James Altucher's Interview with ‘Freeway’ Rick Ross on Black Markets and the War on Drugs
I love podcasts. Whenever I have a chance to pop in my headphones and listen to a thought-provoking discussion I indulge. It doesn’t matter if I’m driving to work, cutting the grass, or cooking dinner - the time is almost always right to listen to a podcast.There are several podcasts that I listen to frequently. A few of my favorite podcasts are The Tim Ferriss Show, Entrepreneur on Fire, Smart Passive Income, The James Altucher Show, and of course the Lions of Liberty Podcast.I don’t normally write about the podcasts I listen to, outside of the Lions of Liberty Podcast, because there is not a lot of carry-over to the ideas of liberty. But a recent episode of the James Altucher Show that features an interview of ‘Freeway’ Rick Ross included several exchanges that I found to be informative and some that were a bit surprising.Rick Ross was arguably the most successful black market drug dealer in US history. During the 1980s he made more than $600 million by setting up a sophisticated national distribution network. Adjusted for inflation, that would equate to about $1.6 billion in today’s dollars. At the height of his drug dealing Ross was unknowingly used as a pawn by the CIA. Through an intermediary, the CIA supplied Ross with unlimited amounts of cocaine from Nicaragua and allowed the supplier’s profits to be funneled back to support the Contra war against Nicaragua’s leftist government. Ross ended up being caught and was sentenced to a life behind bars. While in jail he taught himself to read and became a prolific consumer of information. So much so that he was able to find a loophole in the law and helped to bring his case to a federal appeals court, where he won. He was released from jail in September 2009.Although the CIA’s involvement in this case is fascinating (Editor's Note: And the basis for the film 'Kill the Messenger', which I highly recommend), it is not the reason why I’m recommending that you listen to this podcast.First off, just to be clear: I abhor drug laws and believe them to be immoral and unjust. But the intent of this article is not to defend drug dealing or to make Ross out to be some kind of a hero. Ross was not pursuing noble work when he was operating his criminal enterprise. Making money off the distribution of crack cocaine is not something that should be placed on a pedestal.So why am I writing about Rick Ross?Ross made his money by exploiting a market that provided nothing tangible and lasting to society. But this doesn’t mean we can’t learn anything from the manner in which he conducted business or observe through his experiences how the drug trade has changed over the year as levels of government intervention changed. Additionally, some of the leadership techniques he discusses during the interview run counter to the manner in which one would expect a black market business to operate.The interview is titled, “How to Manage Your Employees When They’re All Carrying Guns.” So it’s not surprising that Altucher wasted no time before approaching this topic. In a series of questions, Altucher asked Ross how he handled all the different types disputes the head of a major drug enterprise would be expected to encounter. In a roundabout way he also asked him if he’d killed or had anyone killed.Ross’s responses were calm and clear. He came across as an honest man with nothing to hide. He claimed that he never killed or had anyone killed. He attributed his low-key manner when dealing with disputes to his ability to avoid the turmoil an outsider would expect to find in his role.Ross recounted a time his cousin tried to overtake him as the head of the enterprise. Instead of reacting with violence or threats of violence, Ross instead bought his cousin out. Ross says he handled all of his business in this same low-key manner and was able to create systems to simplify the distribution of the drugs and thus eliminate a lot of potential merge points where violence could be introduced.Another interesting aspect of the interview occurs around the 21 minute mark, where Ross discusses how police department funding in the 1980s at one time deterred violence in the drug trade.At the time Ross was running his illicit enterprise, homicide departments received the most substantial funding and Ross notes that becuase of this they were the most sophisticated. This provided drug dealers an incentive to avoid violence and thus steer clear of homicide investigations. The investigation would have introduced unnecessary risks and could have brought their operations down. Ross points out that this shifted later when more money was allocated to drug enforcement departments in order to fight the War on Drugs.This could be one of the reasons why, as more and more money has been directed to fighting the War on Drugs, violence has escalated. The government has shifted their resources from preventing violence, to preventing prohibited transactions. By doing this they have unintentionally contributed to an environment that has stoked violence in the drug trade.I highly recommend giving the entire podcast a listen.The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Check out our YouTube Channel!Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!Join our brand new Facebook Group: The Lions of Liberty Forum
