Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
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Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
#2I sometimes wonder about the psychology of people who try this sort of money-making venture, ie smuggling vast quantities of illegal drugs across the ocean.
Do these “entrepreneurs” understand the risk they take, or do they pretend to themselves that there is no risk? Excepting where there is coercion, is it big balls or small brains?
I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge downside risk of being caught. Do you have to be a neurological outlier to undertake this sort of project?
Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
#3I sometimes wonder about the psychology of people who try this sort of money-making venture, ie smuggling vast quantities of illegal drugs across the ocean. Do these “entrepreneurs” understand the risk they take, or do they pretend to themselves that there is no risk? Excepting where there is coercion, is it big balls or small brains? I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge d…
It's probably no different than traders who take huge risks in any kind of financial market. They probably feel like they have a better understanding of the risks than most other market participants, but when they fail it always retrospectively appears like an outsized risk to more moderated participants.
Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
#4I sometimes wonder about the psychology of people who try this sort of money-making venture, ie smuggling vast quantities of illegal drugs across the ocean. Do these “entrepreneurs” understand the risk they take, or do they pretend to themselves that there is no risk? Excepting where there is coercion, is it big balls or small brains? I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge d…
>Do you have to be a neurological outlier to undertake this sort of project?
Yes.
>I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge downside risk of being caught.
I would recommend the first seven or so Jay-Z albums.
"I had to hustle, my back to the wall, ashy knuckles Pockets filled with a lot of lint, not a cent Gotta vent, lot of innocent of lives lost on the project bench Whatchu hollerin? Gotta pay rent, bring dollars in By the bodega, iron under my coat, feelin braver Doo-rag wrappin my waves up, pockets full of hope Do not step to me - I'm awkward, I box leftier often My pops left me an orphan, my momma wasn't home Could not stress to me I wasn't grown; 'specially on nights I brought somethin home to quiet the stomach rumblings My demeanor - thirty years my senior My childhood didn't mean much, only raisin green up Raisin my fingers to critics; raisin my head to the sky Big I did it - multi before I die (nigga) No lie, just know I chose my own fate I drove by the fork in the road and went straight"
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jayz/renegade.html
"Now all the teachers couldn't reach me And my momma couldn't beat me Hard enough to match the pain of my pops not seeing me, SO With that distain in my membrain Got on my pimp game Fuck the world my defense came Then Dahaven introuced me to the game Spanish Jose introduced me to cane I'm a hustler now My gear is in and i'm in the in crowd And all the wavey light skinned girls is lovin me now My self esteem went through the roof man i got my swag Got a volvo from this girl when her man got bagged Plus i hit my momma with cash from a show that i had Supposedly knowin nobody paid Jaz wack ass I'm geting ahead of myself, by the way, i could rap That came second to me movin this crack Gimme a second i swear I will say about my rap career Til 96 came niggas i'm here Good-bye...
Good-bye to the game all the spoils, the adreneline rush Your blood boils you in a spot knowing cops could rush And you in a drop your so easy to touch No two days are alike Except the first and fifteenth pretty much And "trust" is a word you seldom hear from us Hustlers we don't sleep we rest one eye up And the drought to find a man when the well dries up You learn to work the water without workin thirst til die YUP And niggas get tied up for product And little brothers ring fingers get cut up To show mothers they really got em And this was the stress i live with til i decided To try this rap shit for a livin I Pray i'm forgiven For every bad decision i made Every sister i played Cause i'm still paranoid to this day And it's nobody fault i made the decisions i made This is the life i chose or rather the life that chose me"
Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
#5I sometimes wonder about the psychology of people who try this sort of money-making venture, ie smuggling vast quantities of illegal drugs across the ocean. Do these “entrepreneurs” understand the risk they take, or do they pretend to themselves that there is no risk? Excepting where there is coercion, is it big balls or small brains? I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge d…
It's probably no different than traders who take huge risks in any kind of financial market. They probably feel like they have a better understanding of the risks than most other market participants, but when they fail it always retrospectively appears like an outsized risk to more moderated participants.
There’s definitely a higher level of craziness involved as placing a few bad bets isn’t going to lead to a Colombian necktie.
Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
#6"The stories they told of how the drugs changed the island were by turns bizarre, thrilling and tragic. No one expected in early June 2001 that they would still be talking about the effects of the cocaine nearly two decades later."
Reminds me of when a copy of the New Testament reached the Inuits on Belcher Island...
"The hunting was poor in Canada's Belcher Islands in the winter of 1941, and a meteor shower led some Inuits to suspect the world was coming to an end. It was around this time that a 27-year-old tribal shaman named Charlie Ouyerack proclaimed himself Jesus Christ, and anointed his pal Peter Sala—the tallest man on the island who also happened to be the best hunter and ice navigator—as God..."
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vvvm44/how-two-men-used-t...
Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
#7I sometimes wonder about the psychology of people who try this sort of money-making venture, ie smuggling vast quantities of illegal drugs across the ocean. Do these “entrepreneurs” understand the risk they take, or do they pretend to themselves that there is no risk? Excepting where there is coercion, is it big balls or small brains? I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge d…
It's probably no different than traders who take huge risks in any kind of financial market. They probably feel like they have a better understanding of the risks than most other market participants, but when they fail it always retrospectively appears like an outsized risk to more moderated participants.
Or traders who took trips across oceans on sail-powered ships centuries ago.
Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
#8I sometimes wonder about the psychology of people who try this sort of money-making venture, ie smuggling vast quantities of illegal drugs across the ocean. Do these “entrepreneurs” understand the risk they take, or do they pretend to themselves that there is no risk? Excepting where there is coercion, is it big balls or small brains? I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge d…
>Do you have to be a neurological outlier to undertake this sort of project? Yes. >I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge downside risk of being caught. I would recommend the first seven or so Jay-Z albums. "I had to hustle, my back to the wall, ashy knuckles Pockets filled with a lot of lint, not a cent Gotta vent, lot of innocent of lives lost on the project bench Whatchu…
Listening to Illmatic also describes this experience really well. I hate commenting on the "authenticity" of gangster rap music, as my life is so incredibly far away from the things they discuss, but Nas gives some of the grittiest descriptions of a life spent in crime.
Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's probably no different than traders who take huge risks in any kind of financial market. They probably feel like they have a better understanding of the risks than most other market participants, but when they fail it always retrospectively appears like an outsized risk to more moderated participants.
Or traders who took trips across oceans on sail-powered ships centuries ago.
The risks involved in that were well understood. The Count of Monte Cristo is set a little late, but it's got a good treatment of the phenomenon.
Here's an interesting passage from Power and Plenty:
> in 1594 a "Company of Far Lands" was organized by a group of Amsterdam merchants, and a fleet of four ships sent to the eastern seas, returning in 1597 with the loss of one ship and many lives but with enough pepper for the voyage to be regarded as a success. With this encouragement, two fleets with a total of twenty-two ships left in 1598, one of which, commanded by Jacob van Neck, returned with eight ships and sufficient spices to turn a profit of 400%, causing the bells of Amsterdam to peal with joy.
Today, sending out 26 ships and getting 11 of them back might not be a cause for celebration in the city that sent them out. This is the industry that gave rise to modern insurance companies.
Re: Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
#10Didn't seem to transform it at all?
Google "White Lobsters", far better stories out there -
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/09/international....