en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2395161 Comments by mrm5559 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/if-prison-has-taken-anything-away-from-me/#IDComment145270603 This prisoner sounds more troubled then other articles I have read about lifers in prison. Most have come to terms with what they have done and have grown for their terrible mistake. From the ones I have read and responded to they have actually revaluated their lives and in a sense became a new person. This prisoner however is moving in a different direction not necessarily the best way. As the other prisoners excepted the fact that they are prisoners and are trying to cope with it and move on with their lives and make the most of it, this prisoner is wallowing in self pity and seems to be moving toward the direction of insanity. The way he is speaking reminds of someone who is moving into a state of insanity and low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness. He quotes “I want to pluck my eyes so not to see what little my life has been reduced to.” Instead of accepting his new life behind bars he self pity himself and cries to God asking why. The most important thing he wants is love. Yes I agree that would be the hardest thing to go without in a prison cell. Yes you will miss the outdoors, your hobbies, etc. but the most important thing you would miss would be company and the people and society that surround you on a daily basis. He narrows down the want of love to especially the love of a woman. I personally would also miss family and friends but I would again have to agree that losing a lover and your love life would be devastating. He quotes “A man doesn’t desire to be women’s heart.” This statement is so true and it obvious that he is desperately grieving over the fact that this is not longer and option for his life. He does however at the end of the letter admit that he stepped into this situation. He lost his love and it was his fault. He grieves that he will never know love and I grieve for him because everyone deserves to be loved. Even a prisoner. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 02:12:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/if-prison-has-taken-anything-away-from-me/#IDComment145270603 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment143418777 This article was astonishing to me. I personally know someone who was somewhat in the same position as this man. A family in my neighborhood deals with the same situation on a daily basis. “He” was also born a female and changed to a male because that is the path he chose to take. Everyone is supportive especially me because I feel everyone has the right to be what feels right to them and to be happy. This article made me upset that people such as him are treated this way. The fact that he was fired under these circumstances is simply not fair. Sex change is not a legitimate factor to fire someone. This astonishes me. Even if he were to overcome this and get another job or regain this job he still would get some much discrimination and judgment on him. In this day and age I would hope that people would start become more accepting and realizing that everyone deserves to be happy and choose their lifestyle. It reminds of the article from intersections that distinguished sexes as “the five sexes.” The fact that someone can biologically be one gender but psychologically want to be the opposite is in my opinion and the articles opinion everyone’s free will and should be accepted. People need to put themselves in the eyes of these individuals and try to understand them and help them through their life. That is what I do with my neighbor and what their whole family does. That way he can live like a normal person unlike this poor man who lost his job over this troubling societal issue. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:02:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment143418777 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/what-a-man-is/#IDComment141141965 First of all, I found the man who wrote this letter to have a very developed and intelligent way of writing. He immediately captures my attention and I was interested to see what else he had to say. When I usually read the letters from an inmate, I am intrigued with their story and what they have to say, but this letter was different. This had a poet ring to it, and said nothing about his story or why he is in prison. The lesson he claims to have learned was new and refreshing, unlike the consistent life lesson of how to become a better person. It definitely didn’t sound as if an inmate had written this. The structure and vocabulary used in the letter sounded as if it should be a published inspirational message. Another thing that I don’t think about when the word “inmate” comes to mind is love and relationships. I tend to forget that these people had lives before they were imprisoned, and have left people behind in the outside world. It is inspiring to hear that this man has come to learn what love is and how to really care for a woman. If every man thought this way, the world would be a better place. He sends out a good message, one that I did not expect an inmate to learn while in prison. I also like how at the end, he extends an apology to all of the important women in his life that he has hurt or angered. That shows good character, and reinforced the idea that he is sincere about his message. It takes a lot out of a man to extend an apology. I would think it would be especially difficult for an inmate, someone who is usually very tough and masculine, to write about what he wrote about. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 02:05:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/what-a-man-is/#IDComment141141965 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139273824 Life is simply unfair. There will be times in every persons life when they feel that they were simply cheated and the circumstance they were in was just not fair. But, we accept that and understand that you cant have everything you want and not everything will not always go your way. The social classes in our society work the same way. Sometimes it might not be fair the way people are put into social classes and the amount of wealth they have. Some people find ways to work the system and cheat their way there. Others are born into their high class and it is just passed down through generations. This can also be a negative thing. Some people are simply born into a lower class family so that is where they are most likely to stay. In fact, those people that are born into lower classes and truly make something of themselves and succeed into higher classes are the people that I admire. From experience I do come from a high social class. I do respect my parents because they were not just simply born into money. My parents are very well-educated and hardworking people. I am lucky that I was born into my family but I still consider myself a hardworking person because I do want to succeed in life like my parents and stay in my social class. I truly believe that some lower class people it might be good for them to be that low of a class because it gives them a good work ethic and something to work for (move up in social class). I truly believe that people in a lower social class then me are harder workers simply because they have to be to succeed later in life. I commend them for that I believe they are what makes the system fair. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 02:48:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139273824 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment137596998 This video gave me a new perspective on gay couples. Had he not said so in the beginning of the speech I would have not known he was raised by two woman. He came off just as any person would come off while giving a speech. He spoke clearly and passionately which just goes to show that kids raised under gay couples are no different than kids raised by a mother and a father. Yes, he admitted he had his ups and downs with his gay parents but then follows it by saying, “what family doesn’t have problems.” He explains how they do normal family things with his younger sister for example, attending church. He has great experiences to back up his argument. He explains how in school he used to be proud and admit to his upbringing just because he wanted to show that it should not be looked down upon. He shows his success, showing that just because he had no father to grow up with he could still succeed. This most moving and significant statement he makes is what he says about what family truly means. He argues that is not a piece of paper that the government gives you saying “congratulations your married.” No, it is much more than that he says. He shows how love and unity are what makes a family strong and the fact that all members of the family are always there for each other. I admire him for fighting for his passion for his same sex parents. He gives plenty of evidence showing that having same sex parents has not had a negative impact on his character. He is pleading for their rights and showing his thoughts about he feels that is wrong to tell him someone who they can marry and love. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:55:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment137596998 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment135097053 Freedom is something we as US citizens don’t appreciate and is something we completely take for granted. We wake up each day and do whatever we want, say whatever we want, go to school, or work, wherever we want, for the most part. I never really took the time to acknowledge how free I actually am compared to the life of a prisoner. A prisoner does not get the freedoms I do on a daily basis. This prisoner asks his audience to describe what freedom means to them. He describes what it means to him as an emotional, mental and spiritual way to view the world and they way exists around it. I would have never thought of freedom that way, but he is completely right. Freedom isn’t just about being able to do whatever you and want in his case “be free of the confinement” of prison. Freedom is how you choose to live your life for the better of society around you. This prisoner explains how when he is in prison it is easy for him and probably other inmates to loose that knowledge of what freedom is and turn it into simply a question of possession. Its easy for a prisoner to think of freedom as what they could have when they out in the world and not in their cell. It’s easy for them to envision cars, parties, and sex (the prisoner explains). Even though it took him a while he finally understands that that is not what freedom is completely about. My favorite line that he states is “freedom is not where you live, it is how you live.” It truly shows how possession is not the only thing that defines freedom. What does is how you live your life and the choices you make determine your freedom. It is how your treat others and find happiness instead of self self-pitying yourself in a prison cell. Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:12:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment135097053 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/fear/#IDComment132122221 One of my favorite quotes is “never let the fear or striking out keep you from playing the game.” I feel it describes fear and shows how it affects our lives. It is the emotion that even though we might not realize it plays a major part in our everyday life, according to this article. Most of the choices we make are based off fear, whether we choose it because we have no fear at all or we choose it despite the fear we have. This quote shows how fear can be a negative emotion and hinder the way we live our lives. It is saying even though you may be afraid or fearful of something the worst thing you can do is run from it because then you are letting it defeat you and hinder the way you live your life. This quote explains how you should tackle your fear and live your life how you want to with no fear or regrets. I feel this quote is good because it also shows that everyone is going to have fears and face them on a daily basis. These lifers in prison are going to have many fears, the main one being in prison for life and what they have done to put them there. This lifer shares some of his fears that he faces while in prison and they are many things that we as society take for granted because are in not in prison for life like he is. Along with that fear is a negative impact on our lives, in others ways it can also be helpful. According to this lifer he explains how that some fears live in his subconscious and help him make decisions without really thinking of his fears. I agree. It is okay to have fear in your life. It means your living in right and interacting with society. Facing and tackle your fears, yes might be hard, but the satisfaction once you do it is even greater. Thu, 3 Mar 2011 15:51:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/fear/#IDComment132122221 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/the-other-side/#IDComment130699007 This letter shows how a person’s time in jail can shape and change them. It shows how their time in jail can lead to them coming to terms with ones self and self awareness of what they have done not only to themselves but to other people. People are prone to make mistakes in their life and the sooner they can come to terms with them the better person they will be and to society. Even a drastic mistake, for example murder, the fact these people are being punished for the crime and the fact they are growing from their mistake and coming to terms with it. The prisoner explains how it wasn’t easy to come to terms with what he has done but he still fought through his sorrow and tried. He explains how Gods grace has helped him through it and is ultimately guiding him in the right direction. This helped to meet and apologize to the family he hurt so badly and reconcile with them and make them believe he is a changed man. He was excited because of his change but was still nervous to see how they would react to him because he still did cause them great grief in their lives. The prisoner explains how when he was 15 years old he had no meaning or purpose to his life. He had nothing to give himself a name for and just felt he had no reason for spiritual or physical being. He was coward and lonely. But this all changed through his years in prison. Through this jail process he has been enlightened to come to terms with himself and find meaning in his life. He knows deep down that me might never be truly forgiven or reconciled truly but still knows that he become a changed man and sees himself in a whole new light. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:32:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/the-other-side/#IDComment130699007 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment128676311 I am a very active traveler outside the United States. I go to Mexico every summer with my family. I have also been to Canada and London before in my life. I feel that at such a young age I have already traveled more than a lot of older adults. This article explains how I am outside the norm of society. It explains that most people in the United States have never even been abroad. Most are hesitant to break free of the comfortable society they live in here in the United States. The article gives several other main reasons why people do not leave the country. This first was the fact the United States has a lot of cultural and geographical diversity. You would think most people would travel to Mexico for the hot weather, Canada or Northern Europe for cold weather to ski, London and other European cities to see architecture and culture right? Well the United States has all that. Maybe not to a great extent but no the less it is still present. People don’t need to travel out of the country to find a society in their own country. Another reason is that America is skeptical and ignorant to what is really out in the world beyond the United States. We will buy goods and such from other countries but we are too skeptical to go out and experience where it is all coming from. They also might be scared of what is out there because they are so comfortable with Americas society. Lastly Americans are so work driven and prioritize work above everything else and making money. Most Americans have very strict and important schedules that they don’t have time to take off and travel abroad. I feel if Americans did find the time and found the will that traveling abroad would be healthy for our society as a whole. I think experiencing other societies would help us to enhance and appreciate our own. Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:01:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment128676311 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment127468353 Most people who watch this video probably sit and laugh at the way the subjects in the study were behaving. People probably watch this video and think to themselves how funny it is that the man copied the other men. The irony is that each and every person watching the video probably would have done the same exact thing. People will do anything to fit and be a part of the norm. The man in the elevator felt so out of place that he conformed from the correct way to stand in the elevator to being ridiculous and facing the back of the elevator. He let his feeling of awkwardness rule out his way of thinking and what he knows as right. He didn’t know why the other people were facing the other way but he did it anyway to not be different and get looked the way he was. It is interesting the length of how long or short it took people to conform. The first participant took a while to finally conform and turn around. He waited as long as possible and slowly conformed to the way other people were standing. He tried to act very sly and pretend that he knew that what the other people were doing was normal and slowly eased into it. He kept checking his watch and slowly turning trying to make it as casual as possible. Other participants however took one look and knew they were out of the norm and quickly conformed so they wouldn’t have attention drawn to themselves. The participants all had the choice to do what they thought was right. They could have either went against the group and continued to stand the way a person is normally expected to stand in an elevator or they could conform and follow the crowd. Every participant chose to conform and change their individuality. They had the individual free choice and they chose to conform. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:50:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment127468353 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/the-other-side-of-life/#IDComment126043681 These blogs from prisoners surprise me more and more each time I read one. They show how people really can change their outlook on life and how society really does shape a person. I was shocked when I read that this prisoner was only 15 when he committed his crime. A 15 has only just begun to live. It is very unfortunate that he lost his life, in a sense, so early. But did he? Some could argue that being in prison shaped him to be a better person that he would have become in the outside world. He admits that when he was a child he had no morals are sense of purpose in life. He admits that he let his ignorance control his life. Now reading this letter, I would have never expected a child like this. The writer of this letter sounds very respectful and remorseful of what he has done and the person that he once was. He shows how he has come to terms and is so deeply regretful of what he has done not only to the victims family but also his own. He not only knows what he did was wrong but he understands the impact it has on himself and other people. The inside walls of prison have allowed him to reevaluate himself by looking at the person to how far he has to come to the person he is today. The writer also shows he has a deep belief in God. He explains how he believes how God helped have the courage to face himself and what did in his past. God helped him when he faced the family he hurt and allowed himself to open up to them to show them how truly sorry he was. He showed them how prison helped to mature and see what kind of person he was and how he has changed for the better. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 01:13:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/the-other-side-of-life/#IDComment126043681 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/24/life-without-parole-001-blog/#IDComment124457694 The environments in which they live, the people that surround them, and the things they encounter on a daily basis, shape a person’s moral compass. As people mature and grow older they go through memorable experiences that define who they are. This prisoner struggles to know who he really is because he was imprisoned at such a young age. He explains how he this is the only life he really knows, a life without much social influence. He grew up in a jail cell. He says he never got to drive a car, love a woman, or got to have the joy of having a child jump on their lap. With all of this disappointed and hardship he still does not try to complain or want to sound like he is whining about his life. He accepts full responsibility for his action, just simply struggles to know what kind of man he has become and whether he is even truly a good man. He explains how he feels he is a good man in prison but really shaped him to be that good man? Can he really say he is a good man without all the real worlds temptations and experiences that he is missing out on? He doesn’t know the answer to that question and is puzzled by it. He likes to think that he has good moral values and is a changed man. However, he contemplates the fact that he is only that way because he doesn’t have invisible strings of society shaping him otherwise. He is scared the prison skewed him and made him believe things that aren’t true or wrongly shaped. Although he is somewhat confused he does mention how he thinks that prison has helped him in some ways. It has helped to look deep inside himself and simply try to find himself and who he really is, does he have good moral values, or no? He does the best he can under the circumstances and knows that even though he is in prison he can be a changed man and have good moral values. Sat, 29 Jan 2011 02:30:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/24/life-without-parole-001-blog/#IDComment124457694 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2010/04/21/letter-from-an-inmate/#IDComment123370402 This article gave me a whole new perspective on people in prison. It shows how blind, judgmental, and stereotypical a lot of people are. Granted, some prisoners are your typical bad person who committed a crime and will never change, but then again there are some that so change completely and turn their views on life around and become better people. This article is great example of how even though someone has committed a horrible crime, for example murder, can change and find compassion in their heart and become a good-hearted person who sincerely care about people. The article explains how you would think that in a prison full of bad people you would not see compassionate and kind acts occurring, yet alone on a daily basis. It shows how people surroundings and even invisible strings that you can not see can shape a persons view on life and how they should treat others. This prisoner explains how he stood in line to give blood, helped fill out forms to donate money, wrote letters to try and help those in need. Some people who arent in prisoner and are out in the world living elaborate and free lives wouldnt even take the time and do this stuff for others. The prisoner explains how it seems that whenever a tragedy occurs there is a rallying of men here to provide whatever we can do. This is heart warming to see how the fact that some prisoners lost some freedoms and had time to reflect on their lives, that they change their life perspectives and look out for others and have turned into compassionate people. This article has taught me to not judge people and to have an open mind about people. To not jump to conclusions and make assumptions about people you dont know. It has made me realize that prisoners are still human beings and some can be changed so much by their experiences in prison that they can turn into nicer people than people outside of prison walls. I learned that even though these people are prisoners we can all still relate to each other and go through some of the same experiences. Mon, 24 Jan 2011 03:51:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2010/04/21/letter-from-an-inmate/#IDComment123370402 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cm%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122419855 soc001 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 03:28:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cm%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122419855