Well I never really meant they were good people, just saying some people get the impression that gang members are stupid people when some are actually pretty smart; I grew up around some gang member leaders (because I was poor and lived where they did) and got to see that different part of life and "street smarts" is a real thing.REMOVED.
For example I never knew to get into the Mongols you have to complete an application; with SS #, references, past jobs, etc. They hire a private investigator to check the background on a member before they get "patched" in. This book just showed how these "gangs" like Mongols are a lot more advanced than people think and much more than just a bunch of drunks and it took a lot of police manpower to fool them...which took years!
So same as with the Mafia (another group I have studied in depth), people look at these types like they are dumb, but in reality they can be ran pretty well; sure not all legal of course. I've never liked gangs and always felt they were for people who were mainly cowards that needed backup from others and even though I was pressured my entire life I never joined one. To me it is a a stupid lifestyle that only causes problems. Like you said though the smart ones are uncommon and usually the idiots are the ones causing problems, but there are some top leaders that if they were raised differently they may have been successful business men.
I guess for me it is hard to put any group into one category as I feel people in general can just be bad so it would be hard for me to say ALL 1% are horrible people.
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