The One Constant in the Community

While reading chapter 6 and 7 I kept thinking about how constant the gang life is in the midst of so much change and uncertainty in the streets. When Big Cat dies, it is understood that the gang will go on no matter who the leader is. The police recognize this throughout the book and know that locking up a gang member, whether it be the leader or a low rank member, will not get rid of a gang. This fact that the gang is always "dependable" in the sense that they will not somehow dissolve into thin air or pick up and move somewhere, is a double edged sword. The residents that are not directly involved in the gang life usually both benefit in some way and are exploited in some way by the gang. Before Big Cat decided he wanted to be a "community man", the residents were almost more thankful that the gang just kept to themselves and only worried about their own illegal activities, and let the rest of the community keep to themselves in most regards. As soon as the dominant gang involves itself in the community though, there is no way to escape dealings with the gang. They have their hand in literally everything because of their willingness to use violence and their connections to gain respect and authority. In The Wire we see D'Angelo try to escape the gang life altogether. He is even willing to spend the next twenty years in prison and give up all the comforts that the gang provides to him and his family to have no connection with the gang. But it is not possible to escape the grasps of the gang, even when you are willing to give up the perks of being in a gang. D'Angelo is too deep in and knows too much, much like many of the characters in Off the Books, and the gang has to take into account the opportunity cost of letting him out. There is too much of a risk of him snitching so Stringer has to kill him off in able for the gang to keep safe from the police. I think this analysis also helps us come to grips with the rationality of joining a gang and cooperating with gangs when there are no better opportunities for protection, not even the police.