I’ve said in jest once or twice that I had majored in drug dealing I’d probably be much better off financially a few years removed from college than I am now. But, I would never hug the block for two very important reasons: I don’t want to spend a decade hugging my ankles and another decade sitting in therapy trying to overcome a fear of soap.
So while drug dealing very well may be a lucrative field that could give your more business acumen than any MBA degree, must we continue glamorizing this lifestyle?
In a piece entitled “Why drug dealers are the perfect gurus in a recession,” Financial Times writer Lucy Kellaway argues that ex-drug dealer turned rapper and author, 50 Cent, has lost his way because he’s forgotten the knowledge he learned from hustling.
Kellaway speaks to what she learned from an “acquaintance” who was a “loyal customer” to drug dealers in London and the U.S.
Based on the insight she obtained from her fiend of two lands, here’s what she wrote:
“Drug dealing has considerably more overlap with business than playing the violin or climbing a mountain. It's a competitive, fast growing industry in which the successful have to be even sharper and more flexible than the most driven businessman.
He explained to me that drug dealers are the perfect gurus for a recession or credit crunch. They live permanently in a world of zero credit: if you are a hustler, you can't go and see your bank manager and get a loan, so the best ones are virtuosos at managing cash flow.”
Kellaway then goes on to address what valuable skills drug dealers have that elevate them above CEOs – including ruthlessness and jargon.
I’m no coke dealer, but I don’t think there’s anything more lethal than bringing an entire financial system to its knees and then getting the government to still bail your company out.
With respect to the writer this article sounds like the musings of a suburbanite who watched one too many rap videos and mob movies.
At a time when most countries are still reeling (sans those who live in areas Mandarin friendly) are these the type of pieces you want to read? I could easily write a piece called “Bank Robbers: Why The Mortgage Companies Should’ve Just ‘Set It Off’ and Not Wasted Anyone’s Time.”
By the way, if Kellaway thinks drug dealers are so skilled maybe she can point a few of them in the direction of some European CEOs. CNN just reported that Columbia and Mexican drug cartels have set up shop in West Africa to set up shop in order to expand their drug business in Europe.
Drug dealers have noticed that can make far more in Euros moving merchandise than they can in the U.S.
Let’s see how pro-drug dealer business model she is once she runs into a country with an influx of Frankie’s.
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Michael Arceneaux hails from Houston, lives in Harlem and praises Beyoncé’s name wherever he goes. Follow him on Twitter.