as someone with tattoos allow me to give my 2 cents.
without trying to give a history lesson here, tattoos certainly do seem out of place in a socioeconomic world and they certainly can work against you in some obivious situations but with that being said.....
just like the rest of our hard-wiring, its a right of passage that seems to be ingrained in our dna and something that cant be completely escaped no matter how hard we try or pretend to. men and women pride themselves on their free will, but are we not all subject to our most primal instincts/desires?
to me tattoos signal experience, strength, fortitude, maturity, and confidence.
of course i dont disagree that most people today seem to get them on whims without really udnerstanding the depth of what theyre getting themselves into or how much its going to affect them, but this is the world we live in and nothing will change that but thats why i feel that your ink should be earned.
near death experience? you earned it.
you belong to a crew and you mean it? get a tat.
youve spent countless hours at sea? get a tat
you love your kids? get a tat.
you sell drugs for a living? get a tat
you truly love art and see your body as a canvas? get a tat
you want to impress girls? dont get a tat
you want to look like a G? dont get a tat
you have a career that depends on your rep or plan to? dont get a tat
40 year old white guy thats never been into metal or rap? dont get a tat
etc etc
understand that there is def downsides to getting ink. a white hipster with a nice star wars piece probably has little to worry about. but if youre a minority walking down the wrong block with some lettering that requires closer inspection, you can expect to get questioned by the restless natives.
dont get inked up just because (unless thats the type of peson you are) and certainly dont let other people without tattoos tell you not. they have their reasons for not getting any just like those of us who have them have ours for having gotten them