[stevenwiles]

I don't understand why we're supposed to feel bad for someone like this?

Like, sure he has a felony on his record, but he is enormously wealthy and a successful businessman who will continue to acquire more and more money in the future.

This guy is already far wealthier than most people will ever be, even with the felony on his record.

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I don't think rich people deserve sympathy the same way normal people do.

[bsder]

> I don't understand why we're supposed to feel bad for someone like this?

Did we learn nothing from Aaron Schwartz? It could be easily be YOU in his shoes at some point.

The US justice system is a very scary place and does not operate on terribly sane rules sometimes. "Innocent until proven broke" is a reality. Probation is basically a recipe for failure.

Finally, a lot of his problems stem from the fact that when he got in trouble HE WAS POOR. Had he been able to afford a lawyer (even a mediocre one) at that point, he very likely wouldn't have landed with the felony.

Rhetorical question: How many of us have done something stupid at 16-21 that could have gotten us a criminal record? For example, pot still isn't legal, you know.

> Maybe I'm alone in this, but I don't think rich people deserve sympathy the same way normal people do.

Everybody deserves justice and fairness, even those whom you don't like or sympathize with.

[tw04]

You're making an awful lot of assumptions without knowing even a little bit about what he actually did. Comparing Aaron Schwartz (trying to liberate information he thought should be free) to someone who, at best, committed credit card fraud is ridiculous. And quite frankly is offensive to his legacy.

[habitue]

So given that he did this anonymously, I'm assuming this was an outlet for him to vent frustration he feels, rather than to garner the social benefits of sympathy. Even if they're rich, it seems humans still want someone else to understand what they're going through.

Additionally, the challenges he faces as a felon are relevant to a huge number of people in the US who are not rich, and maybe don't have the ability to reach a wide audience with what they're experiencing.

[Terr_]

> rather than to garner the social benefits of sympathy

Alternately, an anonymous declaration is very hard to fact-check or put claims in context.

[okwhatthe2]

$200k is hardly rich: You can work for 5 years as a software engineer and save well over that amount.

We shouldn't really take the shortcut of comparing our wealth to the wealth of others. Aren't shortcuts in dealing with people a problem?

[TheGrassyKnoll]

> "My mom got sick, and the $200k I had saved over 4 years went down to four-figures..."

He doesn't even have $200k anymore. He may be smart, but he's not rich.

[kp1234321]

> You can work for 5 years as a software engineer and save well over that amount.

How is number of years spent working as a software engineer a baseline for measuring wealth?

[stevenwiles]

> We shouldn't really take the shortcut of comparing our wealth to the wealth of others. Aren't shortcuts in dealing with people a problem?

That's a great perspective I hadn't considered before. You are right, taking shortcuts like that only invites prejudice and misunderstanding.