WEBVTT

NOTE 29. A Market for Criminal Skills

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.080
A market for criminal skills We've all suspected that the market economy

2
00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:13.520
has a civilizing effect on people, but I've rarely seen such a poignant example.

3
00:00:13.520 --> 00:00:19.640
Here I was returning a rental car to the dealer, and some confusion set in about the keys.

4
00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:23.760
The attendant asked for them back, and I handed them over, even as I was pulling bags and

5
00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:26.200
things out of the car.

6
00:00:26.200 --> 00:00:29.800
The attendant hopped in the driver's seat to check the mileage and left the keys in

7
00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:31.120
the car.

8
00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:36.320
He shut the door, I shut another, even as one more bag remained inside.

9
00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:37.920
But there was a hitch.

10
00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:41.920
The car was now locked.

11
00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:46.280
We all looked at each other with a sense of, what were we thinking?

12
00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:51.040
Now the car was locked, and it was the only set of keys.

13
00:00:51.040 --> 00:00:55.080
This isn't one of those old-fashioned cars that were easy to crack open, no sir.

14
00:00:55.080 --> 00:00:58.440
This was a new car with all the security features we've come to expect.

15
00:00:58.440 --> 00:01:02.260
It surely couldn't be broken into.

16
00:01:02.260 --> 00:01:05.760
I was imagining that we would have to throw a brick through the window and we would be

17
00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:09.280
arguing for weeks about liability.

18
00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:12.500
Then something amazing happened.

19
00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:16.940
The attendant, who didn't look like a pillar of the community, called over some of his

20
00:01:16.940 --> 00:01:23.660
rough-looking buddies, authentic archetypes of street thugs, and gave them a special signal.

21
00:01:23.660 --> 00:01:29.660
They reached into their little bag of tricks and pulled out four little items – a business

22
00:01:29.660 --> 00:01:36.000
card, a crowbar, a squeegee stick, a clothes hanger.

23
00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:40.020
I watched with intense interest and then astonishment.

24
00:01:40.020 --> 00:01:44.500
One person slid the business card between the top of the door and the car.

25
00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:48.400
Another stood next to him and began to work the crowbar between the card and the door

26
00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:50.900
until it began to move outward.

27
00:01:50.900 --> 00:01:56.740
He gave it a bit of a twist, and a third person made the gap wide with the squeegee stick.

28
00:01:56.740 --> 00:02:01.260
The tools moved here and there until they locked into place, and a clean gap separated

29
00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:03.620
the door frame of the car body.

30
00:02:03.620 --> 00:02:08.980
Next, one person bent the clothes hanger in a curved way and put a loop at the bottom.

31
00:02:08.980 --> 00:02:14.860
He inserted it, and with surgeon-like precision, he lifted the lock.

32
00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:19.940
The door opened right up, the tools were removed, and all was well.

33
00:02:19.940 --> 00:02:24.240
The car alarm did not sound and there was not a single scratch on the car.

34
00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:28.820
No evidence remained that the car had been hacked.

35
00:02:28.820 --> 00:02:32.300
Total time that it took to open this door?

36
00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:34.700
About 20 seconds.

37
00:02:34.700 --> 00:02:39.740
The operation was a marvel and it proved to me something I did not know, namely that cars

38
00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:42.780
only appear to be locked.

39
00:02:42.780 --> 00:02:48.820
In the hands of these guys, every car was only superficially secure.

40
00:02:48.820 --> 00:02:53.740
The owner of the rental place came over to see what had been happening, and he, too,

41
00:02:53.740 --> 00:02:54.740
was rather shocked.

42
00:02:54.740 --> 00:03:00.860
If one of my cars ever turns up missing, he said in a gruff way, I'll know who took it.

43
00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:04.800
Then he smiled and winked, good job, men.

44
00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:12.420
Now it is possible that this skill was one learned on the job, possible, but doubtful.

45
00:03:12.420 --> 00:03:16.900
They were too accomplished at it, and one confirmed to me that this was the first time

46
00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:23.840
So, what do we have here?

47
00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:30.140
A skill gained from, most likely, years spent doing things they should not have been doing,

48
00:03:30.140 --> 00:03:35.180
now put to service in a way that is beneficial and profitable to the human community of civilised

49
00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:36.180
people.

50
00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:38.780
It's hardly the only example.

51
00:03:38.780 --> 00:03:42.300
We can think of the number of computer hackers now serving large companies to the benefit

52
00:03:42.300 --> 00:03:47.200
of Everyone, or tufts who might otherwise be hurting people who play sports, or people

53
00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:52.860
with a penchant for guns and violence now serving as security guards or bouncers.

54
00:03:52.860 --> 00:03:59.980
There are many ways in which skills associated with criminality can serve a productive purpose.

55
00:03:59.980 --> 00:04:04.200
Imagine a world without market-based opportunities to serve.

56
00:04:04.200 --> 00:04:08.160
These people would be social parasites instead of producers who are valued by others for

57
00:04:08.160 --> 00:04:10.360
their contribution.

58
00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:14.940
The more the division of labor expands and capital is accumulated in a context of the

59
00:04:14.940 --> 00:04:20.440
freedom to trade, the more opportunities there are for civilizing what would otherwise be

60
00:04:20.440 --> 00:04:23.400
destructive impulses.

61
00:04:23.400 --> 00:04:27.740
These are the effects of markets that are impossible to quantify, but they have a grand

62
00:04:27.740 --> 00:04:33.720
impact on the culture in turning people away from crime and toward peaceful forms of human

63
00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:36.000
engagement.

64
00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.640
They can also teach us a few things about security holes that exist in the world we

65
00:04:40.640 --> 00:04:42.160
inhabit.

66
00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:46.680
In the same way that a hacker can provide a good test against holes in program code,

67
00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:50.800
the crowbar kids at the rental place showed me something important.

68
00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:55.680
If you are worried about the security of your automobile, you need to do more than lock

69
00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:56.320
Block Your Car