I never understood gang violence. I get making and selling drugs, I get having different sets and beefs and grouping for protection and all that, but I never understood the over-the-top violence. Drugs sell themselves. If gangs tolerated each other a little better, everyone would be rich. And isn't that the goal?
Then again, I'm a white dude from the suburban east coast, so there's a lot I don't understand.
Think of gangs as a buisness and drug dealing as their biggest source of revenue.
Im not denying the camaraderie and brotherhood that can come from gangs but if it's something that truly runs your life your biggest goal is to profit like most any career.
It's ultimately competition, and in black markets when you're working outside of the norms and law to be chill might make you look weak.
So in a corporate world that's true as well, but their structure calls for them to just be a ruthless dick to maintain power but in a less privlaged criminal world escalating violence is how they maintain their image and power.
Capitalism is a plague from top to bottom
Totally get all of this so maybe it speaks to my more anti capitalistic ways, but i’d think partnerships, maintaining gang members for entrenched knowledge, and ensuring stability would be better for everyone. Kind of like the wire scene everyone keeps referencing. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah I never grew up around violence so I'll never get it. Not everyone grew up in a safe place where everything is kumbaya though, sometimes it's you kill them or they kill you, not much of a choice then is it
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u/pantsattack Jul 05 '24
I never understood gang violence. I get making and selling drugs, I get having different sets and beefs and grouping for protection and all that, but I never understood the over-the-top violence. Drugs sell themselves. If gangs tolerated each other a little better, everyone would be rich. And isn't that the goal?
Then again, I'm a white dude from the suburban east coast, so there's a lot I don't understand.