street gangs - 2010 - Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain

Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I went from Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur
Ryan Blair
2010
Portfolio
222 pages

Before now, I've never ever even opened the cover of one of the mass-market books by some business guru investment whiz. My economic worldview is anticapitalist and I have pretty much zero interest in entrepreneurship but I also haven't read any of them because they generally look like trash published to exploit the gullibles who live in the fantasy of making millions by following a few trite adages. I highly doubt that any of these investment guru/success advice books are required readings in any MBA programs and I also doubt you can mention you've read these books on your resume. I've always assumed that these books have nothing other than the cliches they're drenched in to offer their readers.

As of today I've read one such business guru book, Nothing To Lose, Everything to Gain by Ryan Blair. God, speaking of cliches... just look at that title. I read this one because Ryan Blair says he was a gang member. I don't really believe that claim but whatever, his gang past is a small part of the book. It's his street gang background he draws upon when he mixes Jay-Z quotes in with the Sun Tzu quotes that I'm sure appear in every other book in the genre. I am convinced that every other book of this kind is exactly like this with some surface details altered and its basic elements rearranged from item to item and books like this have no value other than capitalist mythmaking.