Freakonomics Jfk Chapter 1

Summary

In chapter one of Freakonomics, the beginning portion of the chapter discusses information and the connection it shares with the Ku Klux Klan and real-estate agents. The Ku Klux Klan was founded right after the Civil War, in order to persecute and subdue the slaves that were newly freed. The popularity of the Klan increased in the early 20th century, around the time of World War I. In the late 19th century, the Klan had only discriminated, persecuted, and subdued Blacks, but in the 20th century they did these things to Blacks, Jews, and Gypsies. In regards to using information, information ended up being the downfall of the Klan. The Klan was highly dependent on information: there were secret passwords, secret handshakes, and secret

This gave the Klan a large amount of power; the power was way over their heads. In order to break the Klan, a human rights activist named Stetson Kennedy joined the Klan to learn all of its secrets and information. Kennedy learned that the his clan’s chapter primarily consisted of low-earning, poorly educated men who wanted a place where they can stay out all night and vent their frustrations. After learning the secrets and information from the Klan, Kennedy gave this information to authorities and to the writers of the Superman radio program, where they used this information to create a radio show featuring Superman defeating the Klan. This lead to an influx of people learning about the Klan, and even talking about the Klan became a game for kids; and it lead to the Klan’s loss of appeal and loss of power. The next portion of the chapter talks about how real-estate agents use information to gain power and wealth. Most real-estate agents have a better sense of knowing the condition that a home or apartment is in, and this gives them an upper-hand against the buyer or seller. Like the Ku Klux Klan, real-estate agents use secret words and information to

Throughout my life I have heard people talk about the Klu Klux Klan and what the organization does, but reading about the creation of the organization and the secret handshakes, passcodes, and gestures they use was something that I have never known before. Plus, I found the whole idea of secrecy within the Klan to be really informative and interesting. With the real-estate agents, I never once thought that they would use certain words to portray the home be something it is not. But then again, real-estate agents have to make money too, so I can see where they would have to use descriptive words in order to get people to buy the house so they can collect the commission. Finally, with concept of misinformation, I can see where this would be an issue. With dating sites, and other sites like online polls, people who are not honest with the information they put down can have a negative effect on the outcomes the site will provide for the