[robdachshund]

While I disagree with solitary confinement I also disagree with a murderer reinventing himself as some sort of guru and getting a diversity department job at MIT

This man talks about the stigma of being a felon as being unfair when he took someone's life

I would equate his confinement with torture. However I don't think we should reward him for suffering through a punishment he granted himself.

When a person like this gets ted talks and photoshoots I think we've gone too far. The man has used his crime to turn himself into a brand

[klibertp]

The guy ran from an abusive home when he was 14. He couldn't find shelter and landed on the streets. He turned to drug trade as a way to feed himself. Then, at some point, he was shot 4 times. Someone called 911, but the ambulance never arrived. His acquaintance drove him to hospital, where he was treated for two days, then shoved back on the streets. With one bullet still in his body. Then, he decided to get a gun for himself. Then he actually used that gun on someone like him, and the other guy unfortunately died. This could have been manslaughter, but there were drugs involved, and you gotta be tough on drug crimes, so he got 19 years, even though people in your country, in similar cases, routinely leave prison after 5-6 years.

Your society failed him on so many levels, and so many times, that it would be a miracle if he didn't land in prison sooner or later.

Fast forward to today, he served his sentence in full and when he got out, he couldn't rent an apartament or find a job. The punishment was supposed to have ended, but it didn't: he has "criminal record", which makes him - in your society - somehow less than a human being.

He somehow lived through this, got a job, wrote a book, started advocating for better prison conditions, started helping inmates in prisons around him.

And now, there's a robdachshund who wants to deny all the good the guy did, want to have him carry a stigma for the rest of his life, and want to take his livelihood from him.

America - I won't ever understand you. I wouldn't want to be a part of a society of such robdachshunds ever, there's not enough money on the whole planet to convince me otherwise.

[alea_iacta_est]

> Your society failed him on so many levels

Society doesn't owe people anything besides freedom, which that guy had, and used it to commit a crime, and paid for it.

> America - I won't ever understand you. I wouldn't want to be a part of a society of such robdachshunds ever, there's not enough money on the whole planet to convince me otherwise.

Guess what, I wouldn't want to be part of a society of self righteous people like you either.

[klibertp]

> Society doesn't owe people anything besides freedom

That's one opinion, and it's far from universal even in your country, though it seems to be popular. From the outside perspective, the fact that it seems to be shared by a portion of population this large is deeply mistifying. Edit: I mean, if that's all, then that's a pretty bad deal - a society can tell you to go die in a war, hang you, starve you, make you work to pay for an ever-growing army of officials, and you get out of it just "freedom"?

> and paid for it.

Yes. That's what I said. The OP, though, wants to make him keep paying for it forever. Which is another seemingly popular, yet incredibly disturbing opinion that I can't identify with.

> self righteous people

Thank you, I'll take it as a compliment.

[alea_iacta_est]

> That's one opinion, and it's far from universal even in your country

Not american, so not my country even if I live in the US.

> the fact that it seems to be shared by a portion of population this large is deeply mistifying

That portion is shrinking, because we are being infected more and more by the european virus of equality rather than freedom unfortunately.

> The OP, though, wants to make him keep paying for it forever.

If you have killed someone maybe you shouldn't try to become famous and make money out of it, that's what I understood from OP's comment and I agree with that. If nothing else, for your victim and his family/friend.

> Thank you, I'll take it as a compliment.

From your profile I gather you are from Poland, a country that, if I'm not mistaken, has benefited from that american impulse towards freedom in the past. So, what happened here, was freedom ok when it was against communism but not ok anymore now that the USSR is gone? Real question, not trying to be a prick here.

[klibertp]

> Not american, so not my country even if I live in the US.

That pretty much explains everything, thank you for your time.

> but not ok anymore

I never said it's not ok, I said it isn't the only thing that a society owes to the people. You failed to explain why do you think "freedom" should be the only such thing.

> Real question, not trying to be a prick here.

If you feel that such a disclaimer is necessary, it would be better to phrase the question differently in the first place.

[alea_iacta_est]

> That pretty much explains everything, thank you for your time.

...

> If you feel that such a disclaimer is necessary, it would be better to phrase the question differently in the first place.

And waste even more time, no thanks.

[ajmadesc]

What is freedom? What is society? Why does society owe you freedom?

[laluser]

This is such an unfair comment. You're basically saying that once people are out of prison, they should commit to a life of poverty and continued suffering. The whole point of prison is to rehabilitate and make a net-positive contributor to society, which clearly this person has. The man did his time, what else can they do? Also, saying, "getting a diversity department job at MIT" is such a racist thing to say overall.

[jariel]

No, he's saying we should not elevate a murder to the status of guru.

That's different than saying 'he deserves eternal poverty'.

Taking a life is a very, very serious thing.

[ajmadesc]

Prison is about what the majority of an electorate think it's about...

The sad thing is, _you_ and lots of other compassionate people _think_ prison is about rehabilitation while The majority of the American electorate think it's about punishment.

[wussboy]

I hear what you're saying. I'm not super fond of anyone "turning themselves in to a brand", but maybe that's just because I've never been able to do it. But I would like to imagine there's room in this world for people to make mistakes and to redeem themselves.

If this man can never make himself in to more than a criminal, maybe it would be better to just end their life immediately after the crime? A life for a life? If they can bring good out of their evil, should there be a limit to how much good they can bring?

I'm not asking these questions with a specific point in mind, other than to present some additional context.

[tptacek]

I don't have to believe he's a guru or think about his job at MIT to recognize that he's had an experience, and a series of reactions to that experience, that are valuable when related through writing.

[Trasmatta]

Does anyone happen to know the context and background on the murder? It doesn't seem to have much info on the Wikipedia page. I'd imagine that's pretty important for making a judgement call.

[klibertp]

A bit more background in the article referenced on the Wiki: https://www.npr.org/2016/03/16/470567568/once-seduced-by-dru...

Nothing specific about the murder yet, though.