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Comment by lynx23 | Hacker News Reader

[flagged]

> it is not an excuse.

Things can be a reason without being an excuse.

Sure I'm not in jail and on the surface I have my act together, but my entire life has been fucked up by what are now called "ACEs" and it's a miracle I'm as stable as I am.

I'm not going to let people off the hook, but I am able to sympathize...especially knowing the wrong person or event at the wrong time would have quickly sent me down the same path.

>Many more people then you might think have had a unsatisfactory childhood. However, most of them get their act together at some point during growing up

Dιδ they have the same exact family circumstances, growing up experiences, psychological capacity, and so on? Or at least very close ones?

Or are you comparing different cases and expect them to have handled things the same?

>Pointing at your past as an excuse for criminal acts is pretty fucked up, IMO

It's not an excuse, it's an explanation, and a description of the forces and circumstances which led you there.

People's family and early life circumstances are hard to overcome, and just because some percentage of people manage it, doesn't mean it's easy for the rest, or that the people that did do it wouldn't also have slipped if they didn't have some lucky breaks (from psychological perspective all the way to the people they met, the connections they had, some rare good mentor or a good friend influence, etc.).

I hope you know how alone you are in this compassionless response.

Going with the opinion of the masses was never anything I aspired to anyways, so... Thanks for the compliment.

Are your comments on this post more about you and your experiences, than about the person who wrote the article?

I hope that you're doing well, and that you see compassion from others whenever you need it.

Dude was already in crime at 17. He didn't really have any time with the luxuries of adulthood to figure out his own life.

I was deep into rave culture at that age. Lets just say I know the "deal". However, I always knew I would never sell, because, surprise, I knew the penalty was not worth it.

So, I actually know what I am talking about here, and still lack sympathy. Risk taken, game lost. Simple.

It's great your ability to judge risk and reward at age 17 was so solid, but for many it is not. Brain development does not stop that early. I think the difference in culpability between a bad decision at age 17 and say, a bad decision at age 23 is huge.

More importantly, the fact the GP believes the risk was not worth it shows that their situation was far better than that of many people. Crime is a risk worth taking in many cases.

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