This chapter looks at a street gang in the housing projects of Chicago. Sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh befriended many of the street gang members and was able to attain several years of financial records of the gang. Levitt was able to use these financial records to debunk the belief that crack dealers are very wealthy. The top guys receive a lot of money from their dealings but many of the street hustlers make barely enough money to survive on. A good comparison of the crack game is of Mcdonalds which has the top executives and owners making money while the cashiers and store workers make very little. Levitt actually found that most drug dealers made less than minimum wage. Levitt also acknowledged that the risk of death greatly outweighed any reward. 


“Fifty-six percent of the neighborhood’s children lived below the poverty live (compared to a national average of 18 percent).” Page 105
This extreme poverty within the neighborhood shows the draw into illegal drug selling. Most of these individuals do not have the funds to achieve a higher education to set a foundation for a better life so dealing drugs is the best way for income.
The top 120 men in the Black Disciples gang represented just 2.2 percent of the full fledged gang membership but took home well more than half the money.” Page 103
This statistic shows the inequality among the gang members. Not everyone is making money. As stated above there are a select few who run the drugs and attain the most profit. 
“In the 1920’s, Chicago alone had more than 1,300 street gangs…”Page 111
Street gangs have always been a problem. This statistic shows how cities will always have illegal activities take place. 
“…black infant mortality began to soar in the 1980’s, as did the rate of low-birth weight babes and parent abandonment.” Page 113
This is a great example of the crack epidemic that was driven by gang activity. The crack epidemic is still considered the worst and most notorious drug epidemic in history.