True self-protection is a castle with layered battlements and buildings. The castle’s individual structures represent unique and essential subject matter areas, contributing individually while reinforcing the whole. A cornerstone is the first set stone around and upon which the rest of a building’s foundation forms and, for our purposes, Cornerstones are central concepts or themes upon which areas of self-protection rest.
Four central areas form the most important structures in our self-protection castle, each with its own cornerstone. These areas are Bad Guys 101, Becoming, Level Up, and Beyond Power.
This Cornerstone is central to understanding the “problem” theoretically solved by most self-protection methods: Bad Guys.
Preface
It was story time. The Edgelord ™ self-protection trainer told grim tales of blood and bones, his acolytes ready to worship his badassery. I wasn’t sure what we were learning but the stories were interesting. Daydreaming, I reflected on the standard range of bad guy analysis: anemic nonsense to worthless fan service.
Too often Bad Guys are either the Keystone Kops or Gods of War. The former exhibits comical idiocy, falling instantly before the tool, tactic, or technique du jour. The latter is unstoppable, inescapable, (literally) incredible. Rare is the complex human.
As the Edgelord ™ completed his treatise, I pondered functional models for understanding bad guydom, minus useless value judgments and assorted nonsense. The “Bad Guys 101” series was born.
For clarity: “Bad Guy” equals “violent criminal.” Rory likes “threat” but I prefer this tone. Because, ultimately, he’s just. a. guy. I also agree with morality therein: Good and Evil exist. Many aren’t Evil but I’ve never met a Good, currently active, BG. That said, they often have understandable reasons for their behavior and if not for the grace of God there go I. Literally.
What follow are thought experiments, primarily. I make no excuses and pass no judgment; I merely examine the culture(s.) There are many themes worth understanding.
Lost Boys
Urban education is weird. You meet students with behavior patterns comparable to violent criminals. Partly because, often, violent criminals share ideological frameworks with errant children. Take others’ things? Check. Respect power, almost exclusively? Check. Manipulate to avoid consequences? Check. It’s almost like this stuff was human natu…I digress. That said, understanding BG behaviors and philosophical underpinnings can be useful for seeing the distinction between mischief and criminality and addressing the problems BG’s pose.
At-risk kids are children who may become BG’s. The line between the groups is blurry: there are adolescent diehard murderers. I know kids with multiple felony-level offenses that I don’t yet consider full BG’s, though they’re technically violent criminals. I distinguish based on their affordances. Diehards see school as a collection of victims, associates, and enemies. ARK’s ape the attitudes but haven’t fully committed and may want (formal) education. ARK’s also crave structure; they don’t yet love the chaos. Take these definitions for what they’re worth; the map is not the territory.
Do Or Die
BG rules are different. School is analogous, featuring two rulesets: peer and institutional. School rules, established by bureaucrats…er…responsible adults, promote institutional safety and continuity. Peer rules (arguably) exist for individual safety, differentiating victims, noncombatants, and predators. Society’s statutes and street law work similarly and street law often dictates peer rules. BG’s and ARK’s common assumption is their peer groups watch, always, responses to boundary violations, meting out respect levels, regardless of institutional expectations.
BG’s and ARK’s constantly “interview,” reconnoitering potential victims for their boundary breach reactions and weighing cost-benefit analyses. Meek responses greenlight manipulation or attacks; the target is marked as “sweet,” denoting that he or she is a good victim. My father, a former gang member himself, reminded me, constantly: “the appearance of weakness invites aggression.” Violent responses to boundary breaches build respect, diminishing necessity for future enforcement. Since enforcements often risk freedom or safety, respect is paramount. It’s why helping ARK’s is tough. A kid approaches a line; is he playing or probing for weakness? Usually, it’s both; finding and exploiting weakness are second nature.
Respect can separate life and death. Society, represented by teachers and cops, visits communities where street law lives. The street often dominates: society won't rape a sister to send a message. Thus, BG’s and ARK’s employ violence, flouting legal consequences, as peer group communication: “violate my boundaries and no one can protect you. Leave my boundaries alone.” Because they know the truth: society can’t, in most cases, truly protect you. ARK’s spend 8 hours in school; the hood owns the other 16.
Equal Opportunity
Bad guys are twistedly egalitarian; it’s about what you will do. If A wants B’s stuff, he must weigh B’s resources against risk of resistance and retaliation. If B is willful, connected, and reckless, he’s a bad “vic”, likely to turn robbery to murder. B’s resources may not be worth killing or dying for, especially with retaliation by B’s associates and legal consequences factored in. For BG’s, appearing (or being) willing to stay the course in the face of grave consequences is the one true qualification.
For victims, the interview is the process by which BG's and ARK's assess said willingness to do. Failing the interview balances on small breaches of, and responses to, BG and ARK models of respect; elements often completely ignored or misunderstood by those outside of street contexts and cultures. BG victimization is also equal opportunity to a degree; the idea that BG's won't victimize particular profiles is often proven false. BG's and ARK's rob each other; chances are they're more visibly threatening than the average soccer dad in a Krav Maga class. Being big or male or "scary" looking doesn't make you exempt; in the words of Joel Ortiz: "anybody can get it."
With all of that said, there are various dynamics, victim profiles, and predatory purposes out there in BG land; exploring your target profile can be extremely valuable to understand what you're actually at risk for.
Nothing to Believe In
BG’s and ARK’s perceive a world of unending self-interest and corruption, validating their behaviors. It’s similar to what educators see: kids “getting over” on those would impose order upon them. The social manipulation attempts, the tantrums when demands aren’t met, the self-justifying nonsense are all par for the course. The core element is entitlement: “mine!” is the motto, “gimme!” the battle cry.
BG’s are the ultimate individuals. They form alliances and feel affection for others but actual loyalty is rare in their world. The lack of fidelity stems from a combination of factors. First, they have far fewer illusions about human life, generally. Many of us have notions of what we’d do under pressures we’ll never encounter. Many BG’s and ARK’s don’t have to fantasize and, often, seeing individuals and structures fail produces understandable cynicism.
Many BG’s started out as victims, pressed into lifestyles they’d rather have avoided by family ties or other circumstances. Most were abandoned, trapped between powerful institutions like society and the street. Plenty come from extremely poor parenting, learning early that trust is stupid and power is everything.
Possibly unnecessary sidebar: when I say “raised poorly,” I mean “raised to fail in modern American society.” Bad guys and at-risk kids are socialized pretty well to survive their circumstances but extremely poorly to escape them.
So, parents (assuming they’re in the picture) discipline their progeny when angry, demonstrating to the children that structured consequences are fiction: people act primarily out of emotional self-interest. “There is no justice; it’s just us.”
Just. A. Guy.
None of this changes the cost of tea in China. When you’re staring down the barrel, you won’t (and shouldn’t) give a flying fuck through a rolling donut…or should you? Stuff gets sticky here. You may not recognize the fearful adolescent behind the trigger but noticing could facilitate talking him down. Will you fix his inner child’s problems? Nope. But fighting the mind is strong strategy, especially when overmatched. Most humans are better talkers than fighters.
The other benefit of “getting” bad guys is the reminder: they’re people. Skilled at violence? Sometimes. But they bleed, shit, and die like the rest of us. They’re. Not. Special. And understanding their world makes seeing their motives and maneuvers easier.
-M
