Gang Leader for a Day

I found it ironic that I had to keep reminding myself that this is non-fiction. The point in this research in the first place was because researchers were detached from society in Sudhir's opinion. However, when reading this, I did not feel the same way when a person died than if I read about it in the news; It felt just like a fictional character was written off in a story.

One think I noticed about the book itself was how recently it was published. It was nearly a decade after he received his Ph.D. in Sociology, and after all the papers about the projects he has published. Since in the book he frequently mentioned that he didn't actually have plans on making a biography for JT, this book almost functions as one.

Reflecting on the demise of drug trade in Chicago, I am reminded of the current "War on Drugs" in South America.  In essence, both instances are simply fights for power. The government both times takes a "burn everything" approach, starving traffickers of their business. Thinking on how to solve the modern drug issues makes my head hurt from politics instead though.

Interestingly, the events in the book represent the point of inflection on this graph.









One question I keep on imagining people asking is "What can be done about the gang problem?" I don't think that is a very good question since gangs were obviously a result of some deeper issues regarding poverty.