@Crow
I'm not sure they do steer themselves into that mess, any more than a nice middle-class boy like me steered himself to university. Rather, it was almost inevitable that things'd pan out as they did given an account of common human psychology, socialisation, and opportunity. A hoodie thug can no more be blamed for doing hoodie thug things than can I credited for doing bourgeois honky things.

Nor is it enough to realise that you're in a hole and start climbing out yourself. Just about everyone is painfully aware of the hole in which they reside, and climbing out under your own steam simply isn't an option.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Wed 29 Oct 2008, 12:49, Reply)