8 ms·

This reminds me of the story in Freakanomics about the street level drug dealers making basically minimum wage, with the majority of the money going to high lev

This reminds me of the story in Freakanomics about the street level drug dealers making basically minimum wage, with the majority of the money going to high level traffickers who are typically firewalled through layers of middlemen.

snypher 5y ago
There should be a name for this type of societal organization... anyway, I have a rocketship to catch.
- paulpauper 5y ago
  A blue origin one? lol
- yellowstuff 5y ago
  Tournament theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tournament_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tournament_theory
  - omgwtfbbq 5y ago
    Not even close.
- Kenji 5y ago
  There already is a name for it: Government.
- dboreham 5y ago
  America?
- hulitu 5y ago
  It is: corporation
tyingq 5y ago
It doesn't say what these coders make. But, as with the dealers, it's likely tax free, so even "minimum wage" is better than it sounds.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  yeah but considering the risks it's actually very, very bad.
  - dataviz1000 5y ago
    The hospital costs for uninsured low level drug dealers who have a lead allergy must be astronomical.
    - elefanten 5y ago
      Sure, but society picks up the tab
      - knolax 5y ago
        Where do you live where that"s free?
        grecy 5y ago
        There's only one Developed country where it isn't.
        northwest65 5y ago
        Where do you live that it's not??
      - dmos62 5y ago
        If you examine marginal behaviour, we're all picking up each others' tabs.
- odiroot 5y ago
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
mmcgaha 5y ago
Many of the people that sell drugs aren't concerned with what they make. The money is under the table so it does not interfere with other welfare assistance they get. Additionally, many of these people are not able to work for someone else because they aren't used to structure. Think of the people you bought pot from when you were a kid, they were most likely a woman working some easy to replace job with a man who did absolutely or damn near nothing.
distribot 5y ago
I think that the difference here is that actors in places with radically different COL can pariticpate. Imagine if a kid in a Northern Triangle country could sell drugs on the street of an American city--the risk/reward is much different. To them, even American minimum wage could be a boon.
ghaff 5y ago
It's common in a fair number of places: professional sports, music, book writing (among those doing it for money), acting, law (to a lesser degree). The very top does well, even very very well. Most everyone else scrapes by--if that. Most professional jobs aren't like that. Sure senior execs can make an outsized amount of money but most of the rank and file are still doing OK.
- jedberg 5y ago
  Law is more bimodal than a pyramid. All those other ones you mentioned rely on popularity to determine one's paycheck, which is why they are all pyramids.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    They're not really pyramids though. If you're a baseball player, you either make a lot of money by most people's standards, albeit for a possibly short career, or you basically don't make much at all, even if you can play in the minors. Law isn't quite so stark. You don't have to be at a white shoe firm to do OK (corporate counsel, prosperous practice in a smaller city) but a lot of lawyers certainly make pretty modest salaries.
    - jedberg 5y ago
      It's still a pyramid. There are a few people at the top. There is the next layer of the people who make a decent living, aka the "middle class" actors, the folks making MLB minimum wage ($600K/yr), etc. and then all the people in the bottom layer trying to break in (the starving actors, the minor league players, etc). And lawyers are very bimodal. You have a ton of lawyers who make less than <$90K/yr, and then a whole bunch making >$200K/yr, and not a lot in between.
      - ghaff 5y ago
        Maybe. I don't dispute that law is bimodal but I also am pretty sure there are a fair number of corporate counsels and partners at smaller practices earning comfortable low six figure salaries out there.
duxup 5y ago
If I recall correctly many had regular jobs that even paid better. The idea of a full time 'career criminal' guy who works at it full time without another job seems less common than people seem to think.
- cooldrcool2 5y ago
  Most drug dealers I know just do it to achieve a lifestyle they wouldn't normally be capable of with their existing job(s).
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    Most drug dealers are doing it so they can smoke/drink for free maybe make a few dollars.
    - hellbannedguy 5y ago
      While we're being honest, there's a small segment that sells because they think it cool. That whole gangster rap testosterone street $900 shoe guy. In college, I moved into a very cheap apartment. I had no idea, it was the worst part of Oakland. I saw some things that didn't make any sense. Some successful dealers had other opportunities. Most probally didn't. I was so naieve, I didn't know my roommate was selling until my second semester. I just though he had a lot of friends. He finally told me what he did one night over a video game. Where is he now? He's in a midwest prison over dealing pot. Yes, dealing pot. Why? He heard Potheads pay triple for what Californian's pay. He got his brother to come along. I remember him telling his brother, "you don't want to be a Waiter for life?" He, and his brother go to Ohio. They set up shop. They weren't violent, and didn't fit the stereotypes of a drug dealers. Everything was fine until they hired this little rich white kid who thought he was in a NWA alternative reality. He was "slinging" their product in his vernacular. Will this idiot killed a guy over a small amount of pot. The cops were more interested in the "kingpin" behind the operation. Well the kid squealed, and the prosecutor threw the book at my friend. They made him out to be Pablo Chicone. He was anything but a hard nosed killer. He never even owned a gun. Well, he got a long sentence.
haskellandchill 5y ago
Can confirm, mostly dealt drugs to be cool. Way too much risk for almost no reward. Was an idiot and thought I was contributing to the culture but after leaving the game I still get questioned if I'm a cop and get no respect from the paranoid dealers where I moved to. I thought we were a society :(

snypher 5y ago

There should be a name for this type of societal organization... anyway, I have a rocketship to catch.

paulpauper 5y ago
A blue origin one? lol
yellowstuff 5y ago
Tournament theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tournament_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tournament_theory
- omgwtfbbq 5y ago
  Not even close.
Kenji 5y ago
There already is a name for it: Government.
dboreham 5y ago
America?
hulitu 5y ago
It is: corporation

tyingq 5y ago

It doesn't say what these coders make. But, as with the dealers, it's likely tax free, so even "minimum wage" is better than it sounds.

bryanrasmussen 5y ago
yeah but considering the risks it's actually very, very bad.
- dataviz1000 5y ago
  The hospital costs for uninsured low level drug dealers who have a lead allergy must be astronomical.
  - elefanten 5y ago
    Sure, but society picks up the tab
    - knolax 5y ago
      Where do you live where that"s free?
      - grecy 5y ago
        There's only one Developed country where it isn't.
      - northwest65 5y ago
        Where do you live that it's not??
    - dmos62 5y ago
      If you examine marginal behaviour, we're all picking up each others' tabs.
odiroot 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

mmcgaha 5y ago

Many of the people that sell drugs aren't concerned with what they make. The money is under the table so it does not interfere with other welfare assistance they get. Additionally, many of these people are not able to work for someone else because they aren't used to structure. Think of the people you bought pot from when you were a kid, they were most likely a woman working some easy to replace job with a man who did absolutely or damn near nothing.

distribot 5y ago

I think that the difference here is that actors in places with radically different COL can pariticpate. Imagine if a kid in a Northern Triangle country could sell drugs on the street of an American city--the risk/reward is much different. To them, even American minimum wage could be a boon.

ghaff 5y ago

It's common in a fair number of places: professional sports, music, book writing (among those doing it for money), acting, law (to a lesser degree). The very top does well, even very very well. Most everyone else scrapes by--if that. Most professional jobs aren't like that. Sure senior execs can make an outsized amount of money but most of the rank and file are still doing OK.

jedberg 5y ago
Law is more bimodal than a pyramid. All those other ones you mentioned rely on popularity to determine one's paycheck, which is why they are all pyramids.
- ghaff 5y ago
  They're not really pyramids though. If you're a baseball player, you either make a lot of money by most people's standards, albeit for a possibly short career, or you basically don't make much at all, even if you can play in the minors. Law isn't quite so stark. You don't have to be at a white shoe firm to do OK (corporate counsel, prosperous practice in a smaller city) but a lot of lawyers certainly make pretty modest salaries.
  - jedberg 5y ago
    It's still a pyramid. There are a few people at the top. There is the next layer of the people who make a decent living, aka the "middle class" actors, the folks making MLB minimum wage ($600K/yr), etc. and then all the people in the bottom layer trying to break in (the starving actors, the minor league players, etc). And lawyers are very bimodal. You have a ton of lawyers who make less than <$90K/yr, and then a whole bunch making >$200K/yr, and not a lot in between.
    - ghaff 5y ago
      Maybe. I don't dispute that law is bimodal but I also am pretty sure there are a fair number of corporate counsels and partners at smaller practices earning comfortable low six figure salaries out there.

duxup 5y ago

If I recall correctly many had regular jobs that even paid better. The idea of a full time 'career criminal' guy who works at it full time without another job seems less common than people seem to think.

cooldrcool2 5y ago
Most drug dealers I know just do it to achieve a lifestyle they wouldn't normally be capable of with their existing job(s).
- ipaddr 5y ago
  Most drug dealers are doing it so they can smoke/drink for free maybe make a few dollars.
  - hellbannedguy 5y ago
    While we're being honest, there's a small segment that sells because they think it cool. That whole gangster rap testosterone street $900 shoe guy. In college, I moved into a very cheap apartment. I had no idea, it was the worst part of Oakland. I saw some things that didn't make any sense. Some successful dealers had other opportunities. Most probally didn't. I was so naieve, I didn't know my roommate was selling until my second semester. I just though he had a lot of friends. He finally told me what he did one night over a video game. Where is he now? He's in a midwest prison over dealing pot. Yes, dealing pot. Why? He heard Potheads pay triple for what Californian's pay. He got his brother to come along. I remember him telling his brother, "you don't want to be a Waiter for life?" He, and his brother go to Ohio. They set up shop. They weren't violent, and didn't fit the stereotypes of a drug dealers. Everything was fine until they hired this little rich white kid who thought he was in a NWA alternative reality. He was "slinging" their product in his vernacular. Will this idiot killed a guy over a small amount of pot. The cops were more interested in the "kingpin" behind the operation. Well the kid squealed, and the prosecutor threw the book at my friend. They made him out to be Pablo Chicone. He was anything but a hard nosed killer. He never even owned a gun. Well, he got a long sentence.

haskellandchill 5y ago

Can confirm, mostly dealt drugs to be cool. Way too much risk for almost no reward. Was an idiot and thought I was contributing to the culture but after leaving the game I still get questioned if I'm a cop and get no respect from the paranoid dealers where I moved to. I thought we were a society :(