We'd sit in class, and across the street there was an HLM with the lowest balconies reachable if you climbed a little.
Some friends were eyeing a pair of expensive Nike's left in sight. There was some other stuff, but nothing you could swipe from below with so little foothold.
So they went and got it, and I agreed, it was so easy to take it, so valuable with no defense whatsoever.
But I thought, I do this, then what? The neighbourhood stank of ghetto and I couldn't stand to take part in it.
Almost everyone in the class felt the same, tempted but not willing to decide whether it was defendable. Everyone (french, algerian, belgian, spanish, portuguese, you name it there was one in the class) was for himself and somehow, instead of agreeing the best thing was to mutualy consent to staying civil and out of each other's way, in a common sense free market type of environment, no one took responsibility, and just let things slide. It paid more to do someone in than to work honestly for honest rewards.
The deliquants never asked twice.. no guilt when the offended is willing.
Later that year, that same "friend" picked the lock to the back of our house and stole all the compact hitech stuff in my room.
My dad got pissed, walked right to his house (keep in mind the kid's bigger brother has basically a whole high-rise to back him up) and talked to him and his parents.
The hypocrite came to me next day, praising how much balls my dad had, as tho we were friends again, newfound esteem.
That's all it'd take, guts and a sense of non-violent warfare anytime you were outnumbered.
