Dr. Seuss is a Gangster

Dr. Seuss a writer that everyone knows from childhood. He is known for his fantasy worlds and stories that convey important aspects of society and life. However, when comparing the writing of Dr. Seuss and the values of the American Gangster there are similarities to be found.

In Dr. Seuss's book The Lorax, he states that the central theme is, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not." This is simply what Gangsters did; they cared a lot and did something about it.

In the first chapter of Gangs of New York the reader is presented with the filth of the five points, aka the district where Gangsters and crime were centered. In one section of the points known as "Cow Bay" the filth is describe as, "over the shoe tops." The conditions in which people slept in where described as, "rats would leave the area to find better lodgings." The chapter goes on to say that even good people who lived in this area fell to vice or crime or worse. The Gangsters knew this was no way to live and that they had to do something to change it.

They wanted to be wise guys as Lupsha put it in his article of American Values and organized crime. They knew that the traditional idea of work was not going to work for them. They had to do something different to rise above their surroundings.

By having a lack of law enforcement gangs where able to operate on the outside of the law. But, even they held to standard, a standard that represented change. The politicians of the day could be bought and did not seek to change things for the better. That is why the area of the five points was able to fall into ruin.

Gangsters are just people with different circumstances. They are entrepreneurs who are set to helping the people around them as well as raising themselves from poverty. They are willing to do to change the area around them.

Note: This does not mean we support organized crime in any fashion. This blog series is to merely put out a different point of view. The DHW believes in following the law and helping people within its bounds.