Nobody gives a shit about education. Nobody from the hood gives a fuck about your Stanford degree.
Why should you work for a living? You don't even keep your full paycheck: the government takes 25% right off the top. Don't argue that point, I worked in fast food.
Your honest job has no honor or glory. Nobody respects a cashier at McDonalds. You get shit on, all day long by the public, for next to nothing. But you get to see all those rich people on TV, all day long.
We value our lives not in absolute terms, but relative to the wealth we see around us.
Violence and exploitation get you both wealth and respect. Girls will fuck you for free drugs. And because you're hard. You throw down with the cops because you don't give a fuck. Nobody fucks with you, because you have a reputation.
"Tough on crime" won't fix this. Neither will social programs. Stupid has to hurt bad, and that just isn't palatable to polite society.