Charles Manson "I am what you made me"

Charles Manson:"I am what you made me."That's what Manson said in his murder trial for the shooting, stabbing, bayonet slayings of 7 people in 1962. It was never proven that Manson was even present at the murders but it was well known that he directed a handful of people in his cult/"family" to kill rich, well known white people and leave messages written on the walls in the victims blood. Manson was convicted of both conspiracy to commit the murders and the murders themselves and was originally sentenced to death until California abolished the death penalty in 1972, reducing the sentence to life imprisonment. Manson has come up for parole 11 times, including May 23rd of this month, but has been repeatedly denied parole for prison crimes such as assault, drug trafficking and arson. Manson accused society of making him what he is today because with an alcoholic, drug addicted prostitute for a mother he was repeatedly abandoned in his youth and taken to live in boys homes when there was no place for him in the local foster care program. When Manson was 8 he was held in a boys home where when the boys there got in trouble they were put on the rack and beaten for their misdeeds each day. If this form of punishment did not seem to have the desired affect, in a few cases boys were taken from their beds in the middle of the night to be beaten in a nearby cornfield. Manson was treated at the local hospital twice during his stay there, for broken ribs and a broken arm. He lived in several boys homes and escaping them became a habit. At twelve he was incarcerated with adult criminals, for stealing a car in one of his escapes. In prison he was raped and beaten by other inmates but eventually was released upon turning 18. He was illiterate, never having been educated or taught a skill from which he could be made employable. He relied on what he knew, stealing, in order to survive. At the age of 32 he had spent more than half his life in institutions and the prison system. On his release date in March of "67, he plead with the parole board NOT to release him saying that prison was the only home he knew. He was released and began the cult known as the "Manson family" shortly after. In the meantime he met a former Beatle, who payed for Manson to be recorded and Manson actually has his own album! Was Manson actually a murderer? Was he, in fact, the product of a corrupt system? Maybe there is some justice in Manson NOT being put to death although, it is unlikely that he will ever be released from prison. When I think of the death penalty I will always remember the accusation that he made in his trial that he is what WE made him.