Tommy.
There is are 3 prisons within a ten mile area where I live.
I can assure you that there are numerous inmates who did not grow up poor.
1 of these prisons is State maximum security.
1 of them is a female prison.
The other is minimum security.
I think America has the largest prison population in the western world. Why is that ? Americans are not bad people they are as good or bad as the rest of the world. Your economy is leaving too many people behind.
Don't break the law.
You won't go to jail.
The economy has zero to do with a person's desire to commit crimes and go to prison.
I had a friend who's brother spent most of his life in jail.
He recently was released for the tenth time and drugged himself dead.
They were far from poor.
Listen I get that..................but the fact is that the vast majority of crime stems from poverty. When people think that the system doesnt work for them then they look at other options.
Drugs is another issue but is related. The war on drugs has failed just like prohibition, and it has,like prohibition , fuelled the growth of drug gangs.
It's not that they think the system doesn't work for them.
They are told the system doesn't work for them, repeatedly.
Myself and many others have walked away from this mindset and have never looked back.
Occasionally, I am able to convince those who are repeatedly told they can't make it, that they can make it and succeed.
Your desire to tell them differently makes it harder for me to help them succeed.
One such individual is now a Major in the Air Force, has a wonderful family and has followed my lead in assisting others to succeed.