Crack-enomics

This is a response to the article we read about the working conditions of people who sell crack.
Learning about the hours, and time that dealers spend working was a very interesting twist to the perspectives that are commonly associated with people who sell drugs. I think that it really reveals the hidden prejudice we have against these people, and shows how we use those prejudices to project an image on to people we have never allowed to speak for themselves. This article interested me for many reasons, it deals with race and class, it flips a common perspective, but mostly it speaks about a population that I am somewhat familiar with.
In high school I was friends with several people who sold drugs, and I learned a lot about the inner workings of these systems very early on in life. I understand that selling drugs and especially crack is not an easy job, and requires a lot of responsibility and stress to keep the business running. What I first noticed was how quickly people were to say that selling drugs is easy. It tells me the lack of appreciation and understand of the issues that people in poverty face. To me I don't see it at how easy it is to sell drugs, but how hard it is to get a legitimate job that is close to where you live, and pays a living wage. People would not resort to a dangerous, time consuming job like selling drugs if they could use that same motivation and get enough bang for their buck in the legal world.
I think this article did a great job at explaining the differences and similarities between a legal job and selling crack. However, it did a better job at revealing societies problems of dealing with poverty. Selling drugs is a direct product of poverty, it is something that society pushes on people. People sell drugs out of necessity, necessity for money, food and respect. It is not an issue of peoples morals, except for the politicians who turn a blind eye towards the millions of people living in poverty.