A retirement in prison

[jacob]

With no savings, a pension that is too small, and a desire/inability to impose on family, some Japanese commit a minor felony to enjoy life behind bars.

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-47033704

Since Japan is likely leading the developed world trend, we might expect to see something similar. Clearly, going to prison is taking advantage of and abusing a system that are meant for real criminals and not retirees looking for free room and board. Perhaps there will be a future market in providing residences at a much simpler/monastic level compared to what is available in today's market. Also for non-retirees.

Insofar there was a <$300/month "cell" (with internet please) and meals provided, I'd totally go for it. Closest thing I have been to that was the grad-student dorm residences. About 75sqft with a sink. Monthly cleaning included. No meals though. But that was about $300/month and I'd consider that the most convenient living arrangements I've ever had.

I know that hipsters are building similar things in the cities, but they tend to charge a pretty penny for it.

[Chris]

Reminds me of this story of a man who robbed a bank to get health care in prison.

[vexed87]

The willing homeless and unwilling rejected (imprisoned) asylum seekers in the UK are already housed in such arrangements, although the latter are eventually deported.

[tonyedgecombe]

If it was Norway then I'd be comfortable, Ukraine not so much.

[7Wannabe5]

For me, it would really depend on the conjugal visitation policy.

[Campitor]

There are monastic religious communities that will give you room and board as long as you're able to serve in a productive capacity. I've met priests who joined their order after retiring and the death of their spouse. I think having food and shelter is very attainable in poor circumstances as long as the person is flexible and willing to adapt/sacrifice.

PS - american prisons are not ignorant of the retirement by crime phenomenon; they have undocumented means of disauding this behavior. The elderly are put into the general population where they are victimized or killed.

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/20 ... hind-bars/

[Dream of Freedom]

I think I would prefer a tent on BLM land. Still if I had to be institutionalized I wonder if an insane asylum would be better.

[Jason]

If I was going to commit a crime to spend the rest of my life in prison which I will not because its fucking prison, I'm not walking into a police station with a stolen pack of gum. Or waving a steak knife at a bunch of women in the park like I'm too old to cut my own food. I'm going to take the opportunity to actually become a criminal and see how good I am at because maybe I can become good enough to retire without having to go to prison and if I'm not, well, I'll end up in prison.

I would do something like this (recently released as "The Mule" starring Clint Eastwood).

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/maga ... -mule.html

This way, if I end up in prison, I'm respected as a real criminal and not some old man who can't afford a single bedroom condo in Florida. Plus, I'm old and who gives a fuck anyways. Like these guys.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_in_Style

I feel bad for the old Japanese guy but if he wants to stay in prison, he's got to show he really wants it.

[7Wannabe5]

Pretending like you are trying to recover from substance addiction could get you some free or very cheap lodging in my neck of the woods. You can also get free coffee and cookies just by attending the meetings.

[jacob]

There are monastic religious communities that will give you room and board as long as you're able to serve in a productive capacity. I've met priests who joined their order after retiring and the death of their spouse. I think having food and shelter is very attainable in poor circumstances as long as the person is flexible and willing to adapt/sacrifice.

What if you're not a priest? Or religious for that matter?

[Jason]

I think this is a good way to get one's feet wet.

https://wgntv.com/2018/08/28/man-accuse ... -felonies/

[Jason]

I know a non-cleric in Italy who lives in a monastery. My understanding is that they are encouraged but not required to attend the religious devotions. And of course you have to respect the way of life. He claims its a nice way to live.

[Campitor]

@Jacob

That's where the flexibility comes in. Sometimes religious vocation (full blown monk to low level acolyte) is the only means to escape starvation and homelessness. To quote Seneca:

“If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.”

[Kriegsspiel]

.

[Mister Imperceptible]

What if you're not a priest? Or religious for that matter?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dYVv9g_sGe0&t=4s

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j09h7LhKk28&t=17s

[IlliniDave]

For people of retirement age in the US, SS+Medicare should provide that level of lifestyle in general, but people have to accept it. Many do but it's hard when there is a lot of messaging to the contrary. As one relatively prominent political figure put it recently (paraphrasing): "There's plenty of money, the problem is that the wrong people have it." Advertising also tends to sow discontent. I think the gulf in cultures between the US and Japan when it comes to how people view individual accountability/responsibility is wide enough to make me think solutions to similar problems won't be the same. Interesting that the Japanese explicitly trade their freedom for a government solution to their problem while in the West we seek to have our cake and eat it to. I wonder which is ultimately more efficient.

[7Wannabe5]

Here is some countering thought on the matter:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog ... -will-live


My BF belongs to a multi-year-alumni-extended fraternal organization that has kept in touch over the years through reunions, overlapping webs of maintained friendship, and an active stock club. They are dropping like flies with age centered around maybe 62. Varying very little from what I observed among my father's large collection of similar phenotype/socio-economic (big relatively affluent Irish-heritage guys) male cousins 30 years ago. Only difference being ratio of alcohol/cigarette related and heart disease vs. diabetes related and suicide (or prescription opiate overdose.)

[Jason]

Interesting that the Japanese explicitly trade their freedom for a government solution to their problem while in the West we seek to have our cake and eat it to. I wonder which is ultimately more efficient.

I think this has to do with the fact that Japan was for many centuries a feudal society and despite its economic and technological advancements, it still possesses a strong feudal sentiment which at its core is the voluntary exchange of individual rights for protection from/by a sovereign overlord. It also explains the extreme punishment for venial crime as feudal societies use public shaming as a deterrent.

You have to think their is a compromise in all of this. There was always a commercial dimension to monasteries. Beer making was refined in monasteries as a way to make water potable. Books were created and bound, gardens grown, weaving etc. It wasn't purely theological. Give these guys a room in a monastery and teach them a trade. There is still shit in the world that requires light assembly. Grow some vegetables for Amazon. Handcraft some stuff to sell on ETSY. Turn it into a hotel and have these guy provide basic services. It's better than having an aged army of petty criminals.

[EMJ]

In April 2018, a blind man with one foot robbed a bank in Austin, Texas. This is a heist story—but unlike any you’ve ever read.

https://magazine.atavist.com/the-desper ... stin-texas

[Stahlmann]

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