So many people "make it" in the off the books economy that the welfare eligible rungs of the social ladder deal in but they can't get up to the next rung becaus

So many people "make it" in the off the books economy that the welfare eligible rungs of the social ladder deal in but they can't get up to the next rung because they can't amass the capital to make a clean break and the state will screw them out of everything if they try and go legit slowly. Imagine your a highly successful under the table mechanic. You have a few under the table employees and work out of a leased space where the owners look the other way. Everything is done in cash or similar. If you want to start a "real shop" you can't just get an LLC, rent a real garage space, put up a sign and move all your tools then slowly start a rolling upgrade process to get all your stuff on the books and above the table as you acquire more profitability to absorb the overhead that entails. The city or state would instantly show up and fuck you over twenty different ways for being off the books and out of compliance. The only way to go legit fast enough is to get a loan and you can't do that because you have no assets, no history, no credit, despite the fact that you are basically already running a successful business.