Slate reviews Sudhir Venkatesh’s tome entitled Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor.  Most of the points made by Venkatesh seemed pretty obvious, but this was a bit surprising:

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Venkatesh’s account is the role of neighborhood ministers. Clergy resolve disputes, but they don’t do it for free. Numerous ministers accept “contributions” from gangs and drug dealers for their services. They take other forms of payment, as well; Bird, the prostitute, has serviced “most of the preachers in this community.” Other ministers have been known to hide guns, drugs, and stolen property for a fee. Nannies rely on preachers for referrals to families but must pay a 10 percent commission. The residents are unshocked by all of this. They conclude that it would be impossible to navigate the community without making certain allowances. “We are poor people. And so are our ministers,” one congregant says. “We need [a minister] to be our leader, not perfect or without sin.”

It sounds like an interesting book.  I’ll add it to my ever growing list of books I would like to read, but will never have the time to do so.

• Crime in the US - 2007
• NPR series on the Drug War
• Eliminate the minimum wage
• The War on Drugs is Working!
• Emboldening the ecoterrorists

This entry was posted by Brian on Monday, December 11th, 2006 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.