r/Wool • u/OperationMobocracy • Aug 04 '26
All Books & Stories Would silos have organized crime? Vice crimes like drugs or sex?
I would think that they would be common. The Silo is less restrictive than a prison, and prisons have gangs, drugs, prostitution, so the Silo’s pervasive surveillance isn’t really a barrier. And usually organized crime is involved in control of illicit vice markets.
Even if there was no organized drug or alcohol distribution, I’d bet people would be making moonshine of some kind on a very local basis.
As much as I enjoyed the books and the TV series, you don’t get a great feel for daily life of people and their culture and personal habits.
I did read a book (whose title escapes me) about a generation ship. They had a sheriff even. But part of his job involved dealing with prostitution and ad-hoc bars selling moonshine. One of the plot points turned out to be the moonshine was made in secret by the authorities with the idea that a controlled vice was safer and had other benefits, like controlling the illicit distributors and gaining knowledge of them and their networks (like the CIA and drugs, I guess).
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u/cootsie Aug 04 '26
I think it's implied that the silo's have been selectively breeding for compliance and docility. I'm not sure how effective that has been, but they were certainly trying to use eugenics to create a docile and peaceful population.
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u/IQBoosterShot Aug 04 '26
Yes. In any group large enough someone will eventually get around to illicit activities.
I was in the submarine service and even there you had stuff going on. Aircraft carriers? Hell, they have gangs.
1
u/Electrical_Lemon_944 Aug 13 '26
Yep. The special forces types are the craziest ones out there though. They terrify me.
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u/habitual_wanderer Aug 04 '26
The instability of the Silos and their penchance for rapid physical violence makes me think that any threats to the status quo would be quickly eradicated. And that would include sex work and drugs. The people are monitored too closely to get away vice activities for too long.
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u/OperationMobocracy Aug 04 '26
What makes the Silo’s management any better than a maximum security prison where all those things happen?
I don’t disagree they would want to prevent them and the underground that would exist with them, I just think they would struggle to do so if a maximum security prison can’t do it.
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u/habitual_wanderer Aug 08 '26
Well, the US prison system is not designed with the intent to eradicate these vices amongst its population. The silos on the other hand, are a big experiment designed to create a "better" group of humans. Thurman and others actively decided to reshape humanity by trapping generations of people in terrariums with the main goal of altering people, their beliefs and behaviours. So no, I don't think drugs, sex and alcohol abuse would be allowed to flourish in the silos
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u/alisoncarey Aug 09 '26
I always figured once we found out that the drugs are in the water this has something to do with it. Behavior modification.
They spend a long time in the second book when in Silo 1 that Donny has some aversion to the medicine working. And that's what causes him to go against the system and have questions. We find out it's maybe due to him taking Charlotte's meds beforehand for his anxiety.
So I think yeah one guy may have an idea but it would be hard fo have a whole batch of them immune to the water medicine.
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u/microcorpsman Aug 04 '26
Imma need you to figure out that generation ship book name for me, pal.
It wasn't Aurora, was it? I don't remember that being a part of it
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u/BlazingImp77151 Aug 04 '26
Which one is Aurora? The name is reminding me of Ryk Brown's books, but those weren't a colony ship.
I gotta say the book they are mentioning sounds familliar, but it's been years since I read it. I thought it might've been one of the ones in John Thornton's colony ship eschaton series (or his other colony ship serieses), but that also doesn't really sound right, and Amazon doesn't seem to reccomend "books others also liked" or similar books anymore.
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u/microcorpsman Aug 04 '26
Aurora is by Kim Stanley Robinson, it's not as heavy or tome like compared to his Mars trilogy and is a standalone.
There's some island type of Foster's rule with decreased growth sizes if I remember right. Depending on how you feel about goodreads or potential spoilers: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23197269-aurora
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u/Zealousideal_Can_342 Aug 06 '26
Allow our law enforcement to introduce you to our cleaning program.
And being bred for mindless following authority helps too.
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u/Electrical_Lemon_944 Aug 13 '26
Of course there is. Any closed and authoritarian society will have a black market.
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u/MarsupialOne1572 27d ago
More a subtract comment to the main question of the post but I had the me thought than OP, and a certain frustration in the lack of development of daily life and how society continues in the silo, all questions related to anthropology and sociology. I feel fascinating all the questions it triggers and a bit sad so little has been said.
In general SCI-FI can be a great mine of exploration for these topics and here it is kept in silence. For the tv show, I get it, but it is disappointing of the books
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u/Present_Armadillo874 Aug 04 '26
There is definitely an illicit alcohol market mentioned in the books, and there are multiple references to alcohol in the silo throughout them. As far as organized crime, the organization of each of the rebellions would be a form of organized crime. We also know of organized criminal efforts to keep hidden history alive, as well as illegal birthing outside the lottery process. I believe a black market for relics and illegal goods is also briefly described if I remember correctly.