I still think you only need a critical mass of elected people who are mostly honest about most things when it doesn't affect their bottom line for things to work out.

E.g. We don't have small children working in coal mines in western nations anymore.

This didn't happen on it own.

Proving that laying out what the world ought to be, rather than accepting what is, did change the world. Otherwise why would the world have any changes for the better at all.

We can't let perfect be the enemy of good nor can we let good be the enemy of slightly-above acceptable. Not if the alternative is a downhill slide.

Yeah it's pretty similar in gangs in Japan Korea Asia, even mafia in various places. Essentially if you don't have any prospect of achievement then you have to assert yourself somehow, if that is in your personality as it is with many people.

After a while the subculture starts mimicking that behavior even when the economic prospects and opportunity is present.

It's a lot easier to just self-assert yourself in the moment than spend years building up life achievements to gain a strong self-image that way.

The problem with gun ownership is that you risk a societal arms race. Once you are in one it's like riding a tiger, a lot more dangerous to get off than to get on.

I think though, that gun ownership could be mostly upheld if gun violence went down.

Though I don't see much desire among owners to help with the efforts to do that.

My own take is that replacing male achievement with male self-assertion is the one of the main causes of gang violence, firearms use, crime, etc.

Going from Thomas Sowell's thinking I'd say the main thing is subcultures where male self-assertion is used as a replacement for male achievement.