, he should have received some type of sentence and punishment, but life in prison? Is that really necessary, or helping him or anyone else? I do not think so. Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:47:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment136823246 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment136823148 My first thoughts when reading this article was that I did not know accessories to crimes could be sentenced to life in prison. Even if he had known about the crime, even if he had helped them cover up what had happened, he still did not actually murder or really help them murder the man. I watched a show once about a murder for hire plot, and in this plot the people who actually murdered the woman in the show got 20 years in prison and the man who paid them to do it got life. After this original though, I felt pity for this man. When you are a young teen, especially from 13-15 like this inmate was when the crime happened, you go along with almost anything in order to feel like you belong. Furthermore, since the inmate was not close with his family, I feel as though he looked up to the adult who planned the murder and wanted to believe that the adult would not lead him in the wrong direction. It is sad to me that an adult can lead a child into being an accomplice to the murder merely by putting him at the scene of the crime and that child can be sentenced to life for being there. Although I know he should have thought things through or reacted to his suspicions that they were going to kill the counselor, he still had nothing to do with the planning or murder of the man. He had no one to turn to, no way to get to the police and explain what had happened. I can’t say that if I was in his shoes and realized something bad had happened that I didn’t want to happen or know was going to happen happened I would act any differently. His youth and immaturity at the age of the crime is so evident in his story. I wish the court system sometimes did not go by procedure or the book in every case, for in this case any person with compassion would read this story and realize this man/boy does not deserve life in prison. Yes, he should have received some type of sentence and punishment, but life in prison? Is that really necessary, or helping him or anyone else? I do not think so. Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:47:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment136823148 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135359970 The fact that Pennsylvania is not only the state with the highest number of juveniles sentenced to life in prison, but also has the highest number in the world is something that is very hard to wrap one’s mind around. For a 16 or 17 year old kid I can see how the justice system can make attempts to justify their life sentences for murder, but a 13 year old? Kid’s are, especially those who commit homicidal crimes, product’s of their environments. I can not imagine that the court system does not feel like a 13 or 14 year old kid can not go through any program that will allow them to re-enter society as a changed person. At 13 years old, merely putting a kid in solitary confinement without comic books or video games for a year would be torture, and for many eye opening enough to allow them to realize this is not where they want to be and how they want to spend their lives. It would be much cheaper to have some kind of juvenile prison where younger kids were housed in cells as adults to show how awful being housed this way is without the fear and dangers of children being in an actual adult prison. I feel as though they could be taught about what they did, made to talk to the family of the one the hurt, and stripped of anything fun or luxurious. Kids at such a young age are still so easy molded and influenced that such things would be more than enough to change them and make them realize they never want to come back to a place like this or do what they did again. Although murder is a heinous crime and cannot really be written off as a mistake, in the case of young children it really is a mistake. A 13 year old does not have the reasoning to realize what they’re really about to do until after the fact. I feel as though our state is being very lazy and heartless by merely sentencing juveniles to life in prison without giving other alternatives any though or consideration. If money is a factor as to why they are not looking into other alternatives, they should look at the figures above and this will certainly change their minds. Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:04:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135359970 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/aging-out/#IDComment131645492 *CONTINUED FROM ABOVE POST Many of the letters I have read on the topic state that the person committed murder in a moment of passion, or rashly without thinking- if you did this once there is no way to say that if exposed to the same situation you would not do it again without thinking. Life sentences are not only about safety for the public, but also about justice and punishment and I think this fact has been ignored and needs to be kept in mind. Tue, 1 Mar 2011 17:10:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/aging-out/#IDComment131645492 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/aging-out/#IDComment131645456 *CONTINUTED FROM ABOVE POST If you took another’s life in a selfish, awful act, why should you get to re-enter society and life a normal life? Furthermore, if people who have murdered and sentenced to life are released back into society, they are clearly going to still be a drain to economic funds. I have friends who cannot even get part time jobs because of drug convictions, and if this is the case who is going to want to hire a murderer? I feel as though his whole letter and motive for writing it was to try to convince other people that he should be allowed to be released. Maybe he is an exception, someone who has repented and made right with himself, the world, and the family of the person he murdered, but this is an exception. I feel as though murdering someone takes a certain type of person, a certain type of heartlessness and cruelty, and if you were able to do it once who is to say, no matter how changed you claimed to be in prison, that you will not ‘accidently’ do it again in a split second. *CONTINUED IN NEXT POST Tue, 1 Mar 2011 17:10:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/aging-out/#IDComment131645456 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/aging-out/#IDComment131645328 Although Tyson Wert’s makes many good points in his letter, I feel as though his motives for doing all of these things are not something to be proud of, for clearly he is putting forward every piece of evidence why murderers should be released back into society and neglecting to adequately discuss the reasons why they should not be. He has, clearly shown in his list of involvements, been a very involved and successful prisoner during his time. Even so, he is serving a life sentence for murdering another human being. In my opinion, it does not matter if you are a changed person or say you are in jail, because honestly you do not have access to the things, such as bad friends, gangs, drugs, and weapons, that caused you to make poor life decisions in the outside world. Furthermore, prisoners are serving a life sentence not only are there to protect the rest of society, but also as a punishment. If you take another life, I feel as though you should spend your life in prison having your freedoms withheld. *CONTINUED IN NEXT POST Tue, 1 Mar 2011 17:09:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/aging-out/#IDComment131645328 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment130661068 Although I understand that many people in the world are good people, and that almost all of the strangers children encounter on a daily basis would help them if they needed help or were lost, it is still hard to say that this interaction with strangers should be encouraged. Even if children are only abducted in very small percentage, I still do not feel this small percent is worth potentially increasing by teaching children this. I do not, obviously, have children and do not know what it feels like to have a child, but just from losing one of my cousins and best friends I know what it feels like to feel utterly broken over loss. I can only assume that losing a child would feel even worse than what I have felt. This being said, I can not imagine increasing the risk that my child would be abducted by teaching them that it is okay to talk to strangers. If kids were taught to talk to strangers and that this was okay, I feel as though there would be even more abductions and murders of children. Being overly cautious with your child is something that is important, not something that is harmful. I feel as though it is more productive to teach children how to properly interact with “strangers” who will do them no harm, such as help desk workers, policemen, or employees at stores. Teaching them people to seek out to get safer help is just as effective as if they were to approach any stranger, and it is safer. In a world and society where parents are overly cautious of their children and teach them not to talk to strangers at all, there are still a fair amount of child abductions. In a world where there are no boundaries between children and strangers I feel as though there would be an increased number of abductions, even though in the article posted it suggests that this would not be the case. Children are so young, helpless, and gullible that I see no point in trying to change the norm on strangers and risk their well being just because some people believe that it would be better. There is no proof in this and it is something far too costly and risky to even try. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:19:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment130661068 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/the-other-side/#IDComment128385124 This article first caught my eye when I was deciding which to do my response on for the week because in the first sentence the man, W, states that he is from York, Pennsylvania and this is my home town. He also mentions the newspaper I have delivered to my house every morning. It was strange for me to consider the fact that this man killed someone in a town I know so well, in a place I may have even been or seen at some point in my life. Besides my initial reason for interest, this article is thought-provoking because in it the man seems to want the family to tell him how hurt they were for his and their personal healing. I feel as though many murderers would be very nervous and apprehensive for this meeting, some may even not want to have it or go as far as to refuse to meet them. W is an exception, for he even describes the feelings he felt before the meeting as “excited.” I noted that the article was published in 1999 and that he committed his crime in 1959, so he did have 40 years to wonder how the family felt and to contemplate what he wanted to say and that he wanted to apologize since this is what he felt necessary for peace for himself. 40 years is an awfully long time, especially when you are locked in a jail cell majority of the day, to wait for peace in my opinion, so maybe this fueled his excitement. It also amazes me that he consented to having their meeting published in the paper, something that would make people dislike him more and even potentially hurt his family, in order to try to help any other people who may have been hurt in a similar way as he hurt this family. Furthermore, he writes at the bottom that his purpose for writing was to not only help other victims but also other offenders. W has clearly thought hard about what he has done, and in this article alone points out numerous ways he has wanted to help others; meeting with the family so they could tell him how hurt they were, publishing the meeting in the paper to help others, and writing this letter to help victims and other offenders. He seems to have really turned into a person with direction and morals, and this is an interesting and wonderful thing in my opinion. Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:15:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/the-other-side/#IDComment128385124 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/09/4092/#IDComment127190723 While reading “Remember,” I had a lot of thoughts running through my mind, as well as emotions. It is hard not to feel bad for this man, as he describes a list of things he can not remember that are so sad its heartbreaking. But, at the same time, it is hard to feel sad for a man who has taken another man’s life. The fact that the only family member who still supports and helps him through is his mother, the fact that he has no friends that keep in contact with him, and the fact that his wife, or ex-wife, does not keep in contact with him are all so sad and such painful things to think about happening to anyone. Even so, the things he can remember and seems to dwell on are all of the things surrounding his crime: the murder of another man. Although it is sad that all he can do is feel bad and remember the horrible thing he has done, it has lead him to God and hopefully some type of acceptance and inner peace. It shows that he has journeyed through every emotion from anger, to heartbreak, to remorse and eventually figured out a way to deal with all of them: religion. After reading a few of the other blogs about prisoners that are going to be locked up for the rest of their lives and how they all mention that they have turned to religion, I began to wonder if this is another invisible string. Does the fact that people have all of their freedoms taken away, so many people judging and hating them, and that they lose most if not all of their friends and family make them more likely to believe and confide in God? This is a very interesting thing to consider, and it would be interesting to look at how they turned to God, whether it was from someone encouraging them to or whether they just decided to do it themselves. Overall, Remember is a sad article about a man who is reflecting on the fact that he has pushed all of the painful memories regarding himself and how his life has been changed aside and remembering and feeling bad for the pain he has caused others for murdering a young man named Kevin. Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:56:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/09/4092/#IDComment127190723 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment125046787 This video shows the way that people in today’s society want to fit in, to conform to the people around us in order to not stand out or be viewed as different. This video is not only funny, but also interesting because you not only see the people moving to do the same thing as the group, but they try to do it slyly to look like the knew that it was normal or did it on their own. The man checking his watch as an excuse to turn is a prime example of this. People do not only want to fit in, but they also want to seem independent and as though they made the decision to blend in or follow the trend on their own without outside influence. Girls, for example, have all conformed to wearing leggings and UGGs to class on a regular basis, but I’m sure none would admit that they bought these clothing articles because they saw other girls wearing it, but rather that “they liked it” or that “its comfortable.” Another similar trend is clothing items by The North Face. In high school, no one had jackets or boots from this company, here everyone does and everyone seems to notice who does not. For a society that prides ourselves and being free and a society of unique individuals, this video of an example of how not free and non-individualistic we are. It is amazing how quickly people jump on trend, even down to sports when a popular team is winning that year and there are suddenly hundreds of ‘bandwagon’ fans. I know that I too am guilty of conforming; it is something I never really thought that much about. In college I have to freedom to dress and act however I want, and I find myself dressing to fit in or to be normal. People complain about not having enough freedoms all of the time, or are protesting for more freedoms when we do not even exercise all of the freedoms we have. The freedoms to dye our hair our favorite color, or pierce our bodies, or wear different clothing from everyone else are freedoms college students can take on without it affecting their life careers in college and in college, more than ever, all students dress and act the same. Conformity is an interesting look into personal freedom and choice. Tue, 1 Feb 2011 02:46:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment125046787 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment124177524 Teen pregnancy rates are something widely discussed, as it is an issue that is, unfortunately, not uncommon in high schools. I attended a large high school where I only knew of two girls during my whole high school career that were pregnant, but was made aware of the fact that the high school neighboring mine as well as the city school had much higher teen pregnancy rates through our study of this in my sex education class during my freshman year. I always had thought that maybe the other high schools had always had more pregnant teens, so socially they believed that it was acceptable, although not ideal, while we were taught it was not socially acceptable and that it was to be avoided at all costs. After reading the link posted in the blog entitled “Eleven Facts About Sex Education in the U.S.,” however, I feel that maybe the way sex education is approached in schools may have an influence on the type of choices teenagers make regarding sexual activity. I certainly never thought that some schools in the United States did not all teach sex education, or even that some only taught abstinence instead of contraceptive measures. These types of influences, or lack there of in the case of sex education, can cause people to do and see things very differently. Although I do hold girls who become pregnant in high school accountable for their own actions, these factors could very easily lead to a high school like the one in the video where a staggering eleven percent of students are pregnant. Teenagers, especially ones still in high school, are very susceptible to influences to try to fit in or make friends. If the discipline, information, and lack of sex education encouraging methods to prevent teen pregnancy are lacking, and if there is a large percent of the student body that is pregnant and happy with this choice present, I can see how more and more girls would become pregnant by default or to try to fit in with other peers. Although these girls are still making a free choice to engage in unprotected sex or even try to get pregnant, the ‘invisible strings’ discussed are still there encouraging these behaviors and even implanting them into their minds. If many graduates remain in this particular city and continue to feel as though this is normal for teenagers attending and eventually their own children to become pregnant as teens, the problem will remain present in this high school. This is a very good example of how invisible string based on what you’re exposed to even when you’re unaware affect your life decisions and the outcome of your life. Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:36:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment124177524 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122137718 This article, written by someone who has committed a crime so great that they were sentenced to life in prison, was not the bitter, gloomy letter I expected when I read the title. Personally, when I think about freedom I think back to all of the times in my life when I couldn't wait to get freedom from my parents: my driver's license, my own car, no curfew, and moving out/being in college completely free (for the most part) from any day-to-day guidance or input on what I decide to do daily. Never did I stop to think about all of the little freedoms I have always had until our class discussion and this letter, and I definitely never thought about the power of freedom I posses in my own mind. There are so many things in his list of freedoms that he misses that really struck me, especially the one about being at "birthdays, graduations, weddings, child-births, holidays, promotions, anniversaries and funerals." Family is a big part of my life, and I cannot imagine if I couldn't attend many of these events with the people I love. I know how removed I feel when I miss something such as a family birthday party because I am away at college, and knowing that I could not even go home for some of these things if I really wanted to would be unbearable. Having your freedom to communicate freely with loved ones or to see them daily is something I do first think of when I think of being in prison for life, but the small things he references missing, such as being able to eat when he wants or vacuum the house, also really made me think. Being locked in a cell where I could not, upon being hungry, go and make something to eat seems so restricting and is even hard to comprehend. This letter has really made me think about how all of the small things in life I never thought about as being freedoms really are; I even felt freedom today when I chose which coffee k-cup I wanted to choose for my new coffee brewer. This article is really eye opening and is something I feel like most American’s could benefit from if they took the time to read it and think through what it really discusses. Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:08:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122137718 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cp%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121717304 Soc 001 Sun, 16 Jan 2011 19:12:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cp%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121717304