A few weeks ago, in the course of reading various post election commentary, I came across a particular turn of phrase in the mainstream media, in which a journalist opined that since Donald Trump didn't win the Presidency, it would effectively mean that "the age of thuggery" was over.
Now, before anyone works up a good head of steam, let me assure you that this post is actually not about politics; It was seeing the term "thuggery" that made me pause and reflect on the strange way in which it feels like we have come to almost glorify so called "thug life."
How did that happen? Why did we do this?
Of course, it might be that you don't see what I am talking about, here... but consider this: we have reached a point where we'll even pay $150.00 for designer jeans deliberately made to look either like they were just fished out of a dumpster in the sketchy part of town, or they are modeled after the fashion statements made by self-professed Gangstas.
But WHY?
Speaking as someone who lived in a "low rent" and rather dangerous part of east Austin, Texas for a couple of years while in college — where shootings, muggings, car break-ins and robberies were pretty commonplace — I can assure you there is nothing noble, glorious or cool about ghetto life. It pretty much sucks rocks and (unless you happen to be RUNNING the neighborhood) what you mostly hope to do is get out of there before you get cut or shot and left for dead.
You sure as hell don't walk around thinking "Yeah! THIS is the life!" to yourself...
The slightly twisted thing about this little exploration, is it that the majority of the people who project this weird and twisted glory onto Thug Life would not want to be anywhere near the real deal. Which leads me to pondering the question of what exactly is their/our major psychological malfunction?
It also makes me wonder whether 1700's ship captains went around acting like they were pirates, in some strange attempt to "look cool?"
Emulation: What Does it Say About Us?
Naturally, there are loads of theories that touch at least peripherally on the glorification — subtle or blatant — of thug life.
Some opinions are quite scholarly and point to the inherently "tribal" nature of humans, and how that kind of connection has been all but lost in modern society where individualism is espoused as the most important value. Even if we're not part of a tribe, we can pretend, right?
But why THUG Life and not something else? My guess would be that many people have latent and well-hidden personality tendencies that come close to matching your typical gangster psychological profile: placing a high value on social status, low level of respect for authority, a desire for power, arising from a subconscious fear of power-LESSness...
Then, of course, there is the fear in general: That thing we do when we attempt to make ourselves "look bigger" in the face of something that truly is bigger, in hopes that it won't attack us.
That's all fine and nice, but has relatively little bearing on the cushy life of upper-middle class suburbia.
I'm not for a moment claiming to have some sort of answer or brilliant insight on all this! I'm just an observer of life and the humans in it... and the way they sometimes behave that make little sense to me.
And oh yeah, I own a couple of jeans with holes and tears in them... because they are about 12 years old and I have worn them threadbare...
Thanks for reading, and have a great last couple of days of your week!
How about YOU? Have you noticed an increase in the prevalence of "wannabe thugs?" What do you think that's about? Just a "passing fashion," or is there a deeper sociological meaning there? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20210225 20:32 PST
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