Well, I’m 44 and from one of the roughest parts of Manchester.
I knew quite a few people who thought that way.
Many of them grew up to be drug dealing, thieving scum like the people they admired.
Stealing from their own, polluting the environment, contributing nothing.
The rest of us were taught right from wrong and tried to behave accordingly.
Didn’t always succeed, because it was tougher than the alternative, but at least we tried, eh?
And what. Doesn’t change the face that criminals and gangsters are the role models of choice for most poor urban kids, that’ll never change. Regardless of their backgrounds. Be they from the ‘toughest’ (sniggers…) parts of a city or not.
I was taught right from wrong, came from a good family but I chose a criminal career for a long time, I looked up to people for whatever reason. Didn’t make me a bad person and I still, believe it or not, had pretty strong morals. Kids changed me and my outlook and I went back and got a good education, or I may very well still be following that path. I’m sure much much poorer nowadays though.