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Opinion
Inside The Box: A Prisoner Tells His Tale

Street Life: The Hustler's Illusion

Over the years I've had numerous law abiding citizens ask me: why are so many young men obsessed with the street life? Why would they choose a life of death and destruction over an honest living? While there is no simple blanket answer to cover every aspect of such a socially motivated phenomenon, I need only look to my own experience to help explain it to you.

Some subscribe to the street life simply by way of association. Maybe they inherited it from their parents or older siblings. For some it really is all they know. For others, it was a matter of seeking acceptance that was lacking at home, and then being swindled into the street life.

Some are products of an ever swinging pendulum of poverty. And let's be clear, poverty isn't just a household income below $22,000 for a family of four. It's inferior living conditions, sub-par medical attention (if any); it's failing schools for your kids, and most of all, perhaps, it's what comes from being governed by people so far removed from poverty that they cannot understand how their governing impacts the poor.

In such a situation your mind becomes enveloped with thoughts of affliction. Meanwhile, amidst the struggle and grime in the ghetto, the hustler appears to ascend, effortlessly, uninhibited by the everyday hardships of the downtrodden. Who, under these circumstances, wouldn't be enchanted?

For many young men, specifically those from poverty-stricken areas, the street life is one of the few feasible options for employment. No prior experience required. You can start as young as you like. No education or particular talent is necessary. Combine that with the potential for making money and having power and you have the precise formula for the American dream minus the "work hard" part. Who in the ghetto doesn't meet those requirements?

Most young hustlers see themselves as the next Scarface. Unfortunately, they failed to check the stats concerning such an amazing feat. If they did, an honest living would be considerably more appealing. A hustler's lifestyle is really a world of grief and destruction.

When you first enter the underworld, everything is larger than life, and this has a big affect on young minds. Their logic, reasoning and risk assessment abilities are far from fully developed. They're naturally drawn to the flashy cars, the extravagant jewelry, clothes, $200 sneakers, and — of course — the beautiful women that also accompany the lifestyle. They believe that the money will keep flowing and that things can only get better and better for them. Nothing could be further from the truth!

The street life is like Superman's Bizarro World, where everything is turned on its head. Self-esteem is bought, not built, by scrambling to buy the latest status symbol — usually clothes and cars, plus admission to the strip club where they can throw away money in the presence of the Big Dogs. Sympathy and empathy are signs of weakness. Image is everything. A hustler's ambition is to be viewed as one who is in control with money and power, when in reality most have neither.

The average street hustler rarely even earns as much as a legit minimum wage job. They're forced to work 10-12 hour shifts, seven days a week, to keep it up. Exposed to arrest at anytime, vulnerable to random acts of violence that could cost them their lives at any moment, and all this in the name of "living the life."

What good is a shiny new automobile without car insurance? Or the money to even gas it up? Without a home and a garage to protect it? It's safe to say that most street hustlers have no clue of how to budget or invest their money. They forgot to get an education and they usually lack even the basics. Sound backwards? Well, I've been to the Bizarro World and this is only a glimpse.

Street life is an illusion. Only a minuscule number of men ever get rich and escape with their freedom and, more importantly, their lives. Ultimately, the street life becomes a nightmare for the vast majority of those involved. Success is always fleeting and your chances of winning the billion dollar Powerball Jackpot are better than your emerging unscathed and not in prison.

Take it from a man who has already been there — education is the true key to success.


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