Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.

-         Bertrand Russell

As I walked past another scowling, young, black boy I could only shake my head with a retrospective disappointment. I watched him carry on along his way with an arrogance to his gait and re-thought about the idea of ‘gangsters’.

From Scarface, through Goodfellas, to 50 Cent and the UK grime scene, the idea of being a ‘gangster’ is perpetrated continuously. The commercialised idea of a ‘gangster’ is to revel in the glory of thoughtless crime, endless promiscuity and peerless respect. Music videos, computer games and movie releases do nothing to dispel this idea, in fact, if anything, they reinforce it as cutting edge kudos.

However the last laugh is not being had by these ‘gangsters’, it is being had by gangsters.

In my time, I have had the opportunity (some would say misfortune) of working with a number of different people from the questionable side of the law. However, the common misconception that these guys are ‘gangsters’ allows them to get on with the mundane, day-to-day graft of being real gangsters.

The work ethic of gangsters is akin to that of any entrepreneur. They have to put in long unsociable hours and often have to perform tasks that are not within the remit of what was in the initial job description. Fair enough they don’t necessarily pay tax on their immediate earnings but they contend with the fact they could lose their freedom at any moment in exchange.

Many of these guys I have witnessed could work as CEOs or managers, it just so happens that life didn’t pan out that way. They make decisions that could mean there is no food on the table or could mean a new level of financial security. Either way, there is an ethic to success and it lies somewhere in the ethos that the race isn’t won on entry it is won on completion.

‘Gangsters’, on the other hand, are just like any other dreamer; wishful thinking but no plan or vision. The glamorised idea of a gangster is like the glamorised idea of anything. It is solely there to titillate your imagination; to be a flight of fantasy.

Being sullen and thinking for the day is not how to be a gangster. Optimism mixed with pragmatism and planning ahead is how to be a gangster. And so you see, anyone successful who works within an organised group structure is in essence ‘a gangster’.

The quote at the top becomes clear in context.

Average user rating

Display 1 of 1 comments