I believe that Wilson’s theory described in When Work Disappears is helpful in understanding Nick’s pivotal decision to “shift”, according to Wilson, from his diminishing dedication of working in the legal economy as an underemployed dock worker at the port to then permanently working in the illegal drug centered economy. There are specific key structural and key cultural elements in Wilson’s model that are relevant to Nick’s decision.
Nick is a cautious young man who lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland. This is a predominantly white urban neighborhood where blue collar employment previously dominated and has transitioned into an overpowering white collar economy. Nick is employed by his uncle, Frank Sobotka, on Baltimore’s diminishing waterfront. Throughout the season, Nick is continuously trying to keep his thoughtless and irrational cousin, Frank’s son Zig from danger with the illegal drug centered economy. In addition to loading and unloading cargo vessels at the port, Nick is engaged in his Uncle Frank’s smuggling operations by relaying information between “The Greeks” and his Uncle.
Nick and his girlfriend, Aimee, who works as a hairdresser, have a little girl together but cannot afford to live together due to their lack of steady income. In episode three, Aimee voices her concerns with Nick as she is cutting his hair that they need more money and that they are not married or living together. This creates pressure for Nick because he is finically strained due to the lack of work and his lower seniority in the union at the ports. His frustrations with work are relevant to the structural factors mentioned in Wilson’s model. These specific structural changes impact the workers at port greatly. The key structural changes include the decline of manufacturing, de-unionization, an increase in income inequality and finally the increase of the low wage urban