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Gang Life: In The Words of Gang Members

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I come from Southern California which is undoubtedly the gang capital of the world. There are over 150,000 gang members in So Cal alone, an absolutely staggering number. Unfortunately, Los Angeles is a shining example of what happens when the problem of gangs is not dealt with in a proper and effective manner. I believe many experts including police officers truly believe that the gangs control Los Angeles and that there is nothing that can be done to stop it. Gangs know no racial, economic, or social barriers. Don't believe that the Nazi Lowriders are any worse than the Crips or other minority gangs; they are all criminal enterprises that victimize innocent lives. Kids who join or want to join gangs are fed romantic notions about the gangster lifestyle. When you combine this with a natural tendency for young men to be "machismo" with all of their hormones pumping, it doesn't take much for impressionable young people to buy into this "glamorous" lifestyle. And that is exactly what the gang veterans and leaders want. After all, without fresh blood the gangs would wither and cease to exist. I truly believe many young people who join gangs have no idea what this 'lifestyle' is all about. They have no idea what spending time in state/federal prison is like. Your "homies" in prison could very well end up killing you for the smallest of reasons. You could be raped or shanked without warning. You may be ordered to kill another inmate and if you hesitate, YOU will be killed. I saw a documentary about gangs a while ago, and they interviewed this one inmate. He said that you MUST do whatever the shot callers tell you to, and if that means hiding a knife in your rectum until you can use it to stab an enemy, so be it. Is that what you want to do with the rest of your life, always worrying if you'll live to see the next day and knowing that you may never do things that many of us take for granted? Things like waking up and walking out the door, going to McDonald's, taking your girlfriend/wife to the movies? Sad