[Blarg]

I've seen the "You can't tell me" attitude among kids and punks not toward oppression but just as a means of asserting dominance and irritable stubbornness. What kind of oppression are you talking about, anyway? Lots of gangsters and punks live in neighborhoods where they barely see other races, and they certainly don't spare each other from their hostility. When they get outside them, they sometimes bring their hostility with them, and vent it where it's inappropriate and even absurd. Not cueing in to reality isn't a skill set that seems transferable to military purposes, unless you it's simple aggression you think is something with some utility. I'd disagree there, too. In the military, tons of people are going to "tell you," and you'd damn well better listen, too. The last thing anyone wants to hear is any of some kid's loud-mouthed crap, I'm sure.

I very much object to the idea of gangsters as soldiers. Soldiers aren't supposed to kill civilians, and it's very much a dishonor, not to mention sometimes a legal matter, to do so. Gang members are more of the "I spray em from babies to 80's" mind set. Civilians being preyed on is a matter of course, and for some a daily occurence, and not just by mistake either. A gangster is absolutely not comparable to a soldier in discipline or morality.

Regarding "getting that push" to do better by yourself, I'm talking about the end product, not how they got there. By the time military age comes around, a person's character is very hard to undo anyway. It's a little late to start childhoood over again and become a different person. Besides, a parent can push all they want, but some kids just won't have it.

A more legitimate reason for joining a gang than the lack of encouragement from parents is that it's pretty much the only social outlet that has any appeal, and kids are all about conformity. Standing apart from the crowd, whether or not you get the occasional beating for it, is very hard for kids. In that case, joining a gang is probably far easier than not joining one, and solves a host of social worries. Many gang members are multi-generational and belong to extended social networks comprising almost entirely gang members and their families, and the idea of alternatives isn't really one that's easy to imagine, let alone consider, in the their environments.