Purchased identity props shield only some of us from the diminishments of modern life.

An absence of effective props lays bare a sense of insignificance.

Gang culture offers a shortcut to a more acceptable place in the order of things.

Establishing a "significant" identity is at the core of gang culture.

What works for the gangbangers also resonates elsewhere.

The embrace of gangbanger identity props reflects comparable yearnings among the better-off.

This is not the first time the affluent young have found something in identifying with the underclass.

Militant Islamic fundamentalism has more in common with alienated American youth culture than we may realize.