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Q&A with Mike Kimelman: How prison changes you
- Red_Tarsius 12y agoI'm happy Kimelman got the best out of it. It's nice to read experiences that don't involve any kind of intimate assault. The system is designed not to rehabilitate, but to dehumanize the inmates, while guards often support the lowest forms of behavior.
- delish 12y ago[the interviewer asks why didn't he take the plea deal] > [Because] I didn't think I broke the law, and if I wasn't willing to stand up and say that, how could I look my children in the eye and tell them with a straight face they should stand up for the right thing, or the underdog, as I try to teach them to do. This is why I don't moralize at other people ever, and why I think the law is a poor substitute for morality. I believe him when he says 1) that he didn't think he did anything wrong, and 2) that the choices in front of him looked different that how they looked to third-party observers. It's stupidly easy to tell someone, "You should have [taken the plea deal|not done that in the first place|...]." But I think people say those things to 1) distance themselves from their interlocutor and 2) say something that feels good to say, but is useless (not actionable at this point!), obvious dreck to hear. Of course I'm not faulting the interviewer for asking the questions in this case; the answers were enlightening. Marshall McLuhan had a great quote against moralizing: "Don't ask whether it is right or wrong. Instead try to figure out what is going on!"