SA Current - NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY (sales, rent)

[perticusrex]

SA Current - NEWS+FEATURES: NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY

I really enjoyed this piece and found it pretty interesting to read about how people are making it and hustling these days in SA. Really good read!

[Bo]

Looks like all of what's described in the article is underground because it's illegal. Let's not turn this thread into a debate for whether it should be illegal. It would be a lively debate, I'm sure, but it's off-topic in this forum. Feel free to start a thread in the Politics and Other Controversies forum to debate it and post the link here.

[Dopo]

I didn't read the whole thing,
but that's exactly what you see in 3rd World Countries, at least in Latin-America (I believe some people want to push us toward that economic model)
Where you have a huge percentage of the population being force to break the law by stealing or work in the "underground" economy to be able to feed their families.

Go to any 3rd World country and you'll see plenty of that.
At least they are trying to make a living without stealing something from somebody else.

[Backliteyes]

This sort of stuff is true pretty much everywhere, certainly in every decent-sized city. The story totally ignores much more prevalent legal things that happen on Craigslist and other consumer to consumer mediums. I bought a microwave and some furniture off Craigslist, I got good prices and no taxes and I doubt the cash I paid in either case got reported on anyone's tax return. The higher income and sales taxes get the more prevalent this will be.

[CelesteDF]

While it makes for more titillating reading to hear about some folks' illegal activities, I suspect it's far more typical that the people "hustling" to make rent these days are simply working harder/longer and taking on extra jobs. I took on a teaching job at a local university to make sure I had a little extra cushion during uncertain times. My nephew took on a second part-time job to cover school expenses. Many people are working more these days, but it's just not that exciting to read about.

[eger]

Knock on wood, but in this struggling economy I was lucky enough to keep my job when I moved from Fl as a consultant, and work my current job in SA to make ends meat. Unfortunately wifey has been out of work for a while so one salary covers her missing salary. But in the past, I did other things similar to the people mentioned in the article to make a little extra. With the way the economy is, I expect illegal activity to increase. Fortunately, my field is in Fraud Prevention and detection so my job outlook is good.