Saturday, August 27, 2011

What I Learned from the Ghetto


Reminiscing about my 3-year tour in the bowels of Hemet, California, I try to think of how my views might have changed in regard to people who, well, are what regular society might refer to as “dirt bags.” No, I’m not going to write about how I’ve changed into a liberal and now I miss my homies and want to give them a bigger portion of my paycheck. I don’t. I was there because that was the world my teenage son lived in and I was tired of chasing him around all night trying to parent the unparentable. So I decided to get to know those whom my son hung out with and go undercover to a degree where I could stay with him during his crisis period.
Nonetheless, if I were a sociologist doing a study on what makes the gangster tick, I would consider living amongst them as I did. Yes, in general they are people who have spent time in jail or prison, deal and/or consume drugs, steal and commit violent acts. Granted this lifestyle is a little different than a civilized society. However, since they are of the same species, they do require the same from their sub-culture as those in normal society require of theirsthey just get it in different ways.
Consider, for example, the common need that people have to feel good about themselves. It is not a stretch to say that those still operating within the norms of regular society often feel like garbage during times of unemployment. They feel tension because their general sense of self-worth is connected to their value to others; it is gratifying to get paid for work that you have done, to be recognized for what you can bring to the table. Especially during prolonged periods of not having a job it messes with your head. Depression sets in. People have killed themselves over it.

So, from the perspective of an admittedly unsympathetic member of society, why aren’t these dirt bags depressed? From my experience, they seem quite content. They have an outlet for anger that is more satisfying than the methods of civilized society: they beat the tar out of someone. As far as self-worth? Their culture grants respect to the beater, and I believe a little honor to the beatee just for having been in a fight.
In between fights, I found that everyone is to pose as being the baddest of the bad. Doing time is a badge of honor worthy of respect. Making a living outside of society is romanticized as rugged individualism and a respectable outsmarting of the regular people’s system.
And probably the most striking is the entertainment factor. Boredom cuts into self-worth and depletes the group’s enthusiasm for their subculture. Thus, any drama is good drama. If there is no action-packed issue happening for too long, one will be manufactured. I remember when someone not returning a borrowed CD became an issue of disrespect worthy of 5 people beating the one who should have known there was a recent shortage of drama. In short, a self-contained culture develops a system of norms to address the basic needs that all people have.

While it may help to understand the mechanisms behind subculture, it need not spur sympathy; they have made a choice to be a part of a culture that is destructive; anarchy clearly has no broad redemptive value.
Nevertheless, taking a look at them allows for another perspective on our own contemporary culture. I have seen situations where operating within the bounds of law, specifically not beating the tar out of someone, caused me to endure great evil when the legal system failed to function. Certainly my experience in this regard is not isolated but is systemic: there are many who endure great evil under the guise of the legitimacy of a “civilized” society. This is because the same sordid elements of human nature that operate in subculture are present even within the structure of a higher culture. Herein lies the caveat to "civilized" society: it is only a very limited stop-gap measure until Christ sets things straight.



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