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While the article confirms his acceptance of his circumstances, I still find it hard to understand how a man who went into a prison at 15 and came out at 83 can

While the article confirms his acceptance of his circumstances, I still find it hard to understand how a man who went into a prison at 15 and came out at 83 can see anything as positive. An entire life spent behind bars. Maybe he really tapped into a sense of contentment and acceptance that I'm missing or am too young to understand.

77pt77 5y ago
Most humans just adapt and accept their circumstances. Contrarians and discontents are actually uncommon.
khalilravanna 5y ago
Could also be a function of age. People mellow out with age. You learn to take more things in stride without getting in a huff. This topic actually came up in another HN post this week: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27117142 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27117142
kergonath 5y ago
You probably end up with a skewed moral compass if everything you’ve seem since you were 15 was through prison bars. People are very good at believing that they deserve whatever situation they’re in.
- luftbbb 5y ago
  Are you sure about that last sentence.?
hluska 5y ago
I worry about a 15 year old going into an adult system without even understanding his sentence. Prison guards aren’t known for being kind and prisons are full of people who belong in prisons. What did he learn? What did he experience? And how incredibly scared could that man be to raise hell now that he’s out?? I hate to put it so bluntly, but prison takes people who made mistakes and breaks them, sometimes beyond repair. Somehow, I feel like that’s a greater crime than many prisoners are sentenced for.
- swman 5y ago
  I’ve been stopped at knife point at dark by two people. It was traumatizing and I have no sympathy towards bad actors. What am I supposed to do? Just get stabbed and be thankful that the criminals were nice enough not to kill me? I was going to night class and getting harassed by people my age. Lock them up and maybe they become rehabilitated but there’s something seriously wrong with people who are willing to go right up to killing someone over a few possessions. I personally will always vote strongly against crime. You can keep having sympathy for criminals I hope you’re never afraid of going outside after dark.
  - ibrahimsow1 5y ago
    Although I don't doubt the traumatic nature of your experience and I am genuinely sorry. Surely it would make more sense to diagnose why we have bad actors and seek to rehabilitate them as opposed to dehumanising them and tossing them into a dank cell.
    - hluska 5y ago
      I obviously agree, but can you do me a big favour?? Let's just love the hell out of swman and let them believe what they believe.
    - BuyMyBitcoins 5y ago
      Won’t somebody please think of the humanity of those who rob others at knife-point? At some point, people need to realize that some human beings are just born bad. Psychopathy and Sociopathy are real things that have a genetic component. And, while we can try to rehabilitate those who score low on measures of psychopathy and sociopathy, we need to recognize that some people really do just need to be locked away from society at large to preserve the lives of innocent people.
      - hluska 5y ago
        Psychopathy and sociopathy are defined as antisocial personality disorder. There are treatments, unfortunately modern prisons are nowhere near conducive to the types of treatments that are effective. And the spiral continues...
oh_sigh 5y ago
People can find acceptance and happiness in their less than ideal circumstances. Maybe it is just a mental trick to keep on living. I've heard similar things about how after a few years paraplegics report happiness higher than their happiness before their paralyzing accident.
taneq 5y ago
You're fed and clothed your whole life. Plus 60+ years is a lot of time to build some robust rationalisations as to why it aint so bad.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > You're fed and clothed your whole life. Plus 60+ years is a lot of time to build some robust rationalisations as to why it aint so bad. And compared to being a black youth in Jim Crow Alabama—Ligon’s only pre-prison experience—“ain’t so bad” is a pretty low bar to clear.
6510 5y ago
Some westerners tried to help very young kids living on a garbage heap. Most didn't have a shirt or still had to find shoes. They put one in a foster home and send him to school. He ran away back to the garbage heap. He just wanted to play with friends all day, this school stuff was like prison to him. The thing that surprised me the most was how happy they were. Kids will just be kids regardless apparently and people get used to anything.

77pt77 5y ago

Most humans just adapt and accept their circumstances. Contrarians and discontents are actually uncommon.

khalilravanna 5y ago

Could also be a function of age. People mellow out with age. You learn to take more things in stride without getting in a huff. This topic actually came up in another HN post this week: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27117142 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27117142

kergonath 5y ago

You probably end up with a skewed moral compass if everything you’ve seem since you were 15 was through prison bars. People are very good at believing that they deserve whatever situation they’re in.

luftbbb 5y ago
Are you sure about that last sentence.?

hluska 5y ago

I worry about a 15 year old going into an adult system without even understanding his sentence. Prison guards aren’t known for being kind and prisons are full of people who belong in prisons. What did he learn? What did he experience? And how incredibly scared could that man be to raise hell now that he’s out?? I hate to put it so bluntly, but prison takes people who made mistakes and breaks them, sometimes beyond repair. Somehow, I feel like that’s a greater crime than many prisoners are sentenced for.

swman 5y ago
I’ve been stopped at knife point at dark by two people. It was traumatizing and I have no sympathy towards bad actors. What am I supposed to do? Just get stabbed and be thankful that the criminals were nice enough not to kill me? I was going to night class and getting harassed by people my age. Lock them up and maybe they become rehabilitated but there’s something seriously wrong with people who are willing to go right up to killing someone over a few possessions. I personally will always vote strongly against crime. You can keep having sympathy for criminals I hope you’re never afraid of going outside after dark.
- ibrahimsow1 5y ago
  Although I don't doubt the traumatic nature of your experience and I am genuinely sorry. Surely it would make more sense to diagnose why we have bad actors and seek to rehabilitate them as opposed to dehumanising them and tossing them into a dank cell.
  - hluska 5y ago
    I obviously agree, but can you do me a big favour?? Let's just love the hell out of swman and let them believe what they believe.
  - BuyMyBitcoins 5y ago
    Won’t somebody please think of the humanity of those who rob others at knife-point? At some point, people need to realize that some human beings are just born bad. Psychopathy and Sociopathy are real things that have a genetic component. And, while we can try to rehabilitate those who score low on measures of psychopathy and sociopathy, we need to recognize that some people really do just need to be locked away from society at large to preserve the lives of innocent people.
    - hluska 5y ago
      Psychopathy and sociopathy are defined as antisocial personality disorder. There are treatments, unfortunately modern prisons are nowhere near conducive to the types of treatments that are effective. And the spiral continues...

oh_sigh 5y ago

People can find acceptance and happiness in their less than ideal circumstances. Maybe it is just a mental trick to keep on living. I've heard similar things about how after a few years paraplegics report happiness higher than their happiness before their paralyzing accident.

taneq 5y ago

You're fed and clothed your whole life. Plus 60+ years is a lot of time to build some robust rationalisations as to why it aint so bad.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> You're fed and clothed your whole life. Plus 60+ years is a lot of time to build some robust rationalisations as to why it aint so bad. And compared to being a black youth in Jim Crow Alabama—Ligon’s only pre-prison experience—“ain’t so bad” is a pretty low bar to clear.

6510 5y ago

Some westerners tried to help very young kids living on a garbage heap. Most didn't have a shirt or still had to find shoes. They put one in a foster home and send him to school. He ran away back to the garbage heap. He just wanted to play with friends all day, this school stuff was like prison to him. The thing that surprised me the most was how happy they were. Kids will just be kids regardless apparently and people get used to anything.