I appreciate your take. I agree that working with multiple cartels would be risky, but it seems like working with just one cartel would also be risky. I'm not sure which is the better option. Ideally, I'd prefer to work with more of them.
And on your other point, there would be hardware and software involved, but the cartels wouldn't be interacting with them directly. I'll be sure to have the cartels sign my EULA before proceeding with anything.
I have no interest in a cut of the profits. As I've stated elsewhere, I was hoping that establishing some form of communication might derisk the situation a little. If one-way communication is the only practical option, I'm fine with that.
That's not lost on me. Obviously it would be a tough balance to strike to remain "useful" to the cartels, while not being "too useful" that they would feel the need to exert control. That's why I'm interested in educating myself more fully on the whole situation so I can make an informed risk assessment. If there's no path forward that also kept my family and myself safe, I won't pursue it further.
You’re thinking of cartel members like they’re VCs. They’re gangsters. They “assert control” over everything and everyone, that’s what gangsters do and they’re literally the worst ones around. There is no way you can do anything with them that will not put yourself and your family in danger
Right, exactly. In Mexico, they dismember people and leave their legs, heads, etc. lying around on the street as a warning. And OP wants to see if there's a way to keep his family safe from them so he can get into business with them? That's like looking for a way to dive to the bottom of the Mariana trench without having the pressure flatten you into a very small, wet pancake.
One could argue that cartel members and VCs do share some qualities. But again, your point is well taken and you may very well be right. I won't move forward if there isn't a safe, legal path to do so. I appreciate your feedback.
VCs can destroy your career and finances in safe/legal ways. Cartels don't operate in safe/legal ways. Cartel members snitch on you, can kill you or family members. Cartel members always care about their safety first, not your safety; that means, they can do whatever they want. Just go to https://www.borderlandbeat.com for all narco news.
The kind of naïveté you displayed in this thread shows that you will end up communicating with a fake cartel member, who is some federal law enforcement agent. That agent will set you up on a path of you getting convicted. That's for sure.
The safe, legal way to contact everyone is to publish in the commons. Establish prior art and do not claim intellectual property protections for the idea.
If it's such a great idea, and you're such an altruist, then just post it publically. What's all the secrecy and coyly holding your cards close? Do you think they're going to sign NDAs with an "idea guy"? It's not the idea that matters, it's the execution, and if you're trying to run some kind of a hustle on them where you make any kind of profit or benefit, then it's going to be your execution.
I appreciate the feedback. I don't have a way to prove it, but I'm really not concerned with ego/fame in any of this. I've also stated several places that I plan to get legal advice from a real lawyer before moving forward with anything. As far as I know, I haven't discussed doing anything illegal. I've clearly said that if there is not a legal path forward, I'll drop the idea.
Also, the post did get flagged last night. I emailed the moderation team and asked if I had broken some rule / guideline with the post. Dang said I had not and unflagged it.
> I'm really not concerned with ego/fame in any of this.
You've said twice that you think it will be a fun story to tell at parties. You claim the idea was inspired by a night when you called the police because your wife's friend didn't respond to her text messages. The police came and the couple you called them on told you to go away. Nothing happened, and yet you somehow think you may have saved someone's life:
> At this point, we decided to knock on the door. The husband answered, clearly unhappy we were there. We said we just wanted to make sure the friend was ok. He told us to get off his property or he would call the police. We agreed to leave but told him we had already called the police. My wife got a text shortly after that from the friend saying that she was ok, but thanking us for checking on her. We waited for the police to arrive (about 10 minutes later) and we drove home.
> Long story, but I've thought about that night a lot. I think we did the right thing. If we had done nothing, and the friend been hurt somehow, I would have felt horrible knowing that I might have been able to prevent it and didn't
> As far as I know, I haven't discussed doing anything illegal.
Everything you've discussed is illegal. Knowingly helping someone else commit a crime is also a crime. Knowingly helping someone distribute scheduled drugs is a crime.
The only way doing any of this isn't illegal is if by happenstance your service/product is perfect for illegal activity. But most of the time there are other regulations that would make it impossible for you to provide that product/service without knowing it was being used for crime. But you don't even get away with that, since this post is proof against you.
Yes you do have a simple perfect effortless way to prove it. Post your brilliant idea publically to prove this isn't just a big ego thing, otherwise it most certainly is.
If you really want to get a job at AWS, I still have some friends there and I'd be happy to help.
In general, I think people overestimate how hard it is to get a job at a big tech company. Their turnover is very high. If you learn the skill they're looking for and understand how to do well in the interviews/hiring process, I'd say your odds are better than 50/50.
What is the skill they're looking for and how does one do well in the interviews? I suspect this is a well-tread issue, so a link to a post you think is adequate would be plenty.
We won't. You will sober up and realise illegally going into business with drug cartels to make their fentanyl distribution more efficient was highly misguided, speaking charitably.
If you fail, you'll probably be too dismembered (or too jailed) to pay anyone anything.
Honestly I can't believe a grown adult with a daughter old enough to be starting college says he wants to get into business with Mexican cartels just to prove a random internet stranger wrong. It sounds like a 10-year-old's understanding of the world.
Many tech company CEOs sound like a 10 year old in the same way. I think he's coming from that place. Remember Google with "don't be evil"?
That's way too simplistic of a phrase, something a 10 year old would say. I think this type of optimistic thinking that csears does is coming from the same line / vibe.
I've touched on this in a few other replies, but I'll restate here:
I'm not interested in making money from this.
It would feel really rewarding if I could (directly or indirectly) save someone's life or prevent some act of senseless violence. Even if there's only a small chance of achieving one of those outcomes, don't we have a moral obligation to pursue something like that?
Years ago, one of my wife's friends was having major problems with her husband. The friend had been texting my wife and mentioned that there was some kind of confrontation. And then the friend just stopped responding to texts. My wife was kind of freaking out after a little while, so we went over to the friend's house (the husband was also there) and sat out there trying to figure out what to do. We had no reason to believe the husband was violent, but it's hard to know how someone will react in a tense/emotional situation. We weren't sure if it made sense to call the police, because we didn't know if the friend was actually in any danger. After weighing the options, we decided to call the police non-emergency line and ask if someone could check on the friend. They transferred us to 911, and we told the dispatcher the situation. They said they would send an officer to check. At this point, we decided to knock on the door. The husband answered, clearly unhappy we were there. We said we just wanted to make sure the friend was ok. He told us to get off his property or he would call the police. We agreed to leave but told him we had already called the police. My wife got a text shortly after that from the friend saying that she was ok, but thanking us for checking on her. We waited for the police to arrive (about 10 minutes later) and we drove home.
Long story, but I've thought about that night a lot. I think we did the right thing. If we had done nothing, and the friend been hurt somehow, I would have felt horrible knowing that I might have been able to prevent it and didn't.
I feel this is a similar situation, but on a much bigger scale. Honestly, until yesterday, I had filed the fentanyl epidemic away in my brain in the large folder labeled "tragic things in the world that you can't do anything about". But hearing the campus police chief talking about student deaths related to fentanyl-laced pot at my daughter's college orientation made me start thinking about it again. I'm very cognizant of how cringy it is for tech people to think they can save the world with tech, but I tried to consider the economic, social and political factors involved and let myself be curious about out-of-the-box solutions. And I came up with something.
PS. Oh, and I think it would be a fun story to tell at parties.
OP, you would have better chance with Islam than your idea. Muslims are avoiding all kinds of mind-altering substances successfully for 14 centuries, what you propose would be a workaround and a compromise. See the email titled my username for more info.
I do see your points and appreciate the reasoning.
I definitely will not move forward with anything before getting good legal advice from an actual lawyer.
One of my main reasons for wanting to meet with the cartels is just to make my intentions clear, trying to proactively avoid any misunderstandings. I've generally found that powerful people / organizations respond better when you check in with them first before getting involved with any of their stuff.
Perhaps it would be sufficient to just be very open about my plans and hope they happen to read my blog. One-way communication is better than no communication.
That's a really good point. Maybe I could start with they less murder-y cartels to establish some credibility, and then work my way up to the more murder-y ones.
I'm very aware of just how horrifically violent cartels can be. I'm not ignoring that or condoning their behavior.
Historically, there have been many instances of powerful groups of people willing to commit atrocities to stay in power. In some cases, it's still useful to attempt to negotiate or explore peaceful solutions. When you're negotiating, it's often useful to look for some kind of mutually beneficial outcome where both parties get something valuable, while giving up something less valuable. I have no idea if this would actually be possible in the case of drug cartels, but I think it's worth considering.
You may be right, but it's not clear to me they are totally irrational. The fact that they seem to have business partnerships with chemical suppliers in Asia would suggest that they are capable of cooperating when it suits their interests.
I appreciate your comment, but it feels a bit cynical to be more afraid of federal agents than drug cartels. Then again, I don't have much experience with either, so maybe I'm being naive. That was partially why I was asking how to find a lawyer who deals with situations like this.
I'm not saying that federal agents are more dangerous than drug cartels. I'm saying that you're going to end up being arrested before you get the chance to find out.
I see your point. That is certainly a possibility.
Although it would be highly inconvenient to be arrested or get in trouble with the feds, it would make for an interesting story at parties. That's always been something I've struggled with. So... silver lining?
A lot of historical figures I respect have been arrested for standing by their convictions. So I would be in good company.
It also could turn into a good opportunity for publicity.
Plus, it might actually gain me credibility in the eyes of the cartels.
Just some friendly advice man, I seriously doubt your company wants to be associated with any of this, so you may want to take them out of your profile. The west coast is waking up soon, don't wait around to do it.
Good point. I have removed my employers from my bio. I don't think there was any implication that they were at all involved or endorsed anything I'm saying here, but it never hurts to avoid any potential backlash. Thanks for pointing that out.
Being arrested a single time can put you on an entirely different track in life. It’s not a death sentence, but it would probably permanently change your life for the worse (and that’s assuming you aren’t convicted).
The biggest problem is that you don’t know what you don’t know, and what you don’t know can kill you in this scenario.
Nobody that works in enforcement will believe you are a good person, if you were you’d be in enforcement with them (in their mind). You interact with people you know and even complete strangers that assume you are normal and good every day, you don’t get that from law enforcement. You are a gold star on their record, a stepping stone to the next position and pay band.
I'm certainly going to do my best to not get arrested, or be in a situation where anyone in law enforcement would want to arrest me. As far as I know, it's not illegal to ask for advice about a legally ambiguous situation.
Intending to aid an abit drug cartels is not the equivalent of a night an the slammer. It's an extremely serious federal crime, you will spend a substantial amount of time in prison, and you will never be allowed to work for any government contractor/sub-contractor, nor in finance (FINRA will straight up pull an organization's membership if they discover you are working for them)
It'll be a fun story at parties after you serve up to 4 years in federal prison for each time you use a communication device in this venture (21 USC § 843 b) and then get to spend however many years in state prisons for criminal facilitation.
Just keep in mind there's no parole for Federal crimes.
Well you got that one thing right, you are incredibly naive. If you want to reduce harm, volunteer at a safe injection site or try to start one up in your home town. If you want to cozy up between the feds and the cartels as an "innocent," with no knowledge of how anything works, tell your daughter you love her every day because you won't know which will be your last.
I had a friend of the family killed by a drug cartel from Mexico. They had a relative in Mexico refuse to pay protection money (or some other scam, it’s not entirely clear) so the cartel crossed into the US and killed the entire family to send a message or some such nonsense.
And on your other point, there would be hardware and software involved, but the cartels wouldn't be interacting with them directly. I'll be sure to have the cartels sign my EULA before proceeding with anything.