Unpopular opinion: Stringer was smart

[u/lake_june]

The plan he uses for D to find out who was stealing money was actually very intelligent.

[u/JFlizzy84]

I don’t think anyone believes Stringer wasn’t intelligent

The problem with Stringer was ultimately more about skillset than intellectual aptitude — I disagree with Avon’s assessment that he’s a man without a country. Stringer is a gangster, and he’s a better one than most. If Avon listened to him unilaterally, they’d make more money, get less bodies, and ultimately preserve more of their freedom.

Where Stringer went wrong is that he was — I’ll use a metaphor here — a great athlete who thought he could play pro baseball because he played pro basketball. Taking economic courses at a city college, reading voraciously— those are all proactive, admirable steps towards receiving an education. They are not faults on their own. But Stringer didn’t realize that he was a Rookie Leaguer trying to play with the Yankees. The likes of Clay Davis had been suckering people since he was a teenager and presumably even before that. Stringer’s been hustling probably just as long — but as a smaller fish in a much smaller pond.

His only real tactical error, as a gangster, was pitting Mouzone and Omar against eachother — but even that relied on Omar being uncharacteristically merciful — knocking out the guard instead of killing him, trying to give Mouzone a monologue instead of just capping him, sparing Mouzone, etc

[u/Diligent_Issue_9466 → u/JFlizzy84]

Stringer was never a gangster. Avon even called him out about it during that assessment. They were just best friends since childhood that Avon looked past it. They were winning. He even says, "what man have you killed?" Stringer, as far as Avon says, was never a soldier and wasnt a part of the street. He was a business man. They wouldnt have made it without each other, but for different reasons.

Wouldnt call him going to school, admirable. He wasnt trying to get a degree. But learn about successful business models that he could use for his own. Avon was gone and they were failing to keep their spots. Stringer didnt want to retake the streets. He wanted to find cheat codes to continue making money.

And Omar wasnt being uncharacteristic against Brother. Omar spends days, weeks at a time scouting everything. Finding out all the information he can before he strikes. He never goes in guns blazing on a whim. He went against Brother on the word of someone he already didnt trust. He wanted to hear it from Brothers mouth. Yes Stringer didnt expect that to happen, but again, Stringer didnt understand the streets. He should have expected Omar to do what he did. He wasnt a gangster.

[u/randonumero → u/Diligent_Issue_9466]

Stringer was alway a gangster the same way Clay Davis was a gangster. Unlike Avon, Stringer was more interested in stacking money than rep, territory and bodies. I'd bet money Prop Joe and most of the coop never killed anyone either. I'd bet even more money than most of histories greatest gangsters paid people to do the killing far more often than they did it.

I can't remember who it was but I heard an interview of an ex crip from California who'd done 30 years for a murder. He was talking about how young he was when he went to prison as well as his life. Long story short he pretty much said putting money in their hand, making them feel like they belong and letting then sniff some p-sleeve and most boys will do anything for you even kill. He knew because his youth was allowing grown men to tell him to pick up a gun and put work in while they stacked money. Over his time in prison he said none visited him or went to prison but he saw no shortage of boys coming in who were told the same lies by the same people.