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1. digglahhh writes:

   I like how in every story like this they mention that the skilled criminal was intelligent enough to succeed in an honest career… Let me take to my new posting form and make a list of things I find stupid about this statement.

   1) It takes it as a given that it takes more intelligence to run a legit business than an illicit one. I don’t even think that’s true. If you run a drug smuggling ring, you not only have the same sorts of business concerns of any business man, but you have to also worry about not getting caught, and not getting killed by rivals. You need many of the same skills as a “legit” businessman, plus others that legit businessmen don’t need. Quite simply, Jay-Z seems to be a relatively competent record exec, but I doubt Lyor Cohen could have been a successful cocaine dealer in Marcy.

   2) This comment assumes that illegal and legal paths to wealth are equally accessible for all. Yeah, maybe Tupac coulda worked his way up the corporate ladder at some Fortune 500 company, except one look at him and he woulda failed the interview. If you believe Freakanomics, just the name Tupac Shakur on the top of his resume would have slammed that door in his face.

   3) This comment also assumes that “legit” businesses are honest. Running sweatshops, paying inadequate wages, and hiding profits in foreign tax shelters is apparently the high moral ground that a dude who grows pot should have been aspiring to.

   Simply put, this statement is only credible as a platitude to reinforce the pre-existing biases of our cultural values. Under any scrutiny, it is patently false and disingenuous.

   Comment 12/13/2007

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The View From the Sinister Side of Life

     Royalty was like dandelions. No matter how many heads you chopped off, the roots were still there underground, waiting to spring up again.

     It seemed to be a chronic disease. It was as if even the most intelligent person had this little blank spot in their heads where someone had written: "Kings. What a good idea." Whoever had created humanity had left in a major design flaw. It was its tendency to bend at the knees.
            -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

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