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Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#101

Post by downrightmike »

rfreytag wrote: post #90
Tsubasachan wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netherlands. People actually feel safe when they have a contract that allows them to be terminated when they get Alzheimer's for example. People want to live but on their own terms. Not spending 20 years in diapers tied to a bed or all alone wasting away with only a robot to talk to.

Logans Run: how does the Netherlands avoid subtle or overt pressure on the elderly that 'it is their time to go?' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan's_Run I have seen doctors in the US all too often blame 'old age' for conditions that are preventable or can be significantly improved to forestall aging.

There is a limit to what people can endure. When you're standing on the 10 story of a building with the floors above and below burning and the fires are starting to overcome the 10th, jumping looks like a better option than slowly burning alive. Crippling disease or mental health are as real a threat as being stuck in a burning building. It is bleak, and may be hard to understand if you haven't been there.

Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#102

Post by mdorazio »

ekianjo wrote: post #99
mdorazio wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could have looked up that data yourself to prove the article wrong and shared it rather than just repeatedly commenting that the article sucks. From [1] and [2] the percentage of the population 65+ increased from 15.7% in 1997 to an estimated 28% in 2017. From the article, "In 1997 this age group accounted for about one in 20 convictions but 20 years later the figure had grown to more than one in five". So percen…

convictions != unique people convicted. As I have already pointed out, offenders commit multiple crimes and therefore register as several convictions. So you can't just look at percentage of infractions and assume this is representative of unique people committing crimes. > than just repeatedly commenting that the article sucks The article sucks because it fails to account for several ways to explain the data and jum…

And once again rather than spending two minutes to find the data and report it here, you instead chose to act smug about how much smarter you are than the article author. Please stop doing that. Provide insight instead of just criticism. Right from a linked chart in the article [1], you can see that the total number of persons over 65 imprisoned has quadrupled from roughly 600 in 1997 to 2500 in 2016. Repeat convictions is a side statistic that has little bearing on the total numbers here.

[1] http://hakusyo1.moj.go.jp/en/66/image/image/h004008002001e.j...

Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#103

Post by claudiawerner »

Tyrannosaur wrote: post #13

I've imagined a world where prisons and homeless shelters look almost identical, save the prisons don't allow you to leave.

“Is it surprising that the cellular prison, with its regular chronologies, forced labour, its authorities of surveillance and registration, its experts in normality, who continue and multiply the functions of the judge, should have become the modern instrument of penality? Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?” - Michel Foucault

Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#104

Post by softawre »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #16
whitepoplar wrote: post #7

My parents are set to turn 70 next year and I worry so much about their wellbeing when they get older. My dad, in particular, is a generally happy person, but doesn't have many friends. I worry that if my mom passes before him, he's going to have a rough time. I feel guilty because I'm one of those children described in the article who moved to another city to chase economic + social activity.

We've all done it, and often had to, which is the root of the problem. When I was under 10, both sets of grandparents and four of five aunts and uncles were within 10 miles, most under 3. Now we're all over the place and a visit isn't a regular frequent thing but a major, rarer, trip. As I'm in my mid fifties some of the future looks rather bleak. Add longer life expectancy after retirement and for most, better menta…

Not all of us have done it. I'm staying in the Midwest as a software engineer so I can be near my parents. I might not make 300k but I'm doing well and I see my family once a week at least.

It just depends what your priorities are. Cats in the cradle.

Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#105

Post by Fjolsvith »

close04 wrote: post #98
jshprentz wrote: post #76

The 1904 O. Henry short story "The Cop and the Anthem"[1][2] tells of a homeless New York City man who commits small crimes, preferring arest and jail to charity handouts. "But to one of Soapy's proud spirit the gifts of charity are encumbered. If not in coin you must pay in humiliation of spirit for every benefit received at the hands of philanthropy. As Caesar had his Brutus, every bed of charity must have its toll…

This is a common theme especially in any country with cold winters. People will commit low level crimes that will ensure just enough prison time to survive the winter when they're either homeless or their home offers little o no guarantee they will survive a very cold night (no money for heating). Sometimes the prison system is bad enough that most people wouldn't resort to this unless it's a life and death situation…

Saw this in Alaska when I lived there.

Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#106

Post by magduf »

softawre wrote: post #104
NeedMoreTea wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've all done it, and often had to, which is the root of the problem. When I was under 10, both sets of grandparents and four of five aunts and uncles were within 10 miles, most under 3. Now we're all over the place and a visit isn't a regular frequent thing but a major, rarer, trip. As I'm in my mid fifties some of the future looks rather bleak. Add longer life expectancy after retirement and for most, better menta…

Not all of us have done it. I'm staying in the Midwest as a software engineer so I can be near my parents. I might not make 300k but I'm doing well and I see my family once a week at least. It just depends what your priorities are. Cats in the cradle.

If I lived closer to my parents, I could totally forget about ever dating again. Sorry, a lifetime of loneliness isn't worth that.

Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#107

Post by calyth2018 »

devereaux wrote: post #2

1) human contact 2) room and board When pensioners or just any adult prefers jail to freedom, it makes you think we failed something as a society.

You'd think for the cost of actually jailing one of them for two years, they could give out a better pension and create programs for the elderly, and cover more for the same price.

Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#108

Post by Tsubasachan »

rfreytag wrote: post #90
Tsubasachan wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netherlands. People actually feel safe when they have a contract that allows them to be terminated when they get Alzheimer's for example. People want to live but on their own terms. Not spending 20 years in diapers tied to a bed or all alone wasting away with only a robot to talk to.

Logans Run: how does the Netherlands avoid subtle or overt pressure on the elderly that 'it is their time to go?' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan's_Run I have seen doctors in the US all too often blame 'old age' for conditions that are preventable or can be significantly improved to forestall aging.

There is always social pressure, it comes with living in a society. And ofcourse old people don't want to be dicks and be a drain on society or make their children's lives miserable. In Logan's run those seniors went willingly after all.

When we were still ruled by nature there were never too many mouths to feed. For the first time in human history half of our citizens are going to be over 65 and there will be consequences.

Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#109

Post by [deleted] »

ekianjo wrote: post #99
mdorazio wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could have looked up that data yourself to prove the article wrong and shared it rather than just repeatedly commenting that the article sucks. From [1] and [2] the percentage of the population 65+ increased from 15.7% in 1997 to an estimated 28% in 2017. From the article, "In 1997 this age group accounted for about one in 20 convictions but 20 years later the figure had grown to more than one in five". So percen…

convictions != unique people convicted. As I have already pointed out, offenders commit multiple crimes and therefore register as several convictions. So you can't just look at percentage of infractions and assume this is representative of unique people committing crimes. > than just repeatedly commenting that the article sucks The article sucks because it fails to account for several ways to explain the data and jum…

[deleted]

Re: Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

#110

Post by konart »

ekianjo wrote: post #40
konart wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>do they not have cafes where strangers can socialize over a cheap cup of coffee or tea? Surely they have. But you have to order something and there is a good change you won't meet anyone of your age. If you come to a free clinic - you don't pay anything and you are immediately surrounded by people of your age (if we are talking about eldery as in this case).

Its not in free clinics, its Day Care where old people go to in Japan to spend time with planned activities.

Well, I'm generalizing here. And in Russia, where I'm from, its in free (read as state) clinics. The point stays the same.
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