Reefer Madness Summary
Reefer Madness
Eric Schlosser To start off, the main driven idea of this book is the black market, or what they refer to as the underground and “shadow economy”. The underground has its choices and consequences as well as any other type of economic system do. But, in this case the underground can be a country’s main economy for survival such as, “In Bolivia the underground economy is responsible for an estimated 65 percent of GDP. In Nigeria it accounts for perhaps 76 percent.” (7) This type of GDP from the underground is usually found in the developing worlds. That’s not to say that we don’t have a dark side of our own in the mix. The US has been the largest competitor in the Black Market in many fields for example: Marijuana, Underground labor, and Pornography. That’s because it is called America’s “shadow economy”.
The real hook was in the first couple of pages, “Like the yin and yang, the mainstream and the underground are ultimately two sides of the same thing. To know a country you must see it whole.”(9) (Family Connection: Every time I would enter my father’s car, he would have the conservative radio on. I became muddled in my thoughts because, my parents voted for the president who won in 2008. One day I ask him, “If we are democratic, why do you listen to the conservative radio?” He began to laugh at me. His response simply was, “If you deeply believe in something, and you stay believing, how would you know how others believe if you stay with your belief? Say you’re fight someone, if you have your fighting strategy all planned but you have no alternative exits, it’s like you have no strategy at all. Listening to the conservative radio is hearing their thoughts and interpretations of the same story I’m reading. It’s good to see different perspectives and understand why they feel a certain way about things.”) With many things in life, comes great responsibility and great consequences as well. It’s like you are your own super hero. Nonetheless, there is
Eric Schlosser To start off, the main driven idea of this book is the black market, or what they refer to as the underground and “shadow economy”. The underground has its choices and consequences as well as any other type of economic system do. But, in this case the underground can be a country’s main economy for survival such as, “In Bolivia the underground economy is responsible for an estimated 65 percent of GDP. In Nigeria it accounts for perhaps 76 percent.” (7) This type of GDP from the underground is usually found in the developing worlds. That’s not to say that we don’t have a dark side of our own in the mix. The US has been the largest competitor in the Black Market in many fields for example: Marijuana, Underground labor, and Pornography. That’s because it is called America’s “shadow economy”.
The real hook was in the first couple of pages, “Like the yin and yang, the mainstream and the underground are ultimately two sides of the same thing. To know a country you must see it whole.”(9) (Family Connection: Every time I would enter my father’s car, he would have the conservative radio on. I became muddled in my thoughts because, my parents voted for the president who won in 2008. One day I ask him, “If we are democratic, why do you listen to the conservative radio?” He began to laugh at me. His response simply was, “If you deeply believe in something, and you stay believing, how would you know how others believe if you stay with your belief? Say you’re fight someone, if you have your fighting strategy all planned but you have no alternative exits, it’s like you have no strategy at all. Listening to the conservative radio is hearing their thoughts and interpretations of the same story I’m reading. It’s good to see different perspectives and understand why they feel a certain way about things.”) With many things in life, comes great responsibility and great consequences as well. It’s like you are your own super hero. Nonetheless, there is