--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It made economic sense, if you looked at…" description: "\"“It made economic sense, if you looked at it from the right angle; it was not in the Clan’s interest for the price of the commodity they shifted to dro..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/350/charles-stross-896_war_it-made-economic-sense-if-you-looked-at_2227224.jpg" --- # It made economic sense, if you looked at it from the right… ![“It made economic sense, if you looked at it from the right angle; it was not in the Clan’s interest for the price of the commodity they shifted to drop—and drop it surely would, if it was legalized or if the pressure to keep up the war on drugs ever slackened. But for Mike Fleming, who’d willingly…” quote by Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/350/charles-stross-896_war_it-made-economic-sense-if-you-looked-at_2227224.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/350/charles-stross-896_war_it-made-economic-sense-if-you-looked-at_2227224.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/350/charles-stross-896_war_it-made-economic-sense-if-you-looked-at_2227224.jpg) > ““It made economic sense, if you looked at it from the right angle; it was not in the Clan’s interest for the price of the commodity they shifted to drop—and drop it surely would, if it was legalized or if the pressure to keep up the war on drugs ever slackened. But for Mike Fleming, who’d willingly given the best years of his life to the DEA, it was a deeply unsettling idea; nauseating, even. Bought and sold: We’re doing the dealers’ work for them, keeping prices high.”” [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how legalizing drug trade would let dealers profit while authorities indirectly support them, creating moral conflict for law enforcers. **In simple terms:** Legalizing drugs would let authorities profit from dealers, causing moral conflict. Key Takeaway Consider the hidden costs of policy decisions. Themes ethics policy law enforcement drug trade conflict of interest Mood conflicted critical thoughtful Type analysis ethical political When to use this quote - government policy debates - DEA training - activist strategy - public health planning - legal reform Key Concepts moral economics systemic incentives public health Questions to Reflect On - What hidden incentives drive policy? - How can moral integrity be preserved in conflicted roles? A Different Perspective It assumes all actors act rationally, ignoring human empathy and resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War on drugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-on-drugs/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [Did you find any artists complaining who don't already complain all day long about everything? 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Too many people have developed criminal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-think-it-is-now-widely-understood-that-the-so-called-war-on-drugs/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [The war on drugs - a big-government product if there ever was one - has been wildly unsuccessful, by any metric.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-cupp/the-war-on-drugs-a-big-government-product-if-there-ever-was-one-has/) [S.E. Cupp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-e-cupp/) > [“The first casualty of war is truth, and the war on drugs is no different”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-milton-trott/the-first-casualty-of-war-is-truth-and-the-war-on-drugs-is-no/) Dominic Milton Trott > [“In the War on Drugs, shoot heroin first.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-beeny/in-the-war-on-drugs-shoot-heroin-first/) Eric Beeny > [We're talking about a prison-industrial complex. 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Turner [Browse all 38,922 War quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It made economic sense, if you looked at it from the right angle; it was not in the Clan’s interest for the price of the commodity they shifted to drop—and drop it surely would, if it was legalized or if the pressure to keep up the war on drugs ever slackened. But for Mike Fleming, who’d willingly given the best years of his life to the DEA, it was a deeply unsettling idea; nauseating, even. 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