Reefer Madness

Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labor in the Black Market

De: Eric Schlosser

Narrado por: Eric Schlosser

In Reefer Madness, the best-selling author of Fast Food Nation investigates America's black market and its far-reaching influence on our society through three of its mainstays -- pot, porn, and illegal immigrants.
The underground economy is vast; it comprises perhaps 10 percent -- or more -- of America's overall economy, and it's on the rise. Eric Schlosser charts this growth, and finds its roots in the nexus of ingenuity, greed, idealism, and hypocrisy that is American culture. He reveals the fascinating workings of the shadow economy by focusing on marijuana, one of the nation's largest cash crops; pornography, whose greatest beneficiaries include Fortune 100 companies; and illegal migrant workers, whose lot often resembles that of medieval serfs.
All three industries show how the black market has burgeoned over the past three decades, as America's reckless faith in the free market has combined with a deep-seated puritanism to create situations both preposterous and tragic. Schlosser traces compelling parallels between underground and overground: how tycoons and gangsters rise and fall, how new technology shapes a market, how government intervention can reinvigorate black markets as well as mainstream ones, how big business learns -- and profits -- from the underground.
With intrepid reportage, rich history, and incisive argument, Schlosser illuminates the shadow economy and the culture that casts that shadow.© 2003 Eric Schlosser; (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

Reefer Madness

<b>Reefer Madness</b> and <b>Fast Food Nation </b> are both MUST READS. Eric Schlosser has a gift for delivering non fiction in a totally engaging way.

Lots of Facts

I found this book to be very factual in nature in that the author throws out fact after fact, seemingly in support of his implied position on the subject matter. At times he strings together facts but they sort of just hang there, leaving one saying and??However, the book is informative, entertaining and relevant. The section dealing with marijuana and its legalization seemed to be the author's most emphatic point and rightfully so.

Interesting Perspective

This was an interesting read and provided some shocking information on the ridiculous "war on drugs". It could have offered more background on how the drug war came to its present state, but this was well worth listening to.

Content good, reader boring

I listened to and really enjoyed Fast Food Nation which prompted me to get this one. Eric writes an interesting book full of facts and details. The problem with Reefer Madness is that it has a different reader (Eric reads his own book this time) -- this is a problem because his voice puts you right to sleep -- it has a soft, almost monotone reading, no dynamics in his voice whatsoever. The content is very interesting, although to me it felt like it could have been a fair bit more focused - he seems to repeat himself a lot instead of taking thigs a bit more logically, I think - it may be intentional, I suppose.

Wake up America

All the facts you already think you know but don't confront. Listen, think, and take note. All this is real and needs to be fixed. Well read and an easy listen even if resulting in an uneasy feeling about California strawberries among other uneasy thoughts.