Freakonomics Entry #3: Why do Drug Dealers Live with their Moms?

This book gives insight into a gang that sells crack in Chicago.  Many of times all we hear on the news about gangs is that they are fighting for territory or somebody was killed in a drug deal.  Most people never realize how complex of an operation it truly is to run a gang and be successful.  Running a gang is like running a multi million dollar corporation.  There is millions of dollars at stake in the business.  It's a game where people risk their lives for the chance to move up in the gang.  I used to wonder why people joined gangs.  The reason is because they have to.  The gang has such a big presence around town that if you aren't running with them then you are putting yourself in danger.

So how does the gang really make its money?  Like all solid business' it starts from the ground up.  There are people who aren't even in the gang who want to get in who will pay the gang fee.  Then there are other people around town who will pay the gang for a protection fee.  This way the gang will have their back if anything goes wrong.  Everyone in the gang has monthly dues to pay.  Then comes the big money maker for the gang; the actual dealing of the crack.  The teens standing on street corners with a 1 in 4 chance of being killed in their time dealing drugs.  One of the characters in the book who was high up in the gang was making an average of $64,000 a month in his peak.  He had to pay the people above him 20% of that every month.

Now to the 'foot soldiers'.  The people who risk it all and get little to nothing in return.  Those people made merely $3.30 an hour, which is close to a third of what minimum wage is.  On average they are arrested 5.9 times and have 2.6 near fatal wounds in their life.  They are 50 times more likely to die than having the most dangerous job in the US which is a timber cutter.  Many ask why they do it.  They do it because the only way to get to the top is to start at the bottom.  They are hoping that they will be one of the lucky few who get to move up the gangs ranks and start making the big money.  Not only that, in depressed areas when you are uneducated, there aren't many options.  Freakonomics did a really good job of explaining the multi million dollar business of running a gang and also how people get involved with it.