| Very disappointing to see no data of any kind on the Good Old Days other than the word of some people they met in a park in San Francisco. Needless to say, their word is extremely unreliable. Two claims specifically are pretty obvious exaggerations/blatant lies: That a marijuana dealer can make 4-times more selling in New York than in California[1]. And that street kids used to make enough in a few days to travel for weeks[2]. [1] Unless the difference is purely a matter of volume, price alone cannot account for that big of a difference, as the article seems to imply. Marijuana is more expensive in New York but it's nowhere near 4-times more expensive. [2] I sold marijuana in the bay area in the timeframe referenced in the article, between roughly 1999 and 2001 (in the dorms, to friends and friends of friends and friends of friends of friends etc). Yes the prices were higher than they are today ($50 an 8th was standard) but wholesale prices were also much higher. In the end I was lucky to clear $100 an ounce, after smoking myself - which the street kids surely do. They'd have to have been selling a half pound or more per day at full retail to make the claim even remotely possible. And a small piece of anecdotal evidence - I went to Haight Ashbury in search of some weed not long ago. I asked some street kids near the park. I was quoted $60 an 8th and they were unwilling to bargain. The quality was low - probably over 100% markup from what they paid. Those kinds of margins were not possible in the Good Old Days glorified in this piece. Cliffs: don't take the word of street hippies on how great things were in the past. |
That said, people who bum around can go a long time on very little cash. Imagine if you only had to pay for food and sometimes got it free crashing with friends with chickens, etc.. Housing - crashing places, parks outside, tents, etc.. Transportation - hopping trains.