The two themes that I saw in this week’s chapters were neighborhood identity and the power of money. Throughout the chapters I realized that all of the people who lived in Tremont were loyal to Tremont, but Boy George especially. As discussed in class we spoke about how Boy George had so much money, but still decided to stay in Tremont where poverty, abuse, and drugs were everywhere. His loyalty to Tremont came from loyal customers, a lot of business, and loyal employees. I have seen this in my own city where one of my friends dads was one of the most well known drug dealers. Everyone knew because he and all of his children wore, drove, and had all of the nicest things. Just like Boy George, he was being followed by the DEA and was just recently …show more content…
In the presentation that was given in class there was a quote that I thought fit really well with this topic. “The real reason some people want to be rich isn’t so they can buy stuff. It’s so they can have power over others. People want influence and respect and they see that people with money have influence and respect, so they seek money.” This reminded me of Boy George’s situation because he grew up in multiple foster homes and was basically forced into the streets. Boy George spend over $30,000 at the World Yacht for all of the people in the drug business. The reason for his get together was to “reinforce loyalty, and loyalty was essential to his business. He said, ‘It’s good to bring them together, so they know, Listen, man, you have a family here. If anything ever goes wrong, this is the type of force that’s coming behind you (p. 66).” Boy George used his money as power over others, showing them that he is willing to entertain them, but if they try and cross him bad things will happen. Little did Boy George know that his power and money would soon be stripped from him and the people at the party would turn on him when he goes off to