The last true hermit

[mountainm]

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201409/the-last-true-hermit?currentPage=1

[h=2]For nearly thirty years, a phantom haunted the woods of Central Maine. Unseen and unknown, he lived in secret, creeping into homes in the dead of night and surviving on what he could steal. To the spooked locals, he became a legend—or maybe a myth. They wondered how he could possibly be real. Until one day last year, the hermit came out of the forest[/h]

 

[knifefan]

Yeh.. I think this has been shown before. Got lot's of reaction due to the fact he survived by stealing other peoples food and possessions!!!! Not exactly the bushcraft we all know and love

 

[lou1661]

A bit of discussion about it here http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106219&highlight=Maine

 

[mountainm]

A bit of discussion about it here http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106219&highlight=Maine

LOL, I even commented on it...

 

[JonathanD]

If the question ever arises as to the difference between bushcraft and survival again. We should point them to that article.

 

[presterjohn]

Interesting article. It makes you wonder how much more self reliant he would have been if he were not so worried about being caught. It seems like a real catch 22 situation. plant crops, hunt and have fires and be independent but most likely discovered or do what he did and be Dependant on others property but remain undiscovered.

 

[British Red]

It seems like a real catch 22 situation. .

He had a third option

Get a job
Buy some land
Work the land legally


.

 

[rik_uk3]

Lets not be harsh, the chap obviously had some mental health issues so ease off on the judgemental statements guys and gals.

 

[Bishop]

For the curious the Bangor Daily News gave the location of the camp as here and there's some photo's of the camp area taken after all the police had packed most of it up.

 

[kungaryfu]

many thanks for sharing such an interesting story

 

[Corso]

Lets not be harsh, the chap obviously had some mental health issues so ease off on the judgemental statements guys and gals.

Sorry I don't see it

"I stole. I was a thief. I repeatedly stole over many years. I knew it was wrong. Knew it was wrong, felt guilty about it every time, yet continued to do it."

says it all for me I'm afraid

 

[bikething]

Lets not be harsh, the chap obviously had some mental health issues so ease off on the judgemental statements guys and gals.

You may want to review your own comments in the last thread

So thats OK then is it him stealing from a centre dealing with disabled folks? and its certainly not understandable in my view. Incarceration seems very fair and if he needs mental health help I hope he gets it whilst he spends several years behind bars.

 

[Corso]

maybe he's mellowed

 

[Tengu]

A person who stays alone for so long would have mental health issues.

Ever heard of Autism?

 

[santaman2000]

A person who stays alone for so long would have mental health issues.

Ever heard of Autism?

That would be my opinion also. The question remains though: Is the mental illness a result of the solitude? Or did he seek the solitude due to the mental illness.

In any case, mental illness isn't always a defense against criminal charges. As Corso pointed out, he still was able to comprehend that what he was doing was wrong. Therefore the question I posed is purely academic.

 

[Tengu]

Hard to say...Its all pretty up in the air as its highly unlikely he will get the specialised care he needs. He will just go back to his old ways.

An autistic person would know the difference between right and wrong, but might act on it in unconventional ways.

Say, they might know hitting someone was wrong, and so not do it, but to them, planting a bomb (or firing an ICBM) would not be wrong...

 

[FoxyRick]

An autistic person would know the difference between right and wrong, but might act on it in unconventional ways.

Say, they might know hitting someone was wrong, and so not do it, but to them, planting a bomb (or firing an ICBM) would not be wrong...

...if their understanding of the logic of the situation led them to the conclusion that it was necessary.

 

[Laurentius]

A person who stays alone for so long would have mental health issues.

Ever heard of Autism?

Autism is by no means straight forward and affects different people in different ways, and in part one's reaction to it is conditioned by much else in one's life Ones parent's, schooling, etc.

I can recall when I went to University and lived in halls, I went to extraordinary lengths to avoid anyone else in my floor, I came and went in secret, or so I thought. It did not occur to me that anyone would notice me by my absence rather than my presence in the communal areas or that they would think this strange, I only discovered later on as I became a bit more social that my behaviour had people talking.

I much prefer solitude, time to be alone was something I very much craved when I was younger and living with the family. Whilst theft remains theft there is also context to it. Many people do not regard theft as in the least imoral so much as a supplement to income (unfortunately for honest folk like me) The punishment needs to fit the crime however, and I don't think the US prison system is anything I would wish on anybody given the number of people the US incarcerates for ridiculously long sentences. It is not crime prevention, deterrance or punishment, it is warehousing.

The majority of autistic people are too honest to get away with crime, they are more likely however to be misled into difficult situations as dupes of criminals.

 

[santaman2000]

..... I don't think the US prison system is anything I would wish on anybody given the number of people the US incarcerates for ridiculously long sentences. It is not crime prevention, deterrance or punishment, it is warehousing.....

I wouldn't "wish" prison on anyone (in the US or elsewhere) although I know many for whom it's appropriate. As to the "ridiculously long sentences" I don't know of any. In fact usually the opposite. On top of the ridiculously short sentences, very few inmates serve the entire sentence as given. The prison system awards "gain time" at the rate of 8 days per month for good behavior. That takes off 27% of every sentence to begin with.

Not crime prevention but warehousing? Yes, it's warehousing to some extent, but how is that not crime prevention? If they're confined, they're unable to continue to rape, pillage, beat their children, murder, etc. At least not on the free population.

 

[Laurentius]

I wouldn't "wish" prison on anyone (in the US or elsewhere) although I know many for whom it's appropriate. As to the "ridiculously long sentences" I don't know of any. In fact usually the opposite. On top of the ridiculously short sentences, very few inmates serve the entire sentence as given. The prison system awards "gain time" at the rate of 8 days per month for good behavior. That takes off 27% of every sentence to begin with.

Not crime prevention but warehousing? Yes, it's warehousing to some extent, but how is that not crime prevention? If they're confined, they're unable to continue to rape, pillage, beat their children, murder, etc. At least not on the free population.

I was referring to those people who have been jailed for life on the basis of "three strikes and your out" for relatively minor misdemeanours in the scheme of things, certainly not rape and murder. Also I do not know of any other country in the world that regularly passes 99 year jail sentences. The USA does seem to incarcerate a greater proportion of it's population than anywhere else in the free world, that would seem to suggest that the United States is a more criminally inclined nation than any where else with higher crime rates, but I am sure that is not so, the system appears not to be working, it is immensely costly never mind anything else.