en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2398489 Comments by lhc5036 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/if-prison-has-taken-anything-away-from-me/#IDComment145144970 Like previous people have said, this letter does not start out to be that moving, but as it goes a long, it is very striking. The author of this letter has such a sad view about his life. It is true, he has no way out, and he is stuck in the pit of jail, of darkness do to his own actions. He has no chance to look across the room and see the person that he is destined to be in love with forever. He has lost everything he wants. But I think he fails to realize that he still has the chance to fall in love. Maybe not with someone else to spend forever with, but he still has many things that cannot be taken from him. Things that he can look forward to and spend everyday with. He has a vast resource of knowledge. He has all the time in the world and all the ability to become knowledgeable of everything and anything that he wants. We always hear people say that your education is the one thing that can never be taken from you, and if you ask me, that is more valuable than anything if you have no means of loving another person. I guess what I’m trying to say is that he is there, he is never not going to be there and he will never experience what he knew as love, and as hard as it is to know you will never know the touch of another human being ever again, it would be so much more enlightening to fall in love with something at his disposal. Love is not restricted to just human beings to other human beings, it can be spread to many other different aspects of life. It is a completely different kind of love, I know that, but if he will never experience the love he wants, then he should love as much as he can with the different types of love he can experience. He can love learning and God and religion and writing and so many other things that he may have access to. Love is more than just the touch of another person. It is not the same, but it is better than no type of love at all. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:44:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/if-prison-has-taken-anything-away-from-me/#IDComment145144970 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment143220525 This video really brings to light how much we provide and have prepared for the war that is actually just a waste of money. It shows that we are literally running ourselves into the ground. The defense department is hiding many factors that are important for us to know. We are given false information about costs and money and price about how much bases cost, the equipment of the bases, and the weapons that we have for “just in case”. These weapons and fighter planes that are being paid for by this war have yet to been used and have no proof to be needed or going to be needed by anyone in this war. I think that it is absolutely ridiculous the amount of money that is being spent and the amount of effort that is going into covering up the spending. Also, why would the government keep creating bases and spending that money when other countries clearly do not want us there? Yes, I see that it is necessary in some places and that it is a good thing there, but there are many other places that we are placing ourselves in without really doing it for the people there, but for us. This makes it hard for me to understand that we are all about helping others; it kind of feels like we are only trying to help ourselves. I am not saying we are a bad country, I am saying that we are at times a fairly selfish country. Do we do what we do because it is what is best for those peoples’ land that we are invading and taking? Who knows, right? I mean we can’t possibly know what is best or right for every country out there. We do not live there. We do not spend our entire lives there apart of that country. We don’t know what is best, but we sure do like to think so and we like to let everyone know it. Until we take the time to step into the lives of the people in the countries that we have bases in and are trying to protect and help, we can’t really determine if they need our help or if we are actually doing more good than bad. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:13:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment143220525 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment141150450 It is hard to read that the number of soldiers who have died in combat is smaller than the number of soldiers willing to take their own lives. This video was really good to watch in class because it brings many issues and emotions to light that many of us would have ever seen or been made aware of without watching this. It is so heartbreaking to see the soldiers’ emotional ride that they endure. It is surprising to see that the PTSD is increasing as well as depression rates of the soldiers of the Afghanistan. It is curious that the rates are increasing now more than ever due to this new type of war. Sociologically, our society has been raised on the old ideas of war, which did not leave soldiers with PTSD nor depression like it does now. Is it the so short time between deployments? Is it the sudden loneliness that comes with no longer being surrounded by fellow unit mates? Honestly, it is sad, but our society has not properly prepared soldiers for post war lifestyle. It is very dangerous for the soldiers, their units, and for us here on the home front for them to be deployed so quickly again once they have been home. I have such little understanding of the strings that move and shape the soldiers while they are away at war and while they are here again in the states. But, I do know that anytime soon the issues of PTSD and depression will be solved or figured out. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 02:55:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment141150450 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment139133551 So as I was sitting here reading this letter of a lifer, I kept waiting and wondering when he was going to write about his actual crime. And by the end, when I did not get any indication of what his actual crime was, I realized that it was not about what he did ten years ago. This letter is about what he sees as family and relationships with people. Just because you don’t share the same blood as someone does not mean that you can’t consider them to be family. It is funny, well not really funny but more so sad, that when you become less reachable, that people have the mindset of out of sight, out of mind. Originally, of course, they do not have this mentality, but over time people lose touch and I’m sure that inmates start to feel disposed of. The way that C. talks make it sound as if he is not a bad person nor was he ever; he makes it sound like he is a man who at a young age made a bad decision and is now paying for it. The fact that so many people that he is not related to, such as his friends, his friends’ parents, and his previous teachers still keep in contact with him and are “in his corner” says a lot about him. It really dismisses the idea that people who earn life in prison are all hardened criminals. I’m not dispatching that C. deserves to be there, I’m just saying that it is rare that anyone stops to consider that these people are not all bad and that they too are looking for a “family”; whether it be prison guards, old friends, or actual blood relatives. There is a world inside prisons that no one ever seems to consider as more than rough and harsh, and it is hard not to see those things, but it is good to actually see that not all people are that way. Also, these letters are not about what the lifer has done to get life in prison, it is about how they live now and how they have changed. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 15:28:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment139133551 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment135973456 You never take the time to actually consider a lifer as a person; a person who had a life, who has a new “life”, and who has a story. Reading M’s story gives me a chance to actually consider that there is more than just evil in a person who has received a life sentence. It shows that someone can have remorse and can discover for the very first time that they are, or what their potential is as a knowledgeable individual with their own thoughts and their own wisdom. It is hard to change the outlook that society has cast upon people who have received life, but I like having the chance to look at what happened and see what they see then compared to now. And it is very fascinating to me that such a man did such a thing. But the age of fourteen is a very young age. To be in such a position is one that anyone in his shoes would have not known what to do, or most likely not have been able to do the right thing either. People need to take more time to listen and to hear these people’s, these lifer’s, these criminals’ stories because they way that they convey who they are is amazing. And to hear their knowledge and wisdom and insight before you hear their story makes you question who one goes from such an extreme to the other. The invisible strings that we have guiding us to believe these men, such as M., to be terrible men are not wrong, but they are strings based purely on negative judgment. I’m not saying they were right and should not be in prison for life, I’m just saying that they too have a voice still and it should be heard because it is a voice on a fellow human being and that they may have something so wonderful and amazing to say that if we don’t look past our strings and place ourselves in a position where we can hear their words, we will miss out on some of the most beautiful and well thought out wisdom and thoughts. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:55:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment135973456 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment135973405 You never take the time to actually consider a lifer as a person; a person who had a life, who has a new “life”, and who has a story. Reading M’s story gives me a chance to actually consider that there is more than just evil in a person who has received a life sentence. It shows that someone can have remorse and can discover for the very first time that they are, or what their potential is as a knowledgeable individual with their own thoughts and their own wisdom. It is hard to change the outlook that society has cast upon people who have received life, but I like having the chance to look at what happened and see what they see then compared to now. And it is very fascinating to me that such a man did such a thing. But the age of fourteen is a very young age. To be in such a position is one that anyone in his shoes would have not known what to do, or most likely not have been able to do the right thing either. People need to take more time to listen and to hear these people’s, these lifer’s, these criminals’ stories because they way that they convey who they are is amazing. And to hear their knowledge and wisdom and insight before you hear their story makes you question who one goes from such an extreme to the other. The invisible strings that we have guiding us to believe these men, such as M., to be terrible men are not wrong, but they are strings based purely on negative judgement. I’m not saying they were right and should not be in prison for life, I’m just saying that they too have a voice still and it should be heard because it is a voice on a fellow human being and that they may have something so wonderful and amazing to say that if we don’t look past our strings and place ourselves in a position where we can hear their words, we will miss out on some of the most beautiful and well thought out wisdom and thoughts. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:54:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/m-s-story/#IDComment135973405 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/01/lighting-our-way/#IDComment132525726 It's easy to see how something so simply, so common, so natural can be over looked and taken for granted. Sunlight is part of our every day lives and I cannot imagine my life for months on end living on very little, to none, of it. So much of our culture is based off of sunlight. We require the sun for our food, our health, and now more so than ever, the economy. Solar powered objects are effecting and changing our every day lives; to not have such a powerful resource would be detrimental to our society’s ability to perform against other counties. But most importantly, our health would be greatly affected. Seasonal depression is very common and occurs because of the different temperatures and global changes that occur with each season. With winter having the highest rates of seasonal depression, due to its cold weather and changes in sunlight and etc., it is easy to see how lack of sunlight here could greatly change the strings of our society. People would begin to develop more types of illnesses, many associated with depression that would change how they act and what they do. Levels of productivity would greatly diminish. People’s attitudes would severely change, and what we know as “normal” would be something totally different. I definitely take for granted the ability to have sun for a little less than twelve hours a day. To have to sit by a special lamp just to feel happiness of some sort and hearing some of the people interviewed say “you need to find reasons to keep going and living” is absolutely foreign to me. Imagine having to redefine your reasons to live based on the sun and environment rather than on the things actually going on in your life. Our society that we dwell in would not be nearly the same as it is now without the sun. People would change. The environment would change. And slowly but surely, future generations and posterity would have a new idea of what life should be and what life once was. Society itself has so many factors and forces acting upon it that we rarely stop to think about which are the most important and of those which are because of humans and which are because of our climate and environment. Sat, 5 Mar 2011 02:27:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/01/lighting-our-way/#IDComment132525726 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127476599 I have spent my entire life traveling to as many places as I possibly can to get the chances to experience other cultures. As an individual, travel, throughout the United States and the world, is something I thrive on. However, I never really thought that others would be completely opposed to going to foreign places for the reasons mentioned in the article. We always talk about the “invisible strings” that guide, shape, and semi pre-determine some of our life and this is a perfect example. It is just as far to California from here as it is to Europe or Central/South America. So why don’t more people go to Europe; because we are a nation that doesn’t push to invest in uncomfortable things individually. I’m not saying we don’t partake in uncomfortable situations, but if we can, we avoid them. Think about it: there are more and more bilingual signs that have both English and Spanish on them and English only speaking citizens are greatly opposed to this. We set our own limits that are leading to our failures because our mothers’ mothers and fathers’ fathers always had an outlook that the United States was the supreme, there was nothing better out there. With this outlook of only discovering other cultures through our own is only going to hurt us. The comment about how the United Kingdom and New Zealand encourage taking a year off to go travel and live life makes me incredibly jealous of that life style. We work ourselves to death before we get a chance to enjoy the different cultures of the world in their own settings. This sets us, the United States, back so far as a country. We limit our outlook and greatly diminish our chances of growing as individuals that can and will influence our entire country one day. We put ourselves in our own little world, our own bubble if you will, because it is normal, it is “safe”. To be quite honest with you, I have been to places where some are much more exotic, others much safer, some more accepting of things like travel. And to be perfectly honest with you, people in those countries were much more fascinating to talk with and were much more grounded. They were better learned about the world, they see it as a place to live and be a part of, we see it as a place to learn about through our televisions and computers. Where is the culture and learning and adventure in that? Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:56:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127476599 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122908472 “Toddlers in Tiaras” is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. We are focusing so much on freedom versus not being free that it is hard to not see how much less freedom these little girls have. While I was two years old and my mother was taking away my freedom by teaching me the alphabet or the different primary colors, these little girls’ mothers are taking away the girls’ freedom by teaching, no forcing, their daughters, and some sons, to grow up and partake in provocative dancing, dressing, and representing concepts that they do not understand; concepts such as what beauty is or isn’t, and how to carry one’s self in a positive, respectful, and dignified way. Starting at the age of less than a year old, these girls are taught that being tiny, tan, big haired, blondes with bright white veneers is ideal. These toddlers smile and seem happy, but are they really? If they have done pageants their entire lives and have known nothing else, is it fair to say that they are truly, and freely deciding, that they are happy? No. If you know nothing else, of course it is normal! These girls grow up to and become the teen/young adult pageant participants and you have to wonder if they too are being forced into pageants still or if they are freely doing them. I think that if it is all that they know and have grown up doing, they will participate in pageants because it is familiar and just as I know to walk and know my colors, they know pageants and don’t choose to partake in them, they just do because of the strings of their mothers living vicariously through them. This is a poor way to start out your child’s life because the number of people who suffer from eating disorders, mental issues, and depression greatly increases after being participators in an event that promotes only self-image and “beauty”. The skewed idea of beauty is determined by years of precedence about pageants, precedents that I do not agree with. Who is to decide what is beautiful? Unfortunately, as individuals, we do not decide what is or isn’t beautiful, society does. These girls’ are even less free then the rest of us who grow up under “normal” circumstances that do not involve being paraded for applause. Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:25:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122908472 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cc%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment120821704 SOC 001 Wed, 12 Jan 2011 04:05:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cc%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment120821704