August, 2008 MOTORCYCLE CLUBS & THE BROTHERHOOD MENTALITY VERSES THE GANG MENTALITY This Month I want to talk about the Brotherhood mentality verses the gang mentality in the Motorcycle Club world . Now for those of you who may be asking, "what is the difference?" I will set up a scene to help give you an idea! At a small Bar, a member of a Motorcycle Club walks and sees four Bikers playing pool. He can tell they are a bit nervous. They see his patches and they know who he is. Now how does he act? Does he walk over to the pool table, knock the 8 ball in the pocket and say games over buy me a beer or does he walk over and introduce himself letting them know that, when they are done shooting pool they are welcome to stop over at the bar and have a beer with him? One is the gang way of thinking, the other is the Brotherhood way of thinking! I really don't think I need to tell you which is which! Now one thing everyone needs to remember is that all the original Motorcycle Clubs Started out with the idea of being a tight knit group of Brothers and just about all of these Motorcycle Clubs got along. Don't forget, many of the men who started the first MCs where returning home after serving their country during times of war. They where looking for that feeling of Brotherhood here at home that they had been left behind. These where good men seeking adventure, looking to ride their Motorcycles and have a good time with others like themselves. Today most Motorcycle Clubs have gone back to that way of Club thinking, There are very few Clubs that still have the Gang Mentality that was seen mostly during the 70's threw 90's. During the late 90's things had just gotten too far out of hand and most Motorcycle Clubs began to realize that the Gang Mentality was not the way it was meant to be and it was not the way they wanted it to be anymore, This was not what the Clubs where started for! Many Clubs who had been friends where now fighting with each other. No one wanted to wear club support gear and things where just not fun anymore. These MC's had all started their Clubs with the same ideals and ways of thinking, How and why had they grown so far apart? Why do they now hate each other? Well the answer to how is, during the 50's and 60's the golden age of the Brotherhood years of Motorcycling the Motorcycle Clubs where really huge. During this great time, many of the Biker Movies that came out showed Motorcycle Club Members as Bullies and thugs. The Bikers in these movies would pick on those weaker then them, take over small towns and the Clubs in these Movies all fought each other just like the street gangs of the time! So over the course of time, many new Bikers came to believe that this was the way it was. When New Clubs started, this was how they would act and the Original Motorcycle Clubs now had members who where young kids looking to prove how tough they where by starting fights with each other. The Original Motorcycle Club Members had been threw wars together and they where as hard as nails, they had nothing to prove to anyone. But the younger members felt that they did and would imamtae the Biker Clubs from the Movies they had seen. Soon, it was Biker against Biker, Brother against Brother, MC against MC. This began the Dark age of the Motorcycle Gang Mentality years. Now for the question, Why did this Happen? What happened to change the way people perceive themselves? Why did the Motorcycle Clubs stray so far from their original ideals? You have to ask yourself, was it just an accident or did the movies and the media contribute to this? Is there more to it? Was there a plan or conspiracy behind it? Is there someone or some group out there that would benefit from having these large groups of Motorcycle Clubs who are run in a very military fashion and are made up of many ex-Military Members fighting against each other? If these Clubs all got along and worked together the world could be a very Different place. Are there people out there who are afraid of this happening? Today there are very few Clubs left that have the Gang Mentality. Most have gone back to the way of Brotherhood and the word "Gang" in the Motorcycle Club world has become almost the equivalent of a racial slur. Now that Motorcycle Clubs have returned to the ideals that were set forth in the beginning, the comradely, the kinship, the pride of belonging to something special, they are trying to put the past behind them. I am noticing that there are more and more Biker movies and TV shows coming out. Will these shows show MC's in a good way or will they go out of their way to stir up the quarrels of the past? Will they show us as mindless Bullies much as the Movie Wild Hogs did? Most Important, will we let them influence how we really are? Have we learned from our past? If all continues to go well we could soon be making are way into the second Gold age of Motorcycle Club Brotherhood back to where it all began!!! Are you part of the Problem? or part of the Solution? Your Bro,
L.J. James
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