1. I think he attracted too much attention by becoming a PM, a celebrity.
2. He threatened the gov't instead of bribing it.
3. He lost the symphathy of the people by mad public bombings. People didn't care when he just targeted gov't officials and political candidates. But blowing up school children??
One more thing. His internal drive that made him the 2nd richest man in the world in such short time was so violent that it blinded him. He couldn't see when the time came he should have stopped and rather aimed for survival protecting his wealth.
share[deleted]
He had high intelligence but zero morality and was a ruthless , greedy psycho
He really thought he was untouchable but nobody is except if your last name is Clinton
One more thing. His internal drive that made him the 2nd richest man in the world in such short time was so violent that it blinded him. He couldn't see when the time came he should have stopped and rather aimed for survival protecting his wealth.
I would think it was in not recognizing that he had more money than he could possibly ever spend in a lifetime and that he should just enjoy it an protect it. But as you say, maybe not being able to recognize that enough is enough is an inherent part of the drive that made him so rich.
This pretty much sums it up. For as bright as he was, he let his ego get in the way of his future. The ego forced him to rebel against the government when they didn't elect him to office. His ego forced him to stay in Colubmia when the smart play was getting the F out of dodge. He had enough money to retire from the NARCO lifestyle and move his family to some place luxurious, for the rest of their lives -without having to work another day. Yet, in the end he'd rather blow up buildings and not admit defeat until the entire country wanted to see him dead. He went from local folk hero to public enemy number 1. Truth be told, he got off on the fame & attention more than the fortune.
As portrayed in the series, I think the thing that affected his outcome the most was when his cousin was killed.
His cousin was really the only one around him who would not automatically say, 'Si, patron' when Pablo said something.
You can see that with lots of famous people. After a while, all the people who really care about them somehow get excluded from their lives because they made them angry at a key moment and then they are only surrounded by sycophants and other 'yes-men'.
His cousin seemed to be a voice of reason.
Had he remained by his side, he may have been able to moderate Pablo's actions.
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Unlike some people, I don't excuse the drug user. Pablo didn't fly to Miami and twist people's arms to start using cocaine. Rather, it was those people, essentially, who threw it out there, 'Hello to the general masses! We will pay anybody lots of money to bring us this white stuff!'
Offering a financial incentive to someone to induce them to break the law, is in effect, a form of arm-twisting. If you offer me enough money, at some point, I'm going to break the speed limit in my car; I'm going to not report income to the government; I'm going to look the other way while you smoke weed... Etc.
Everybody breaks the law. So I don't think 'drug-dealer' = 'evil'.
Alcohol ruins more lives than cocaine ever did.
That's a fact. Alcohol is a recreational drug in the same sense that cocaine is. Every pub owner is in fact a drug dealer- they're making a profit because you ask them for something to numb their minds and they provide it.
And when alcohol was illegal in the USA we see what the result was. We got our very own Pablo Escobar- Al Capone.
It's no different. But Capone would never have been who he was if the ordinary man on the street had said, 'Oh, well, alcohol is illegal now, I guess I will stop drinking'. No, that's not how it works. People want their drugs- whether it's cigarettes, valium, booze, meth or coke.
And when what they want is illegal, the ordinary Joe will say, 'Screw the law, here's money, just bring me my stuff'.
They create the Escobars and Capones.
All I'm saying is I don't think being a 'drug-dealer' in itself is a big mistake for Escobar. I've know a few low level drug dealers. They were just trying to make money.
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Blowing up the plane, I think, put him on a path where it no longer made any sense for him NOT to do dastardly things. I mean, you've already done that so why stop at something a little bit worse?
Had he remained by his side, he may have been able to moderate Pablo's actions.
All I'm saying is I don't think being a 'drug-dealer' in itself is a big mistake for Escobar. I've know a few low level drug dealers. They were just trying to make money.
but they sticked to bribing and had very little to do with assassinations.
He was running out of options. It was a miracle he stayed alive for such a long time.
my vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur13767631/ratings
Its scary, but he was close to win the fight against the law, at least partially, with his bombings and terror. If he just had done his time in the jail he could have worked out after a ridiculous short sentence with his men and became legit on the surface.
sharePablo's mistake were:
1. Not keeping a low profile.
2. Not getting chummy with the CIA - He could have stage managed a conflict with NARC and other communist groups in the region, and brought the U.S. on his side, while continuing his business.
3. Not knowing when to cut and run. The thing about any criminal business is that it has a shelf life. The smart ones are the ones who understand that eventually you're going to have to exist in the light of day, so you need to be able to make your money and leave before gravity finally pulls everything crashing to the ground.
4. Killing his capos and not protecting his partners better - The number 2 priority of any good business is protecting and nurturing it's human assets (number 1 being the product). Even the best businessman is hampered by lack of talent around him.
5. Most important - Not becoming too big. As soon as you get labeled a legend, then you develop your own gravitational pull, and can no longer just break away from your identity.
Not getting the negatives from his arrest file! Or having that photographer killed. Hahaha, jk
But seriously, this is probably why he started to kill anyone who was associated with his crimes after they were fulfilled or attempted. Unless you were with him from early on or one of his main soldiers, you were as good as gone!
Becoming famous or trying his hand in politics so he could control the drug cartels and his empire, is what got his particular cartel ruined. While DEA focused on him, other cartels built their empire under the radar. Literally buying politicians instead of becoming one.
After being embarrassed and wasting money, lives and resources, Pablo seemed revenge. Got Gustavo killed! And Gustavo kept warning him. Telling him to stay out of the lime light. Don't get into politics.
After killing innocent ppl and bombings they still told him to cool it!
Then when he got his sweet deal with his sentence, and even got the extradition dropped, he couldn't help himself! Killing his 2 partners bc he was paranoid and thought they were stealing. Let's face it, he was jealous they weren't in there with him. Jealous they could be free and run his business.
Gilberto was smart, but when you tell criminals to turn themselves in with out giving full details you end up like Pablo... Dead.
Had Gilberto told them they bought the election or that at least the President assured them a light sentence for surrendering, everyone or 80% might have been on board. But many probably thought it was a deal with DEA or CIA.