> It speaks volumes that we remember Abbott but we (
at least I) can
remember
> the man he killed. He worked as waiter and was an
actor/playwright;
he
> left behind a wife who was devastated by Abbott
barbarity.
>
Yes, you're right about Abbott's victim & the devastation
that his action/s caused. However, if we lived in a society
(& I know how unlikely this is) that didn't
institutionalise, marginalise, criminalise
& brutalise unwanted children we'd have a lot less people
like Abbott
( & for that matter Charles Manson & any number of
other famous & non-famous murderer's, psychopaths &
sociopaths) running around. Barbarity begets barbarity, it's
a vicious circle. There are reasons why kids who've been
brutally treated are more likely to become brutes, sexually
molested kids more likely to become sexual predators &
kids whose fathers drank & beat their wives more likely
to grow up to repeat the pattern & it has nothing to do
with original sin. This society is full of sociopaths &
not all of them are in jail. Some run corporations,
countries, etc but the great majority of these had better
breaks than the pathetic losers that clog up America's Death
Rows. I think "In the Belly of the Beast" gives an insight
into the process, if no answers. Please don't read this as a
defence of Abbott's actions - in the end we make our choices.
Despite everything that happened in his life he had a choice
on whether to kill an innocent man & he made the sort of
choice that had previously landed him in prison.All the same
it's worth noting that people like Abbott (& Manson) were
petty criminals before they spent substantial time in prison
(& I've forgotten Abbott's childhood history, if I knew
it. Manson's "criminal career" started of by being the
unwanted child of a peripatetic hooker, which is how he began
his life in the institutions that are so often just prep
schools for jails - I recommend Ed Sanders' classic book
about Manson, "The Family"). Abbott first killed in prison
(he claims self-defence & that's plausible considering
the context) & IIRC the unfortunate waiter was his only
victim outside of jail.(No consolation to his widows &
loved ones, I know).
Rene
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