[unk]

Source: The Wire Season 2.

[spenczar5]

Actual source: The Box by Marc Levinson. Highly recommended. First chapter is available online: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s8131.pdf

[fullshark]

It always bothered me that they gave Sobotka the "We used to make shit in this country" line considering his entire job was importing stuff made in other countries.

[remarkEon]

That line felt to me to be more of a global critique of the decline of consistent blue collar employment in industrial towns, like Baltimore.

[fullshark]

It seemed a bit too on the nose. The Wire is great but a few thesis statement lines like this scattered throughout bug me.

[remarkEon]

I've watched through probably a dozen times, and yes I can definitely see that. My comment was probably letting my rust belt roots in Minnesota shining through. That and seeing and reading a lot of what David Simon has said outside of The Wire.

[gwern]

You need to import shit to make shit. Whether the shit is local or international, water remains the cheapest form of transport.