The ’peaky blinders’, much like the gangsters that followed them, were amongst the thieves and the villains that recognised the hierarchical system from an early age. If you weren’t born into the elite, the top 1%, you were fighting an uphill struggle. If you were at the bottom on the ladder, right at the bottom, you had no f**king choice. Except, to nick your way to the top.
That would have been all fine if all had played by the rules. But no. Once the cops started breaking the rules to get results, the crooks, villains, and gangsters started grassing in their 100s. These were the next generation.