As I read about the prisoner who wrote this paper, my initial thoughts revolved around how this prisoner was going to discuss the problems he faces in jail. I figured that this paper would be nothing more than just a discussion of life in jail, yet I was wrong. After reading through, I realize that this prisoner discusses love, and how only after his incarceration does he truly realize what his life is missing. I guess a major life-altering event, such as being sent to prison can really put things in perspective. It's kind of a coincidence, but I also had a epiphany today, realizing that if I didn't fix my grades this semester, I wouldn't be able to attend PSU in the fall. Though my realization is nothing close to the realization felt by the prisoner, I like to think that we are in the same position (somewhat). As the prisoner explains, all he wants....and I know its cliché, is love. Being locked up has created a physical separation between him and his potential loved one, a pain that can only be imagined as horrific. The prisoner realizes that his actions have put him in this position, and he doesn't doubt the system, he only now realizes that not only did his mistake affect his life now, but will affect the rest of his life. It truly is a pity to see people in this much misery. I am not stating that he didn't deserve to go to prison (anyone that receives a life sentence must have committed a serious felony), yet I do feel somewhat sorry for him, and other prisoners, as they will never be able to experience the pleasures of life, such as love. There freedom was stripped away in an instant, and to go from once being able to do whatever, whenever, to being confined in a 8 by 10 cell for 22 hours a day must have been a significant lifestyle change. Whether or not this man finds true love (in or out of prison) is yet to be said, but I hope that he is able fulfill all his wishes, at least as much as the prison will let him.

As I read the paper, “Lifers”, I kept thinking about the feelings and emotions that are felt when a loved one goes to jail. No matter what the crime was, or how steep the penalty is, the emotions that must run through the family after losing a loved one must be outrageous. The author made several good points about family, and the importance of staying close, and I have to agree. Without a family, it seems life is almost worthless. We rely on our family more often than we realize, and that’s because we take them for granted.
As a child I would tend to break the rules. Whether it was riding a bike without a helmet, or pulling pranks on my neighbors, I didn’t really care for the punishments. I had this feeling mainly because I didn’t realize the punishments had a point. My dad would continually ground me and punish me until I learned my lesson, and I always thought he just enjoyed punishing me. But turns out he was trying to teach me life long lessons, inevitably shaping me to be a good man. I took these lessons for granted, and didn’t realize that my father, though a harsh man, was helping me mature.
The prisoner who wrote this paper truly understands the value of family. I guess he truly realized how grateful he was to have a family, after it was taken away from him. Being thrown into jail must be hard, because you have to make new relationships while maintain the old ones. However, I think that the author doesn’t just mean his family when he mentions that keeping relationships intact is important. I believe that maintaining all relationships is essential in life. Whether its keeping up with your old high school science teacher, or a lost love from college, the relationships that we maintain shape our identities as a whole.
Overall, I couldn’t imagine a world without my friends and family. I don’t want to say that I am dependent on others, but the relationships I have developed over the years have helped me along in life, and I can’t imagine a world without them.

The question of wealth inequality has been discussed by everyone today, and its continually broken down and analyzed by everyone. The basic discussion is that everyone is different in how much money they have earned, and how some people find it unfair that others have more. Sam brought up a good idea about how people “cheat” the system to ultimately do better in society, and I believe that Sam’s idea has an important part in the problem, mainly because the discussion revolves around why do others earn more than some. The problem is, people still can’t figure out the reasons, which is ridiculous because it’s a basic theory. You work hard, you earn more, you cheat (and get away with it) you earn more, you do nothing but slack off, your life has little meaning.
I don’t want to explain how the government could balance the wealth across the nation (which would be basic communism), nor discuss how some will continually cheat to get ahead, but I feel that the fact that this discussion is still around is completely unbelievable. People question why some earn more than others, and then complain about how life didn’t treat them as well as the more successful people, yet what this situation basically comes down to is, which people worked harder in their lives? I know for a fact that I have friends that constantly cheat in class, and I keep thinking that they will continue to cheat until they get to the top (or caught). Yet I work hard in school everyday, and pull the same grades as these cheaters, which is a perfect example of how this system is unfair. Its not unfair for people to make more money than others, or for people to be raised better than others, but the reason why these people are so successful is because they worked hard in their lives.
I know that this idea seems far off, mainly because of all the people who cheat, or because of the people that were well off as a child, yet no matter how much people complain, the system is going to stay the same. People who work hard, will have respectable wealth, people who cheat might as well (as long as they get away with it), and people who sit around all day and smoke pot or do other drugs will earn what other burnouts earn, a modest living that will get little out of life.

I was born in a hotbed of racism. In Baton Rouge Lousiana, Racism isn't so much a fading scar on American history as an open, gushing wound, privy to constant infection, reinfection and hideous, violent social uprisings. As a third grader there was only so much I could understand. "Redistricting," announced Mrs. Hamilton. "You will have many new students starting next monday." Next Monday came and there they were. They didn't look like me and I had never seen them before. They were dark. "What is wrong with them?" I asked Tommy Parker, my friend since kindergarten."I heard if you touch them, you'll catch it." He told me. We had a partner project, and Mrs. Hamilton split the class closely along racial lines. However, there was an odd number of students, and that's when I met Thad. Short, with a flat nose and bushy hair, he was bony. I was careful to avoid physical contact with him on the first day. But on day three, I, as a historically pudgy child, was starving. "Do you want somea my mama's corncake?" Thad asked. I dove on it. "It's delicious!" I said. By the time I could remember Tommy's ominous words didn't hit me until the food was half way through my lower intestine. I tossed and turned in my bed, waking up to look in the mirror every ten minutes to check if my skin was darkening. I came in the next day and attacked him, asking why he tried to poison me. "You looked hungry." Thad innocently said. We did the best project in the class, and he invited me over after school that day. "Dad, can I go to my friend Thad's house?" I asked him in front of my uncle. "Sure," he said. "Where does he live?" Past Breeze river by the lumber yard, I told him. "Rick, ain't that where the niggers live." said my uncle. "Er, maybe you shouldn't go son. Help your mother with dinner tonight." "He's just like us!" I yelled crying to my room. I propped open the window and climbed onto the dry red dirt. I walked the two miles to Thad's house. Thad's face lit up when he saw me, spirals of red dirt hung high above the brown thatch huts that lined the property. We played stickball and talked about the cute girls in our class as Thad's mom made us cranberry cookies. I walked home happily expecting my spanking.

The author of this article has been in jail for 24 years and still considers himself a free man. Even though most people would not consider him to be free because he is confined in a small cell, unable to choose where you live or what you do. This man looks at freedom in a different way and this is a very good way to look at it. He considers himself a free man because he wakes up every day and has the ability to breathe and move where he wants to go. He looks at his natural body functions and says that because he is able to control himself, therefore he is a free man. This is a good way for him to look at it because it is all that he has left. Because he is in jail for the rest of his life, he needs to look at freedom in this way. It is the only way for him to live because he has to be confined in such a small area. Most people that are not in jail would consider him not free because their freedom is much different. Most people take their natural body functions for granted because they naturally have them and use them everyday. They are so used to being able to live the way they like. The author of this article does not have the freedom that normal people have so in order for him to be happy, he has to look at his freedom in a different way. The author states, “I have discovered for myself, freedom is not about location or possessions. It is about striving every day to being a better person.” This is an excellent quote to describe how this author feels about freedom because his freedom has been taken away. It shows that the author feels that when he had freedom outside of jail, he took for granted the fact that he could do whatever he wanted. Now, he is unable to do this so he says that he discovered that freedom is not about your possessions but that it is about being able to live your life the best way possible given your situation. This is an excellent way for him to live because it is all he has left. This is what life is about. Being able to live it in the best way possible.

It’s a pity to see television shows and movies play off murder as if it were just some scene in life. People always ignore the death of someone when they read it in the newspaper, or hear it on TV, because normally it has no significant impact on their own lives. Different TV shows investigate murders or rapes and we as an audience continue to watch their programming, never truly considering the “life altering” event that just occurred. The reality is murder is an awful thing.
The actual occurrence of murder is something to consider. No one realizes that it’s someone’s life that is ending. We always consider how death will be, but never take into account someone actually dying. The author of this paper has come to this realization because he had to face the people who he hurt the most, the family of the deceased. I could never imagine the pain and frustration that must have been felt on both sides of that conversation. While the prisoner is looking at people who’s lives have been crushed by his actions, the victims family is starring at the monster that took their loved one away from them. Besides the fact that the conversation was probably awkward in the beginning, I believe that type of meeting is completely necessary in the rehabilitation from committing murder. The author had to face people who he’s probably never met, yet he destroyed their lives.
Murder will continue to happen everywhere. Whether it’s the slums of India or suburbs of DC, murder can strike at any place and time. Going back to my previous point, it’s sad to see TV shows play off murder like it is all part of show, yet if those shows were reality, the murder wouldn’t be taken so lightly. It’s almost ironic however because though the show plays murder like its part of the act, murder in reality is part of life. Overall, I enjoyed the authors essay on prison. He has come to terms with his actions, and because of this, I feel that he has become a better man. Though he will continue his life in prison, he has at least learned from his mistakes.

To truly understand and appreciate freedom, I believe that it must be taken away. The author of this article is the definition of someone who can appreciate freedom, because he had it stripped from him the day he went to jail. He puts freedom in a perspective that I never really saw, that the little things we do in life, we never cherish. I never take a second to think about how having choices in my life, such as options on where to eat dinner, choosing whether to workout, or enjoying some time with my friends, are in fact freedoms I possess. I guess to understand the benefits of these freedoms, I would need them to be stripped away like the author. We take so much in life for granted, never questioning what we do or who we meet, and its these freedoms that are the very essence of life, and without them, life seems dull. I always felt that jail was just a punishment, being removed from society to live an extended amount of times with other criminals, yet the more I read these articles about prisoners who are on life sentences, the more I appreciate my own life.
The very idea of prison to me is extremely nerve racking. I always hear about people who commit petty crimes and end up with long-term sentences in correctional facilities. I guess the first time I had any personal experience with prison was when my friend recently was arrested for marijuana charges. I don’t want to get into my beliefs on the law (100% legalized, no questions asked), but when he first told me that he could be seeing a few months in jail, I panicked. I thought, “my friend could face months in prison, taken away from all of us here at Penn State, and put in an orange jumpsuit….that sucks.” The more he talked about it the more I felt pity. I just hope I never commit (or get caught committing) a crime that could jeopardize my future, especially if it means I spend time in jail. The author of this article may have committed a serious crime, and for that he should be punished, but his perspective on life has opened up new thoughts and ideas for me that I couldn’t even begin to picture before. Overall, I truly enjoy reading these articles, and though the writers are seeing harsh times, their words are captivating in both an emotional and psychological way.

soc 001

It’s interesting to read a letter from an inmate, especially one that shows true compassion. When we think of prisoners, we tend to use preconceived notions, such as people with no emotion or people unwilling to oblige by the law. However we never consider that these criminals are still human beings, and still have human emotions. After reading this inmate’s letter about the two prisoners crying, I started to think about all types of people that are in jail. While some are there for cold-hearted murders, others are there for more gentle crimes, such as money laundering or tax evasion. However when I think of prisoners, I never separate the different types, yet I always envision them the same, big guys (I say guys because societies portrayal of prisoners tends to be in the form of men) with lots of tattoos, who show no interest in following the laws and other peoples feelings. But when I read this letter, I began to truly see that not all prisoners are alike. Yes, there will always be the violent men who will continue to further the social stereotype, yet its prisoners like this man, who go unseen by the population, someone who’s compassion has changed in light of their crimes.
I believe that the prison system is a just system, and I am completely against the death penalty. I have always believed that no matter how bad the crime committed was, no government should be entitled to sentence a man to death. Though people will argue with my belief, citing examples such as “an eye for an eye”, believing that if one man can take the life of another, then he should lose his own, I don’t think that entitles someone to decide whether or not this man should lose his life. Part of being in prison is the serious time that’s put in, meaning the time that the criminal can spend thinking about what he did. It’s clear that this criminal regrets his choice in committing murder, and I think prison has helped clear his mind. It seems as if this man has evolved from his once “murdering” days. He seems a lot more compassionate than how he was when he went into prison. It was truly interesting to read a letter from a prisoner, because it gave me a perspective that I had never seen, from someone who’s life has been mapped out since the crime.