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That's a very contrived scenario and your hypothetical response is very unrealistic. For one thing, the gangsters either wait outside the gambling joint or simp
by jprete 2y ago
That's a very contrived scenario and your hypothetical response is very unrealistic. For one thing, the gangsters either wait outside the gambling joint or simply take it outright and farm the rake. For another, real communities with such dynamics don't accumulate cash, they might accumulate tangible goods or a little infrastructure but they are not going to have large sums of cash-equivalents lying around. For all kinds of reasons you need either a high-trust society or an army to accumulate liquid wealth.
- beaeglebeachedd 2y agoInformal gambling between low tier non gangster class people outside a joint is common amongst the lower class most everywhere and the whole scenario was about minimizing liquid wealth and dealing with cash intensive problems in places where cash is risky. In the Philippines they even have a pooling system 'paluwagan' like this to make it possible for people to buy big things without a bank account or having to store large sums for large period of time which can be risky there.
- jprete 2y agoThanks for the example.
- CPLX 2y agoMaybe but when you see seemingly irrational behavior by "the underclass" it's always worth spending a little more time trying to understand what kinds of issues they may be facing that you're not intuitively aware of. If you've been in the position where every dollar you make gets somehow taken from you without warning for years you'd act differently. Goes from things like avoiding banks due to various fees or garnishments, up to practices of wearing expensive jewelry because it's a fairly efficient way to carry value on your person, and because you often get to keep it even when you get arrested, unlike the cash in your pocket.