what would you prefer

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if you had to choose between a few months in prison, safe, white-color criminals, no abuse from guards, good food and medical care, but not free to move around the building freely, only allowed out of the cell when the guards say so and then go where they say to go. forced to wear prison uniforms. that kind of thing.

or a few months on the street, with enough money for food and ability to go to a free hospital if sick, California weather, you wont freeze to death. can sleep either on a park bench or in the woods.

what would you pick?

i'd pick the streets, in a heartbeat.

Most working folks spend most of their waking lives confined to their workplace, or to being in transit between thier workplace and home, or sitting in front of a TV/computer at home. I am not an exception. If they allow me to waste time on a computer on the net on WP and wherever then that soft jail would be pretty much the same thing as my life already is. So I'd guess I would pick that.

depends what country we are talking about.

In some countries, prison is abject hell. In other countries far much less so, to the extent its more like a rehabilitation centre than a place of punishment.

I have heard anecdotal stories of people entering Sweden and intentionally committing crime to be put in prison because the standard of life in prison there far exceeds that of homelessness in their own countries. In any case, the prospect of a guaranteed soft bed, three square meals at the price of limited movement doesnt seem too bad compared to sleeping on freezing cold pavements, no guarantee of food or survival and very little freedom anyway because you need money to do anything.

If we're talking about this country, i would probably not want to go to prison because it errs much more towards the punitive rather than the rehabilitive. Thats largely because we have some modicum of homeless welfare, as opposed to far more laissez faire countries like the United States where the only protection is for property owners and people are simply expected to fend for them selves or tough titty if they can't. If i lived in the USA then I really don't know which option would be worse or better. Suicide might become an attractive third option.

I'd rather be homeless in the situation described. I could keep going to university/work, I wouldn't have a prison spell on my record, I could do whatever leisure activities I wanted (within reason), and I'd get to eat whatever I want.

Prison would have a few advantages: I'd be warm, for one, and I'd have a more comfortable bed. The average night temperature on a beach in San Diego is only 14 degrees, which is pretty nippy if you're staying still.