Why Drugs dealers live with their Mothers

https://www.rehabs.com/a-complete-history-of-crack-cocaine/

Matt Rodgers
Blog post #4
Why Drugs dealers live with their Mothers

• In this thrilling chapter of Freakonomics we tackles the question of why most drug dealers live with their mothers even though dealing drugs is saw as an extremely profitable job. 

•  In this chapter Levitt breaks down annual income of drug dealers and hourly wages of drug dealers. What he found was that the bottom level of drug dealers labeled as foot soldiers make less than minimum wage($3.50 per hour). Why deal drugs at all then. Because life's a tournament. 

•  Levitt uses a truly great analogy. Life is a tournament. Foot soldiers are willing to risk the ¼ chances of getting killed for below minimum wage because at the top of their tournament bracket is fame and fortune. These soldiers have to start at the bottom of the bracket and fight their way to the top. These drug dealers live with their mothers because if they make it to the top of their bracket they will be able to buy whatever they want or whatever their mother needs. If these foot soldiers decided to take a job at Mcdonalds their tournament bracket just got significantly smaller. The top just got less shiny and their willingness to endure hard hours and poor pay has decreased significantly. 

•  Drug dealers deal drugs because in poverty stricken communities its the best tournament for them to enter. They start at the bottom with ¼ chance of getting killed being paid 3.50 an hour but at the top their riches of everyone's wildest imagination. The same tournament analogy can be applied to people wanting to be actors or Dr’s. They start at the very bottom with tons of challenges before them but at the top is glory and fortune and that’s enough to drive actors to pick up 3 jobs to pay for acting school and Dr’s to spend the majority of their life in school. 

Future Question Where have all the criminals gone?