what is narco-capitalism?
Broadly speaking, there are two ways of understanding what narco-capitalism means. First definition refers to a way of making profit in a marketplace that encourages illicit trade of drugs. And the other refers to the use of drugs as a tool to perpetuate the cycle of production and consumption in a capitalistic society. For example, the use of speed among blue-collar workers and the use of Adderrall among white-collar workers have removed "the great obstacle to boundless productivity: fatigue" (Pine, 359)
how is it related to neoliberalism?
The emergence of narco-capitalism in the United States can be attributed to various different neoliberal policies. One particular neoliberal policy that Pine talks about is the deregulation of one particular substance called pseudo-ephedrine. With this failure to regulate pseudo-ephedrine, which is the main ingredient of meth(also known as speed), the production and use of meth has been steadily increasing; and the state decision to deregulate and promote free market where private companies can compete and consumers have more choices was at the core of this phenomenon.
Another angle through which we can examine narco-capitalism is to look at the underground economy built around the use and sale of drugs as seen in The Wire. First of all, why are people involved in this underground economy of selling drugs? Rather than attributing drug dealers' involvement in this illegal economy as personal failings(ex. they are immoral and/or lazy), we would have to look at the circumstances under which they have become participants in the drug trade. So what led them to partake in this illegal economy? To answer this question, we can look at some of the scenes from the Wire.
*Although this particular angle was not dealt in The Wire, as a side note, we could also think about why certain drugs are criminalized while others are not. Who are the consumers of the kinds of drugs that have increasingly become illegal? Who are the kinds of people put behind bars for using such drugs? The answer to these questions makes us wonder if we really are living in a colorblind world.
Another angle through which we can examine narco-capitalism is to look at the underground economy built around the use and sale of drugs as seen in The Wire. First of all, why are people involved in this underground economy of selling drugs? Rather than attributing drug dealers' involvement in this illegal economy as personal failings(ex. they are immoral and/or lazy), we would have to look at the circumstances under which they have become participants in the drug trade. So what led them to partake in this illegal economy? To answer this question, we can look at some of the scenes from the Wire.
*Although this particular angle was not dealt in The Wire, as a side note, we could also think about why certain drugs are criminalized while others are not. Who are the consumers of the kinds of drugs that have increasingly become illegal? Who are the kinds of people put behind bars for using such drugs? The answer to these questions makes us wonder if we really are living in a colorblind world.
From The Wire
In this scene from episode 5 of season 2, Ziggy is trying to get Nicky on board with slinging drug on the side to boost their income. Ziggy is talking about how the docks have been dying slowly and that there is no future for them, which Nicky is all too aware of. So the two end up selling drugs that they received from the Greek to Frog, a street dealer in Baltimore. Throughout the second season, the audience witnesses how the neoliberal policies have made certain people, especially the kinds who work with their hands, redundant. Because it has become impossible to maintain a decent standard of living, these characters who represent the rest of the working class people up until the 80s have turned to the illegal drug trade as a way to boost their meager income. After all, it is no coincidence that the underground economy has been steadily rising over the last few decades.
Through Bodie, the audience can understand yet another circumstance under which people resort to the underground economy. From the very beginning of The Wire until his ultimate death by Marlo's crews, Bodie had been a hard working soldier, diligently doing what he is told and working his way up the ladder. Just like DeLonda reasons with her son Namond, for these corner boys, it is the only way they know how to make a living. According to the account that his grandmother gives to Herc in season one, Bodie grew up with his grandmother as his mom died from her drug addition--and his dad, presumably in prion or dead, which has become the norm in many black socio-economically disadvantaged families. So since age 13, Bodie has been on the street selling drugs, which has become the biggest and almost only employment available to these people of Baltimore. So no, Bodie is not a lazy bum trying to take advantage of the government's aid for the poor. If anything, he is a hardworking individual in an environment whose ways of making living entails what the non-underground economy people consider immoral and wrong. But we would have to think about why they turn to drug trade in the first place. With the neoliberal policies that cut off social security net and limited opportunity for success, what choice did Bodie really have?