71–80 of 154 posts
A surprisingly fragile business model. I've wondered how Zipcar et al. haven't been killed by this? Or have they just done a better job at figuring theft into their model as a cost?
Not many car thieves want to steal a Scion xB with a giant ZipCar logo on the side.
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You probably meant "expert thief". Somebody who had 10000+ hours of expertise. Somebody who risked to get caught while gaining that expertise. There are not so many real expert thieves. That's why extended security measures do work: less experienced majority of thieves is caught outright, and more experienced minority of thieves is eventually caught due to unforeseen circumstances (unexpected witness, unexpected new…
"For example, GPS transmitter can stay silent until it gets "You are stolen" signal." That's true, but most electronic circuits emit stray radiation, switching or crystal references. Not only that, the hypothetical receiver needed for your stolen signal has a least a local oscillator with a nice and probably almost on clean signal. (I think in UK they used something like this to track people that didn't pay their TV…
Yes, it's possible, but as an exception, not as a rule.
Criminal activity would never stop completely, but not because it's impossible to beat criminals, but because as soon as crime goes down - people and businesses start doing more risky activities, trust more and check less.
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Perhaps I'm assuming, but it seems you don't know much about the life of the poor. If they could afford to move from the projects where these gangs operate, don't you think they would in a heartbeat? The foot soldier in a gang is not making a lot of money - far from it. But your mom just got laid off, rent needs to be paid and your baby sister needs to be fed. So you do what you have to do. I'm a big believer in pers…
I know from my own experience about being poor. How about family of 4 living on less than $100/month income? That's me as a teenager 20 years ago as a member of said family. I never implied that quitting criminal gang is easy. The hardest part though is to overcome greed and change mentality. Unemployed mom and baby sister would likely to be better off without criminal gang member in the family.
I do not claim to know your past. But I know my parents were also poor, and the difference between them and the other kids who were poor around them who never moved up was in their parenting and their education. They ended up in a situation where they could pull out because of that education, and they ended up with certain mindsets that stemmed from the parenting they received. If you don't have one or, often, both of those, you're basically hosed. Not completely, mind you, but the jump needed to pull yourself out of poverty becomes massively bigger. And if you're immersed in a culture where violence is the norm and gangs are the only way to gain serious social acceptance at a young age, you've got even more working against you.
I'm really not sure why you're bringing greed into this. Most of the members in gangs are in no way rich. The leaders might be (and even that is not necessarily the case), but the members are not.
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The problem with running criminal business is that as soon as he tries to scale, he would inevitably and very seriously piss off lots of people. That would put extra pressure on law enforcement to catch the thieves and they would eventually be caught. Next step is several years in jail and close monitoring of the future crime activities. End result - the only expertise that he would gain over the years (in stealing)…
>> The problem with running criminal business is that as soon as he tries to scale, he would inevitably and very seriously piss off lots of people. Why would he want to scale? To launch an IPO? Come on Bro.
Why does a car sharing service that can't afford a $400k loss have 4 $100k cars.
I felt worse for these guys until I read to the end of the letter and found out about the "HiGear girls". It's not quite as bad as I thought because they don't seem to "rent out" these models like they do cars; I guess it was just a publicity thing. But still, having revealing pictures and even stats (measurements) of the women is pretty much the definition of objectification. FOLLOWUP (responding to comments): I'm n…
Interesting. What do you think about the info on Eharmony, Match and other dating sites: age, height, athletic, curvy, this, that? Objectification?
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"having revealing pictures and even stats (measurements) of the women is pretty much the definition of objectification." I imagine if the women in question didn't want to be objectified, they were free to not accept the money.
(Three replies essentially all said the same thing. I'll respond to this one.) Enslavement should not be the standard by which we assess the effect of such actions. Under capitalism, we should expect to see people trading their labor (or image) for money. The more interesting questions include: why is this marketing pursued? How does it fit into a tapestry of cultural "norms" that objectify and demean women? What eff…
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I would guess that former gang member should be able to flip burgers, mop the floor and collect trash from the streets. That's a good start. Yes, that might not pay as much as criminal activity, but that's definitely enough to survive. As for safety - why is it not safe to quit a gang? Why would remaining gang members care about former gang member who disappeared in unknown direction and does not cause any trouble?
Well, for one thing, because they can tattle. For another, because they are crazy . Last but not least, when you've been in a gang since you were 10 or 12 or 14, psychologically speaking, you can't just go “a'ight, I'm out. Peace!” and untie yourself emotionally from the mentality of always having the backs of your fellow gang members. I ask honestly, but do you have any idea what you're talking about here? Here are…
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/02/06/the-draw-of...
"I missed pulling out the gun on people, I missed the adrenaline. I like taking risks. It's the high."
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So it's more like drug addiction.
It is responsibility of quitting gang member to deal with such addiction. Blaming gang members on keeping him in the gang usually is not correct.
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I would guess that former gang member should be able to flip burgers, mop the floor and collect trash from the streets. And with the pay from that he could afford to live where? No place better than where he came from!
New place does not have to be better. It could be even worse. That could be part of the price of quitting criminal activity. The point of moving to new place is to eliminate all the ties with old life and gang members. But I guess even that is not necessary. I'm not expert on quitting gangs, but would assume that most gangs would not really force gang member on staying in the gang against the will of quitting gang me…
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>> The problem with running criminal business is that as soon as he tries to scale, he would inevitably and very seriously piss off lots of people. Why would he want to scale? To launch an IPO? Come on Bro.
The same reason he launched his criminal business in the first place - to make some easy money.
In my opinion prostitution and theft fall in the gray area.
Risk-Reward balance in theft is probably the same as in every other risky business. The difference is barrier to entry is so low. That makes all the difference.
Alright, I'll just say this, because I don't want to look like a guy who takes moral high-ground on issues. I got my bike stolen, few years before, I was broke at that time, in a job that doesn't pay at all. I was not crazy about the thief at all. My insurance company paid me after a year, which I used to buy my first web server, which led to me starting my web design business.
I try not to put material possessions above human beings, I lost my bike. But, I don't want to put the thief in jail, and steal years of his lifetime.