Thursday, December 19, 2019
Big lesson, big lie
12/19 was the endpoint of my 1969 jail experience at Mansfield. Looking back is bad luck, so I'll close off this 50-year thing with a forward-looking question.
Did I learn anything? I learned ONE BIG LESSON but then failed to apply it.
I learned FORCEFULLY from the front and the back that PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT. Professional criminals are not the same as incidental lawbreakers.
After getting out, I tried yet again to do college, and failed yet again. My father forced me to go out and get a job, which was the best thing he ever did for me. But parents and friends hadn't learned the BIG LESSON and didn't follow through, didn't encourage the choice.
The correct path at that point was to forget about college and continue in typesetting and printing. Parents and mentors considered this job to be lowly and temporary. One mentor even called it "occupational therapy." They pushed me back toward high-status college, and I didn't know enough to resist.
I can't blame them for missing the point. All available sources in the media and culture shouted the BIG MURDEROUS LIE that PEOPLE ARE IDENTICAL. You can be and do anything you want. If you fail, you need to try harder.
If the same events had happened now, with correct information easily available, including the correct description of introverts, I might have resisted the external pressure, might have followed through on the one thing I learned.
I learned FORCEFULLY from the front and the back that PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT. Professional criminals are not the same as incidental lawbreakers.
After getting out, I tried yet again to do college, and failed yet again. My father forced me to go out and get a job, which was the best thing he ever did for me. But parents and friends hadn't learned the BIG LESSON and didn't follow through, didn't encourage the choice.
The correct path at that point was to forget about college and continue in typesetting and printing. Parents and mentors considered this job to be lowly and temporary. One mentor even called it "occupational therapy." They pushed me back toward high-status college, and I didn't know enough to resist.
I can't blame them for missing the point. All available sources in the media and culture shouted the BIG MURDEROUS LIE that PEOPLE ARE IDENTICAL. You can be and do anything you want. If you fail, you need to try harder.
If the same events had happened now, with correct information easily available, including the correct description of introverts, I might have resisted the external pressure, might have followed through on the one thing I learned.
Labels: defensible times, Experiential education, Jail mode, Shared Lie
¶ 12:00 AM
