Sinclair

* See also Sinclairs Consumer Rewards Program
* See also Vita-Chamber
* See also Persephone
* See also Existing_Businesses
* See also Paupers Drop
* See also Characters/Personalities
Sinclair was Delta's mentor in the BioShock 2 Story.
Augustus Sinclair to Delta : "I like to look a man in the eye when I give him my word. You and me, kid, we're goin' places." 
Was Sinclair a 'Second Tier' Businessman, OR did he just not Post His Name Everywhere ?
Somewhere someone suggested he was modeled a bit after Ricky Ricardo https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ricky+ricardo
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Ryan's 'Joke' : Preparation 'S' ( Sinclair was a pain in the butt, but was useful for various unsavory tasks ) :
"H" Trade-marked in 1935 AHC ( so Ryan would be able to make the reference and people recognize it ).
Talking about Business, Sinclair hadn't the same vision that Ryan had. Ryan had a distrust in Sinclair not 'believing' as he did. But then, opportunism was a significant part of Ryan's Philosophy ( Wouldn't Ryan KNOW what Sinclair was when he was accepted to come to Rapture ? Sinclair is quite verbal in talking about the way he does business. ) Sinclair did follow the basic Objectivist logic of doing things for yourself first, even if he didn't think/care so much that others would be pulled along by his efforts . He would sell them things they wanted.
Was it anywhere said/shown in-game that Sinclair actually cheated anyone ??? (( Or is that just weak ignorant insinuations by writers thinking only with modern 'sensibilities' ? )) 
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 "Let The Buyer Beware" :
Consider what people try to Sell Us in OUR WORLD. How much garbage is sold as 'the greatest thing ever' ?
Sinclair hasn't the anonymity of the many shysters in OUR World.
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Trust vs Distrust :
Yet Ryan trusted Sinclair (enough) with handling a number of his 'problems'.
Testing ADAM Products ( BTW - such testing WAS legally done voluntarily by convicts in the US in that period ). (( Read the Novel to see Fontaine doing ADAM 'testing' in the days of ADAM's early development ))
Funding of Persephone was probably more than Ryan wanted to pay ( but then with the growing number of insane Citizens it was something that was just needed ). Having Sinclair find a way to make the prison pay for itself was ALSO something commonly done in that time period ( Most large institutional Mental Asylums in their early days WERE designed to be largely self-sufficient monetarily ). (( Implications to smear Sinclair with this 'convict testing' being 'a bad thing', when it was instep with the times Rapture is set in - That is either Writer dishonesty or ignorance. ))
THIS Doesn't seem Consistent -- The Need to Smear Sinclair in BS2 (creating a Player trust issue), when in BS1 they FORCED 'trust' of Atlas upon the Player, and intentionally hid from you what a real sociopath Fontaine/Atlas was. [[[BaSx]]] Atlas/Fontaine goes creepy evil ( and the 'twist' maybe should have been to show that Elizabeth was an even bigger 'psycho' ).
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== Sinclair - Why Is He Set Up As A 'Bad Guy' ? : ==
Perhaps the writers were trying to make you think he was another lying manipulator like Atlas/Fontaine was eventually found to be ( AFTER the writers manipulated the Players to get their over-contrived plot 'Twist' in BS1 ) ?
You might notice that Sinclair has 'lines' for his moral behavior which he 'wont Cross' -- Certainly they are far short of where Fontaine or Sofia Lamb were willing to go ( Like killing people who were in their way ). There are things Sinclair just wouldn't do. He might be somewhat loose or deceptive in his business practices, but "Let The Buyer Beware" is nothing new in the Real World, and is a part of the Personal Responsibility Philosophy which Rapture is much about.
Sinclair is a business Opportunist, but he appears to have largely worked within the law ( Perhaps why he came to Rapture which had fewer of them and less of the GROWING government interference and Regulation and certainly Raxation 'up there' ). 
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Accusations :
You might say "He sold people to Fontaine Futuristic for experiments or Big-Daddification" ... But IF you look at those posters in Persephone, it indicates it was voluntary ( similar things happened in Real World American prisons in the 1950s and earlier - Where prisoners got reduced sentences and other concessions for volunteering for medical experiments ).
With Persephone also being the City's Insane Asylum, where Criminally Insane people were dumped, there WOULD be the question of 'what to do with' those permanently locked in there for the rest of their lives. As always in Rapture, there is the question of HOW to Pay for them to be warehoused and cared for -- LIKELY For the rest of their lives ( in a City where people are expected/supposed-to 'Pay Their Own Way' ).
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That Testing : 
There would ALSO be all different manner and degrees of Testing to be done ( Versus ONLY the implied 'SOLD DOWN THE RIVER' result ). Real Testing often took place IN the Prison, and the results seen openly. The game also mentions Sinclair employing Persephone inmates for technical 'Think Tank' work.
For insane people, who are beyond the help of therapy, employing them as Big Daddies to give them some work might be justified. Severely Brain damaged people might still 'earn their own keep'. 
It was mentioned in BS2 that Sofia Lamb sold a number of her own followers to Fontaine for experimentation. As she gained influence there, we don't know what coercion she may have used on inmates into 'volunteering' so to Protect her loyal minions and Sell Off others and thus gain MORE influence and Power there.
For others 'In Jail' (for lesser crimes), they have sentences they will eventually be released from. For some inmates, Speeding Their Way To Freedom by Volunteering for 'Testing' would be logical, and this WAS Done in Real World Prisons/Jails.
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Another Path :
As seen with the 'Handymen' in Infinite BS, it is possible that many of Rapture's City Worker Cyborgs ( We will need to come up with a 1950s term they were given before 'Big Daddy' ever existed ) might include a number of physically disabled people who volunteered for their 'transformation', and kept much of their personality and 'Free Will' ( even the later Big Daddies didn't lose their minds -- They weren't/couldn't-be mindless Robots ).
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== Sinclair's 'Art' is Business and Making Profits : ==
* He is creative in his ways of finding new methods and paths to achieve his results.
* He doesn't force anyone into buying his products, OR into accepting or following his beliefs ( or working for him ).
* Other people benefit by his actions and he greatly contributes to Rapture's advancements.
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Sinclair as Ruthless as Fontaine ?? :
Sinclair doesn't need to kill people. He doesn't poison people to take over Rapture. Sinclair may use people, but generally it is when they 'want to be used' ... ( "Best of all is : When they think it is THEIR Own Idea" ). 
Consider all the products YOU buy ... Do YOU really need them all Consider what is virtually slave labor in China - making Soooo Many products for YOU which YOU buy -- WHO'S THE EVIL ONE NOW, HUH BOYO ??? ??????????????? You were told you wanted them, and so you Bought them, DIDN'T YOU ? 
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 "Sinclair Could Sell Water to Fish" :
A saying in Rapture ( often by competitors Sinclair continued to beat out ). He sells alot of stuff people want, and at a good price, or he wouldn't have been able to compete ( and maintain all the businesses he is shown to run ).
The writers, amongst other places, try to smear him by implying he runs a 'slum' in the Sinclair Deluxe (in Paupers Drop), but THAT elsewhere in this Wiki is proven illogical and incorrect ( Ex- We do, after all, only see it AFTER Sofia Lamb's followers have run the place into the ground for 7+ years ).
Sinclair doesn't swindle people, but knows how to sell to them. He creates his own products when he spots a niche opportunity, and KEEPS doing that repeatedly when others start imitating his business ( Remember his comment about having his own 'Think Tank' in Persephone ??? That is for product R & D. )
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Sinclair Not Dead :
What stopped Sinclair from being recycled by a Vita-Chamber ?? He kinda died of 'trauma' too didn't he ?
If it works for Delta then ... ( no problemo for a 'Daddy Suit ...)
Remember that Sinclair was significantly connected with the Vita-Chamber project - So setting the 'genetic code' ( if that's ever more than 'jive' ) - HE probably would know how to have HIS in the machine's system.
Why do you think he is still alive so many years after Ryan and Rapture went to ruin ?
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Famous Sayings By Augustus Sinclair :
"You really know that Society and Civilization is on its knees when the Toilet Paper Supply gives out ..."
"Insanity on Stilts " ( That Saying is first attributed to Sinclair commenting on ADAM's negative effects ).
"You can Bet Ryan Dollars to Cigarette Butts ..."
"Friend, When the toilet paper runs out, Civilization Ends." - Augustus Sinclair
ADD MORE HERE ...
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Sinclair, The "Ebil" Opportunist :
Sinclair in BS2 is painted as an unscrupulous opportunist, yet he obviously limited himself to things already accepted as 'the way things work'. (( DO the Writers realize this ? ))
When you think of it, isn't everyone who came to Rapture an 'opportunist', taking advantage of the refuge that Ryan's City provided to them, for a thousand different reasons ? OPPORTUNITY.
Sinclair is differently shown as more a realist, who saw ways to use the system to his advantage without any need to resort to criminal actions and deceptions (as Fontaine did).
After Ryan has Sinclair build Persephone and puts him in charge of much of it, Sinclair supposedly 'sells' test subjects to Fontaine Futuristics. BUT notice the signs in the prison itself showing that they take volunteers for that purpose. It is no different than the policy in many prisons in the United States did at that time ( They forgot to show some adjacent industrial work that prisoners would be employed in to help pay their upkeep - another thing very common in the US at that time. )
We never saw the numbers of people that Sinclair's many business interests employed, but by the number and types of companies he ran, he may have been one of the biggest employers in Rapture. If he was 'scamming' them, then wouldn't they go elsewhere ? Why didn't the Free Press 'denounce him' ? Since his companies continued and grew, that should tell you how untrue that accusation is. ( Compare that to the way Fontaine operated and coerced and abused his workers ).
Sinclair builds the Sinclair Deluxe (in Paupers Drop), which certainly looks alot better originally than Fontaine's 'Home for the Poor' ( and actually almost as good as the Ritzy places "The Best and Brightest" lived in Olympus Heights which we saw ). So maybe he was just good at getting what was needed for a reasonable price, to give people what THEY needed - ALSO at a reasonable price ( Henry Ford did it the same way ... ).
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== About Sinclair : ==
Augustus Sinclair Audio Diary : (Paupers Drop) " Now, I'm a modest man. But my piecemeal needle scam's an outright masterpiece: some slob shacked up here buys a box of syringe parts from me for twice what it's worth. He assembles 'em in his rathole, and I buy back the finished product ... for a dime against the dollar that I'll get from Ryan. Profit comin', profit goin'. Ol' Andy rambles on about the Great Chain ... I got people shellin' out to pull it for me!"
Having him say this as if this is anything new in business processes is pretty distorted ( trying to impart some kind of swindling sinister-ness to something done in real business day in and day out ). People would be shocked if they learned how little things they buy actually cost in materials. What they don't realize is labor/process adds much of the value, and Sinclair has costs and risks and additional work/organization on his side to offset this assumed clueless 'Syringe Needle component Price' versus the 'Delivered to Ryan Price' (as if it were all profit) laughingly-distortedly as it was presented in the game.
Sinclair should be more surprised that he doesn't have more competition ( which in Rapture would make alot of sense, and IS kind of dim to be omitted ), as anyone else could do exactly as he does and could try to undercut his prices ( and 'Ryan' WOULD buy the ones with the lower price ... )
Sinclair likely was already rich when he came to Rapture, and Pharmaceuticals was a Real World way of making that happen. At that time, plant-based chemicals/drugs were a large source - something you really didn't have pre-made sources for in Rapture -- But Sinclair could, using his previous experience/know-how with plants, bring them to be cultivated. And useful modern drugs WOULD be something Ryan WOULD want for 'self-contained' Rapture. Having Pre-ADAM labs Tenenbaum worked in, meant Sinclair probably was already working in the Medical Supply ( Drugs ? Anti-biotics ? ) field ...
Ryan actually had regard for proper competition ( "Offer a Better Product" ). So Sinclair also being in the ADAM product business probably would not make him Ryan's enemy -- even better if Sinclair could figure out how to make the ADAM stuff safer ( to cause less instability/damage ). Ryan had all the rest of Rapture and his businesses to worry about. Sinclair might develop/market something different on his own ( via his 'Think Tank' - "Selling Ryan Short" ), or if it was too big a project, sell it to Ryan who had 'deeper-pockets' and who wanted to outdo Fontaine.
Remember, the ADAM industry was BIG with alot of different people/companies working on many different projects/products. So it would be highly likely Sinclair would not know all of what Tenenbaum was working on ( particularly if it was something Fontaine wanted kept secret ). Ditto for Suchong.
I will have to go back and read the Novel again. Those pages (p119) paint Sinclair in a better light than is portrayed in many parts of the Solo game - He is more mindful of 'civilized' conventions - lines that he wouldn't cross, and knew that people would (in Rapture) be held responsible for their actions - which is a major balancing component of the philosophy Ryan had.
Still, nothing in the game indicates if Sinclair was that much involved in the Plasmid business. The game series does not explore the (likely many) possible competitors for Fontaine Futuristics and Ryan Industries, and advertisements don't show any other name than theirs. 
The way Sinclair handled those Tests both at Persephone and with the Consumer Reward Program, show he already had experience with that aspect of the pharmaceutical market, and/or perhaps also conducted such tests prior to Rapture.
Ryan would NOT have worked with Sinclair if the guy was double-crossing him. Ryan Industries was providing Sinclair Solutions with experimental Products for testing. If Sinclair had those ( Aero-Dash, Geyser-Trap and Houdini ) sold on the Rpture's market under Sinclair's own brand, Sinclair would have been the first suspect Ryan would think of ( besides the considerable expense Sinclair would have had to achieve any such development, production and marketing on his own - making that rather unlikely ).
Sinclair was a smart opportunist, but in the end he wasn't as much a monster as Fontaine was, or allegedly as Ryan became (or rather as the game authors had to make Ryan into -- a cutout bad guy for their plot and its 'Twist'). Sinclair asking Delta to end Sinclair's own life in BioShock 2 so Delta could escape showed that. An irony was Sinclair was made into one of the 'monsters' ( Alpha BD ) he had supposedly helped others create.
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Genius :
Anti-biotics were the latest things in World Medicine around the time Rapture started, and alot of the advertised ADAM products were medical related ( I hadn't heard of Phossy Jaw before seeing one for curing that ). So there probably were very many different/specialized products of just that kind ( ex- We never got the name of the one(s) Steinman used for his surgery -- perhaps : 'EZ-Slice-N-Dice', 'Good-As-New', 'Dr Sterns Liquid Suture', 'Scar-B-Gone' ... ) . 
The industrialists/technologists/scientists/engineers who came also had skilled staff which many may have brought with them to Rapture ( So Sinclair didn't do it all himself, but it sounded like he could understand all the very technical stuff ). No doubt like Silicon Valley, as the industry expanded many would form their own companies off good ideas they got while working for others. So I don't think Sinclair would have 'double-crossed' Ryan, but would keep any additional business of his own separate and might take opportunities in niches which Ryan ignored. Count how many Plasmids/Tonics were in the Gatherers Garden and think how many more there likely were ( and how many may still have been just being developed/researched ). Ones being sold to just to get rid of Migraines or Hangovers might have hands down outsold all the rest.
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Sinclair's Colorful Language :
Some Players might take it as 'literal' ... ( Don't they read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn any more in schools ? The way Sinclair talks reminds me a bit of Mark Twain's words ).
( I'm going to have to get every quote of his and demonstrate his constant use of colorful terms and pattern of putting down certain other people and things. ) 
Self-made men often have views denigrating others they think were just handed their fortunes and worse - flaunting and then wasting it. Maybe he is proud of his achievements and has disdain for others who don't really have any ? Does that make him 'evil' ? Does he NOT have the right to his own opinion ? Is this not supposed to be a different era where you were allowed to call a bum a 'bum' and take pride in your not being one ?
Why should he lie to himself ? Is he ? Maybe he just talks the way he thinks .. even to himself - DO YOU talk/think to yourself differently than you talk to other people/the public ? ( 'Two Faced' I believe is the colorful phrase for it ). Maybe it is simply a case that he is just honest and speaks his OWN mind, always ? His quaint expressions of those opinions don't have to be exactly literal, do they ? So, assuming that he is being literal with his words at all times is a mistake I've run into online in Forums who seemed to take his colorful language as literal.
NOTE - I will use this argument : What is found in the Audio Diaries ( and various other 'quotes' ) LIKEWISE have to be taken frequently as Sinclair's biased opinion, and may only give clues to the reality.
BTW - Levine supposedly 'Doing it to make a Point' ( one-sided smearing of Sinclair in-game )... When it is portrayed through illogic and distortions -- THAT is called Propaganda and Deception. It is also maybe a bit hypocritical when you figure 'evil capitalism' is paying Levine & Co their living. Since we hardly got much information about how Rapture's society worked ( other than a Vague/partial bunch of biased opinions, in some corpse-filled wreckage, shown in a tiny bit of a caricature Fail-topia ), it is hard to see how any real 'point' could honestly be made that way.
== Various Messages In Sinclair's OWN Words ==
Literal Interpretation NOT ( for things Augustus Sinclair Says in the Game ) :
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I've seen people make Assumptions based on them taking a literal interpretation of Sinclair's very colorful language and phraseology ( They didn't quite get it that he obviously talks in 'round' terms and allegorically. ) 
Yes, he might have been an opportunist, but he could NOT much cheat people for him to stay in business as long as he was shown to have. Rapture is a small place, and Reputation counts for a great deal in such a small business venue. And Sinclair owned many businesses ALL with his name on them. He seems to find niche businesses other people miss or aren't flexible enough to undertake and makes them a success.
Example Misunderstanding : Someone ASSUMES there's a Sinclair Spirits in Paupers Drop so that (they assume) Sinclair can suck the life's blood of his tenants in The Sinclair Deluxe. That being somehow based on A REMOVED (not used in game) Audio Diary.
-REMOVED Audio Diary- Sinclair Deluxe & Sinclair Spirits : Sinclair : " If a smart fella wanted to talk some bankrupt fat-cat into moving to a slum, he'd call the place a Hotel on the nightly. The tenant dries his eyes an' tells himself it's only temporary -- and the smart fella shaves a dime a day off his drinkin' wage. Now, a smarter fella might also bankroll the local gin joints ... and take him for the rest.
1) It should be pointed out that there is no Sinclair Spirits in the game at the location of the Sinclair Deluxe (not even a sign).
2) There are already bars (ex- Limbo Room IN Paupers Drop) and such selling alcoholic substances ( something common across all of Rapture ), which Sinclair would have to compete with ( And if anything, Sinclair would be selling it to them at a bit less to beat out the competition ). Maybe if he had a vending machine selling booze ( Hmm, good idea for the MMORPG ), but those would get broken into too much.
3) Sinclair Spirits ( seen in Fort Frolic/Poseidon Plaza ) was kinda too upscale for "Tenement/Shantytown Folk". Maybe a nice grocery store for the 'poor' area would be a far better establishment to have in Paupers Drop/Sinclair Station/Maintenance Area 47 ( Though we didn't see any - a definite level-designer deficiency ).
4) People who drink that badly soon have no money to pay rent anyway, and The Sinclair Deluxe WASN'T a charity house. THIS was LOW(ER) INCOME HOUSING - the key word being 'INCOME'. Sinclair WOULDN'T WANT to attract deadbeats.
I don't doubt that certain 'literally minded' people could hear Sinclair say : "Killing Two Birds with One Stone" - And then THEY would start looking for the dead birds ( or complaining that he was a bird-murderer or somesuch ) ... Some people just don't GET colloquialisms, slang, nor colorful language ( nor the way some people talk ).
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== I Can See Why 'Overly Literally Minded People' Might Be So Easily Confused/Mistaken ==
"Siren Alley's the kinda place you go to scratch an itch you're ashamed of ... even in a town with no laws." - Augustus Sinclair
Itch ? I think they have a new Zinc preparation that will do wonders for that. 
No laws ?? I've been through THAT one before ... Rapture is NOT "No Gods, No Kings AND No Laws - Only Man" SEE - Laws_in_Rapture ).
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 "'Power to the People' ? Hell, I've met the people, friend ... an' they're a pack o' shaved monkeys run amok." - Augustus Sinclair 
SO Some Players might hear what Sinclair says as Literal ??? 
Shave Monkeys ? Is that Rhesus ? Howler ? Capuchin ? ( Were these 'old world' or 'new world' monkeys ? ) Shaved ? How do you get a monkey to stay still for that ? - A little Straight Jacket and a Bench Vice ??? ? 
Seriously, some people need to read more to be exposed to creative talking - the writings of Mark Twain might be a good place to start.
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 "You do business as long as I have, and you learn to pick a brand name from the writin' on the wall." - Augustus Sinclair 
Literal Interpretation : What did this writing on the wall say ? What language was it written in, and 'written' with what ( paint ? chalk ? crayon ? excrement ? gold-leaf ? ... ) 
Having the Player ( demographics important here ) misinterpret Sinclair was supposed to be the writers aim, but you can't really condemn Sinclair for being uncharitable ( This IS Rapture after all ). Those people who came to Rapture AND STILL were 'looking-for a handout', THEY were the actual problem ( and fodder for Atlas and his playing-off their Parasitism ).
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Wooden Nickels : Sinclair : "Andrew Ryan. He reckoned the free market was some kinda holy spirit gonna lead us all over the rainbow -- and I reckon it's a big fat hooker too dim to spot a wooden nickel. So old Andy went an' became his own ghost, and I whittled nickels 'till I made a mint."
"big fat hooker" (( I really cannot understand people who seriously think Sinclair talks literal. ))
'Free Market' - Of course it is a matter of degree, as Sinclair's actions require a 'free market' too.
(( Is this another lame attempt of the writers to try to smear Ryan's vision yet again ? It wasn't Capitalism or Objectivism that destroyed Rapture, it was an evil power hungry thug named Fontaine who intentionally poisoned people with his products and unleashed terrorists on the city. VERY MANY Evil men flourish under Socialism and under Communism most of all - They run every thing. Sofia Lamb murdered people who didn't fall for her collectivist 'vision' )).
How many 'nickels' did Sinclair whittle while waiting years for Delta to arrive - Didn't see any in that room he was holed-up in ( the hidden one in Ryan Amusements with all the small TV monitors ). 
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Wrong Side of the Tracks : Sinclair : "Ol' Pauper's Drop's the worst neighborhood in Rapture -- But it's a hell of an opportunity to raise up some ah, affordable housin'. When Atlantic Express was constructin' their luxury passenger line, this place was hollowed out beneath as flophouses for the railway crew. Nobody was s'posed ta reside down here long-term -- but when you're broke in this town, you're not exactly swimmin' in alternatives. I don't favor spendin' more than an hour or so down here at a time. There ain't a side of the tracks more wrong than under 'em."
When was this recorded ? Sounds like before he built his Sinclair Deluxe. AE was built fairly early in Raptures history ( was needed to make the City run, and probably to build it in the first place ). So those TEMPORARY 'flophouses' beneath happened at that time, and then get abandoned after the construction moves on (or later ceases). That then would be the time this 'Shantytown' grew up ( and before all the fancy neighborhood redevelopment stuff we see there ). If Sinclair is THERE, then it sounds as if he is there watching his construction ( but the seedy squatter elements aren't quite gone yet ).
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Profit Coming, Profit Going : Sinclair : "Now, I'm a modest man. But my piecemeal needle scam's an outright masterpiece : some slob shacked up here buys a box of syringe parts from me for twice what it's worth. He assembles 'em in his rathole, and I buy back the finished product ... for a dime against the dollar that I'll get from Ryan. Profit comin', profit goin'. Ol' Andy rambles on about the Great Chain ... I got people shellin' out to pull it for me!"
Still Sinclair IS paying for the labor involved. That one testimonial ( of a guy involved in this needle work ) that calls Sinclair the sucker for the 'scam' doesn't see any problem, and likes the flexibility of the "piecemeal" work. Remember all the OTHER overhead comes out of Sinclair's end ( BTW - expenses are subtracted BEFORE you count any 'Profit' --- for those who haven't a clue about how business works ). He's also supplying the money up front, and is the one taking the risk. 
Perhaps its because so many people these days are incredibly ignorant about how real business works that the writers though they could use THIS to present Sinclair as some evil meanie. Wait till they learn how much profit Apple gets for their toys, and might see how THEY are also part of a similar 'scam'. Ryan isn't stupid, and is likely NOT to overpay on Sinclair's syringes ... unlike the typical 'affluent' fad-driven Apple customer.
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Farther to Fall : Sinclair : "I do love Siren Alley. The kind of place you go to scratch an itch you're ashamed of -- even in a town with no laws. But that's not why I favor it. The place started out as the Mason's Quarter, all builders an' architects, proper as you please. An' it just tickles me when someone in a fancy hat falls in the mud. Like a lot of the ladies down here, Siren Alley was born with a more respectable name ... but only God remembers what it was."
Society still has standards of behavior and people in other areas didn't want certain thing happening in THEIR area (Google "Red Light District").
SO in Rapture you could make your own area and have the rules there be somewhat different from other areas.
Example of 'Redevelopment' and adjustment. As with most construction work needed in Rapture, it would be obvious to most anyone that 'masons' ( specialized construction workers/craftsmen, usually in Stone ) would eventually have had an economic downturn in their industry in Rapture (once building ceased for construction of the city ).
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Selling Ryan Short : Sinclair : "Persephone ... secret home o' Sinclair Solutions. I bet against Andy Ryan's vision o' harmony in Rapture -- offered him a quiet place to send anybody who wasn't workin' out. And now I'm sittin' on my own private think tank. Technically, Utopia shouldn't have much use for a detention facility ... but if you do business as long as I have... well, you learn to pick a brand name from the writin' on the wall. "
He predicted economic problems to surface ( Ryan never claimed there wouldn't be any )
Jails are always needed in society, but ADAM driving people insane was not expected. The mayhem ADAM caused required things to be 'handled'.
Ryan never called it a Utopia, just a place where parasites weren't welcome, nor cultivated.
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Sacrifices : Sinclair : "Things aren't so rosy for Lamb's little collective farm down here, no matter how much influence she's got with the inmates. She keeps feedin' Ryan more an' more o' her people for the Big Daddy program in order to keep the rest of her flock alive ... I think she's gettin' desperate. I oughta have Weir double the orderlies on all the major junctions."
Unfortunately when they unlocked all the doors there are too many for 'orderlies' to handle. 
Still its rather vague about whether people were simply taken (in Persephone) or that the candidates were the Criminally Insane and/or Severely Brain Damaged ( much likely caused by ADAM abuse ). 
Having Lamb do the 'volunteering' seems a bit heavy handed ( use her usual Svengali abilities the writers gave her to dispose of those 'not of use' to her plans ).
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Private Interests : Sinclair : " I hear often, "Mr. Sinclair, you just gotta heart o' stone... Don't you wanna share with your fellow man?" An' I tell 'em, listen ... I hail from sunny Panama... and my grand-daddy got himself drowned buildin' the Big Ditch. Went on an' on about doin' it for the "People." For the world entire ! Well, not for me, thank you. I came to Georgia to strike it rich, and Rapture all the moreso. You won't catch me blowin' my last bubble for any other personage ... plural or singular. "
How could his grandfather go on and on ( for Lil' Auggie to hear this himself ) ? Shouldn't Gramps have been dead drowned as a worker there at the Canal 40+ years earlier ?? How likely his grandfather could be a laborer ? More likely he some kind of engineer/manager to be working on that project at an advanced age ? The 'Gold' (white) workers could have their families there with them while working on the Panama Canal ( for gramps to be tellin his grandson ).
Is it second hand - related from some relative ? ( Bad Working "Went on an' on" sounds like a direct hearing by Augustus himself. )
In any case, is it evil (as the writers see it) for someone to say they would NOT want to get themselves killed for 'the betterment of other people' ?? Self-interest is a sin to the writers ? Why else stick this into the game. I doubt the gamemakers took no salary (let alone risked death) just to 'give all of us' this wonderful game ( 'Doin it for the Players.' )
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-REMOVED Audio Diary- All Family Now : Sinclair : " Lamb wouldn't call it grift, but her recruitment strategy is grade "A" flim-flam, an' I just have to tip my hat. She has her people splice a pile o' common genes into themselves ... like blood brothers, except it's the genuine article. You die to protect the others - but some o' you lives on in them. 'Collective gene loyalty', they call it. It's mostly a mind game, but it worked to unite 'em ... they're all "Family" now. "
Removed/Not-Used probably because the concept wasn't 'noble' enough, OR was a complication/confusion/contradiction of the 'utopian' thing (the ADAM is goin to the Utopian ...)
Also seems to talk of 'genetic' stuff ( hard to do until after she got control of Fontaine Futuristics, which was a later development ) instead of just using brainwashing/manipulation.
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-REMOVED Audio Diary- Rise of the Underdog : Sinclair : " Sofia Lamb's had her eye on Rapture for years, and now she's got it. She started preachin' unity an' brotherhood for the downtrodden right here in the Drop. This movement springin' up around her is almost a kinda old-time religion. Now these governors Lamb's got in charge would never'a seen power in Ryan's day. They're nobodies, really. But I used to raise spaniels - an' the only thing meaner than the top dog ... was the underdog when he'd just plain had enough."
Why removed ? Too 'explainy' ?? Again, it exposes Sofia Lamb as too much a manipulator ? Religion ? Would ruin some of the BS2 scenes, which then would have been redundant to explain it all this way.
Apparently recorded after Ryan was dead and Lamb has 'come out' of Persephone in Rapture's power vacuum/disorder. Sinclair apparently got 'run off' his property at that time. SO the state of The Sinclair Deluxe we see 5+ years later (in BS2) can be attributed to mismanagement by Lamb's minions ( despite the writers pretending it was HIS slum/tenemant ).
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-REMOVED Audio Diary- A Little Interview :
Sinclair: "How are you settling in, Doctor ? Persephone's got no shortage of nuts to crack, an' your congregation makes up the standin' majority. We need ya down here."
Lamb: "Yet I appear before you in chains. Tell me, Augustus -- does it comfort you to equate faith with madness?"
Sinclair: "No ma'am. God is the original hard-sell. You know it, and I know it. An' there's no better bluff with the hard-luck crowd than namin' the prime mover as your silent partner. I'm just blushin' that you got there first."
Implies that Sinclair might have tried the 'Religion Angle' ( Fontaine says something similar ).
REMOVED/NOT_INCLUDED Because its too complicated for the average Player ( who just wants to be shooting things ) ? Too much religion ?? Sofia Lamb misusing religion ( when writers perhaps want 'religion' to be the 'bad' thing, and Dr Sofia Lamb is for that Touchy-Feeley crap so popular these days ? ) Alludes to Ryan had simply locked up 'religious people' ?? Instead of members of a manipulated 'church' bent on taking over Rapture ( when other content contradicts that ) ? Redundant again ?
Players might not know that Prisons in the old days were expected to largely be self-supporting. Remember when they used to make Licence Plates in Prisons ( so prevalent it became a Cliche ), AND when you owned a car you had NEW plates made every year ? Sinclair's 'Think Tank' was mentioned, but they didn't really talk of him being involved in running Persephone on a 'day to day' basis. So this message was a bit too cozy for the narrative used in the game ?
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 "Atlantic Express" Sinclair's Radio Message to Delta :
Introduction and a Proposition : "Well, look at you! A bona fide knight in armor, complete with iron horse. The name's Augustus Sinclair, sport. Esquire. Ol' Tenenbaum an' I share an interest in the ol' Fontaine buildin', the very same place you'll find Eleanor Lamb. I think you an' I can do business. Take the train to Ryan Amusements. I'll see you shortly."
How was Sinclair able to see Delta ? Have info about Eleanor, etc... ? Sinclair musta had various places wired (Note those TVs in his HideeHole in Ryan Amusements). He did survive Lamb's murderous Regime ( avoiding it for years while in the vicinity of the area she controlled ), so he musta had alot of abilities/influence hardly even hinted at. Perhaps as the builder of Persephone, he knew all its secrets and coulda flooded/drowned the place in minutes if Sofia went after him ( Dead Man Switch mechanisms"Dead Man Switch" : A mechanism which without routine manual resetting then triggers. as 'Insurance' ... ) I'm sure the MMORPG could enlighten us about what that actual situation was.
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One of Sinclair's Pithy Sayings :
"You can make a City float, but you cannot make people stay in it."
"There are Infinite possibilities for selling Dog Vomit, if you know what you are doing."
"A smart man turns a too leaky building into an indoor fish farm."
"Why should I have a liquor store in Sinclair StationLater renamed 'Paupers Drop' when Sofia Lamb and her 'Family' was in charge. ? They either pay my rent or buy booze, but not both. I already have the hotel. "
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More (New) Sinclair Sayings : 
: "Like beating a herd of dead horses"
: "Like Spittle from a Drunken Clown"
: "Ryan like his Martinis, But I'm the one who finds the Olives"
Huh ? Sinclair's pithy sayings? (( Yet Another Player Contest ... ))
: " Think of me not as Wolf, I'm a Sheepdog herding Sheep "
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Wooden Nickels (Audio Diary) :
Sinclair : " Andrew Ryan. He reckoned the free market was some kinda holy spirit gonna lead us all over the rainbow -- and I reckon it's a big fat hooker too dim to spot a wooden nickel. So old Andy went an' became his own ghost, and I whittled nickels 'til I made a mint."
Implies that Sinclair still did significant business AFTER Ryan was dead ( in 1960 post-civil-war chaos ), which kind-of runs contrary to how wrecked Rapture supposedly was portrayed at that point. Did we get in the first BioShock, a run through of the disrupted parts of Rapture, by Atlas, because he kept us away from Ryan Loyalist controlled areas ? Did Atlas/Fontaine himself mostly stick to the 'Sewers', which he felt safe in, while the dragnet was looking for him ( with or without the Pheromone Control thing )? 
A 10,000 ADAM Bounty offered on Atlas (Dead or Alive) --- THAT woulda made him keep his head down, real real low ...
---- 
Maintenance Junction 17 ('Repair Yard') to Sinclair Deluxe : 
"at some point Sinclair realized that there was all this real estate down there that nobody was using for anything so he sublet or purchased it from Atlantic Express and built a low income housing area literally down under the Atlantic Express tracks."
The Fishbowl Diner, shops and 'building' facades looked a little too good/organized for 'temporary housing' for RR workers. Sinclair probably had whoever was squatting there evicted and developed the area ( paying workers to do the construction ) - Built it up with a moderate level of services/businesses for his targeted clientele ( which apparently there were a sufficient number of to pay his low rates -- a "Free Market" at work ). Its looking bad by BS2 time might be more the product of it being 'under 'new management' (collectivised) since the %27civil war%27 days and Sofia Lamb's seizing of power.
The Station became "Sinclair Deluxe" ( and earned a station marker on the Atlantic Express map that was eventually scratched off by Lamb's followers ). The station facilities there you see are extensive, hardly something for a maintenance stop ( if it were for employees-use-only then why have triple ticket counters ? ). Only many passengers originating there would warrant that much station infrastructure, so Sinclair Deluxe ( the hotel and the rest of the properties ) must have had significant working population. Sign : "After the Theater, Come to The Limbo Room ..." implies a 'Night-life' element to some of the passenger traffic ( The AE was actually more like a city subway system ). The Reliable Pharmacy there was a Ryan-owned enterprise ( hardly a business you would find in something built as a 'Hooverville' ). The Jet Postal station in Sinclair Deluxe lobby - again not exactly a shoddy slum.
Interesting point of 'squatters' -- Where else are they in Rapture ( before things really fell apart ) -- Sinclair would not have been the only entrepreneur to see an opportunity in supplying low-end housing. Some people still likely could not even pay his low rates ( and later wound up in Atlas's 'home for the poor' ) - tenements in Apollo Square area look purpose built as very 'low-end' ( compare them to the better Sinclair Deluxe ).
City of 20000+ people ... WERE there really that many such 'poor' places or are we getting a disproportionate sampling shown to us in the game ?? ( and they ARE shown worse for wear, long after the economic distress stopped maintenance --- like the Sinclair Deluxe where Lamb's followers don't seem to bother with doing any 'maintenance' or 'upkeep' -- It is actually amazing THAT much of it is still livable ).
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I know Where Sinclair was Hiding : 
In Ryan Amusements, right above that cubbyhole storage-room Sinclair emerged from, up on the Atlantic Express sign is the front end of a Metro car (a decoration). That would make a perfect Bat Cave (circa 1939) 'spiderhole' for someone with the connections to pre-arrange for it ( Sinclair may have finagled part of the construction contracting ). A hidden ladder would access from that room below...
Sinclair's life in Rapture post-Kashmir might make an interesting story. Fill-ins like this for Rapture's history and of its main characters would be a likely part of the MMORPG ( and would require careful vetting by the company to keep the whole web of stories cohesive ). The 'Movers and Shakers' stories define the framework that all the game's little stories revolve around.
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Paupers Drop - What is it Really :
Sinclair constructed the Sinclair Deluxe when ? ( I think ~1952 because I think that's when there was a big opportunity and some significant economic shifts in the City) . All normalcy stopped 1960 (if not 1959) with the civil war/post-civil-war chaos (I'm assuming ). Sinclair is no longer affiliated with The Sinclair Deluxe - sometime after Sofia Lamb/Rapture Family got in control ( damage and dereliction ... thus THAT is hard to blame on Sinclair, when we ONLY see it years later, long after he had anything to do with it ). The place was no Taj Mahal, as it WAS constructed with lower RENT intended ( has anyone opine'd otherwise ? ). I would guess that an economic slump brought lower overall construction wages and material costs - bargains Sinclair would use to build his 'affordable' hotel ( and probably the redevelopment of the whole area) at less expense (likely making for the lower rents he planned to offer to get lots of customers ).
It doesn't look like Paupers Drop (ex-Maintenance Junction 17) was ORIGINALLY built with Art Deco building fronts in it and businesses, to THEN be reverted to Grace's accusatory "Hooverville'". I don't know how many Rail Yards/maintenance yards anyone else has ever been to, but THEY aren't filled with fancy Art Deco NYC downtown buildings. No, it would have been just a concrete service well ( look up around inside there in Paupers Drop ) - Under The Tracks - which became a squatter's camp ( containing people who lost everything because of some Economic distress - either personal or systemic in the city ). 
I doubt very much Sinclair would build a Hotel in the middle of it - IF the locale had remained a hobo-jungle. THUS the reasoning of the place getting significant redevelopment simultaneous with the Sinclair Deluxe being built - THUS accounting for the Art Deco flash we saw the remains of around there.
SO its only logical Sinclair rebuilt it as an investment ( and getting other to invest ). Then THAT got rundown during/after the 'civil war'/Chaos/Lamb Regime.
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Sinclair is Blamed for Many Things :
His 'Think Tank' in Persephone was limited. Only the people sent there for Sedition or common crimes were available to him and only a small fraction had the skills/knowledge applicable ( and then only those he could convince to work for him and weren't psychotic ). He didn't run Fontaine Futuristics (post-1958 post-Fontaine) and Ryan's opinion of him made it sure he didn't. He was probably more involved in Persephone's therapy programs, trying to stabilize the criminally insane Splicers at least enough to not require expensive containment ( He could get ahold of (hire) non-criminal psychiatric specialists for that ).
He is blamed for various Little Sister and Big Daddy project involvement, but again that is mostly Fontaine Futuristics run by Fontaine and later Ryan (or his proxies). He supplied subjects for experimentation, but that was a voluntary system ( and still actually common in the USA at that time ). Very possibly, for those destined to become Big Daddies, the most insane Splicers may have become the largest number of subjects ( ADAM being paid as the inducement, instead of R$ ). More than a few Splicers realized their state and this was one way to end their situation - and Sinclair would accommodate them.
If I were Sinclair and expecting to return to the Surface to make a real fortune, I would concentrate on Brain Boost with my limited research resources, as the biggest possible payoff ( and being a Tonic, it having a lower incidence of insanity and with development a possibility of eliminating side effects ). Sinclair, being clever, probably would have done this. Immediate results would have been an improved 'Think Tank' to work on profitable schemes in the interim. His group's later work was a significant part of the Vita-Chamber development ( probably those specialists not applicable to genetic work ).
----
Sinclair the 'Evil' Capitalist ?? :
Writers painting Sinclair's activities as 'ethically-questionable' capitalism ?? Like what ? First let's see that their pretended Sinclair Deluxe 'swindle' is hooey, What OTHER evidence is there to support this 'unethical' accusation? 
* Sinclair's piecemeal work done by a cripple, who even calls Sinclair a sucker for giving him the easy work ? Is it providing Low End products (low cost) for consumers to choose? 
* OMG!!! There were needles in with the cheap (gift shop) Teddy Bear packing material !!!! SUCH EVIL !!!!!!!!!!! Why that should happen is an absurd occurrence, as the guy working with needles isn't doing Teddy Bears, and anyone who loses sewing needles all the time will not produce many assembled items. ) 
* Is it him Running ( and building ... ) a 'secret' Gulag/Jail/Prison/Insane-Asylum for the City ? !!! (( "WHAT A SWINDLE -- THAT DAMNED SINCLAIR !!!!!!!!!" shrieks the nitwits ... )) 
Remember HE had to compete ( this isn't Fink in Columbia ), and simple market forces would eliminate his business IF his stuff was too shoddy for the asked price. 
It is more shown (IMO) that Sinclair was just better at business than others ( making stuff cheaper to sell to more customers, and probably finding the niches many where he could do so ). Similarly, if he 'cheated' his workers, they could go elsewhere ( and you could have seen News articles about that ) - He didn't hold them in thrall at gunpoint like Fontaine did. As I've said before, (IMO) its more an illogical contrived smear of Sinclair for plot reasons ( Make you think he's another 'Pal'ly Atlas leading you astray ).
So these implication of 'ethically questionable' ... They don't hold up. I don't see them as supported logically/factually ( They are a crude/inept/lazy smear 'to Make a Point' - and are rather feeble to anyone who knows anything about real business practices and commercial history ). 
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Did Persephone Start This Way ????
A consolidated Jail/Prison/Asylum seems a good idea with Fontaine's poison turning citizens into cray/violent criminals, no?
An expansion AND saving expenses ( which Ryan would definitely like ).
Sorry writers, it is kinda hard to keep such a monstrous place as Persephone a 'secret'. Hundreds of workers to build it, thousands of tons of materials to be obtained, transported and used to build it, the staff to run it ... It was just bad illogical writing done to facilitate and continue the story that Ryan was some kinda tyrant with his own Gulag. 
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The GAME Writer's Sinclair Deluxe 'Tenement' Scam:
Under Sofia Lamb it might be a tenement ( its labeled such on the player maps ). Under Sinclair, years earlier, it looked to be a reasonably good place. So the poorly laid impression is a scam on the Player.
The Game writers are attempting to smear Sinclair in the Players eyes. They continue to allude to Sinclair being a callous capitalist a cheat/whatever - THAT distortion is a writers clumsy con job to force that idea ( probably to make you doubt him as you SHOULD have doubted Atlas ). Unfortunately they are rather incompetent when there is evidence before the Players eyes to counter that opinion. 
We see in the BS1 1960 timeframe lots of Rapture, we see even the Ritziest bits are in poor brokendown/wreched condition. SO was all of Rapture built out of 'cheap materials' as the writers accuse Sinclair of building his "Sinclair Deluxe" Hotel ?? The interiors of The Sinclair Deluxe are in quite better style and shape than that bare tenement of "Fontaine's Home for the Poor".
Oh yes there is damage. BUT we get to see the Sinclair Deluxe MANY years later (BS2 ~1968), with Sinclair long gone, and Sofia Lamb and 'the Rapture Family' ( the actual current slumlords ) being in charge. The place showing about the equivalent destruction/decrepitude as many other places we saw many years before in BS1 .
The Deluxe's interiors (fireplaces yet !!) were significantly ABOVE mediocre/low quality. With a AE RR Station to commute to work from, it might not have been a bad option for many people in Rapture (and Sinclair WOULD plan on that, particularly if he saw a need and built it after Rapture's original building boom was over, and materials and labor were available at a much lower cost.) The neighborhood BACK THEN looked quite better than any alluded to "Hooverville" ( and your NEED to imagine it in much better shape in 1958, versus 1967 ). You have local shops and the diner, etc ... ( Next to the unseen (removed from game) 'Sinclair Spirits' (part of a separate Sinclair smear), there was likely an unseen Sinclair Grocery Store ). 
Poor people trapped ? You would have "working poor" there utilizing what must have been a lower rent for seemingly adequate apartment space ( in the years Sinclair ran it ). Employed people thus could have the choice of buying more stuff, or having kids, or paying for advancement training, for saving up money, etc ... Lower Rent allowed choice for use of the money his customers saved from not being in more expensive accommodations. That bookseller ( and his wife in that ginned up sob story on that Audio Diary ) was living there, and THAT was a local shop owner. 
NOTE - If the game writers really wanted to besmear Sinclair as a slumy hardcase flophouse owner, they could have shown a REAL WORLD lowest quality Victorian flophouse, having just open bare rooms, with ropes hung between the walls, on which rows of packed in down-n-out customers hung sleeping(arms hung over the ropesgoogle it - that was real 'flophouse'). That would have been a sight more reflecting Sofia Lamb's actual care for people. IF they wanted to make The Sinclair Deluxe a craphole, the writers failed miserably.
The vagueness/brevity of the Audio Diaries strikes again. They generally don't really elaborate on WHEN they were recorded, or of the exact situation they are talking about). Paupers Drop was no doubt originally little more than an ad hoc hobocamp/favela 'under the tracks' - transitioning from a RR workcamp, to a place where some of Rapture's destitute people found shelter ( NOTE - I have an Early Economic Distress theory set around 1953 causing that ). That was likely well worse situation - beyond being a 'slum'. But then that area appears to have been redeveloped with real money behind it. Sofia Lamb might spring for a soup kitchen, but not any capitalistic enterprises that we saw evidence of there. Such large scale development sounds like Sinclair's doing. Including, besides his brand new 'Hotel', other things also done to improve the locale to help bring in (more than indigent) customers for his 'affordable housing'. 
The area probably had a better (re)naming ( like "Sinclair Station" or "Opportunity Corners" or somesuch ). Years later (BS2) we see "Paupers Drop" (regaining its old name ? ) in a quite deteriorated Sofia Lamb era socialist state. Even by BS1 gametime, most of Rapture looks pretty 'slummy', damaged, rundown, decrepit. 
Generally Splicers are not the "This Old House" DIY types. It got run down, with us only seeing it AFTER the bad BS1 times. What is there hints at how spiffy the whole location might have once looked. The under siege look we saw in BS2 certainly wasn't what the area looked like back in the Pre-Kashmir attack 'Good Ole Days'.
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HOOVERVILLE!!! - Shantytown, Oh Shantytown !!! :
SLUM . SLUM . SLUM SLUM . SLUM . SLUM . SLUM SLUM ( sung to the "Spam" song from Monty Python )
From a conversation with someone who was trying to equate the Sinclair Deluxe with some ancient Slum in England :
Looking at a video ( Slums in England 1900 ) Comparing it to 'Shantytown' or to The Sinclair Deluxe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K55zeoyAokE
1) "The Woodwork hasn't been painted for generations" -- The video's direct quote -- a clue as to the time span of those old 'slum' buildings there being talked about ( being pre-WWI also was mentioned ).
2) 1935 utilities ( and if video is 1935 then alot of the buildings are from far earlier ) - electricity was relatively new and expensive, gas likewise ( used more for illumination, not heating ). Burning in a fireplace a necessity ( Note - NOT in Rapture - its actually there a luxury ).
3) Most such places did not have running water, often a tap at the end of street and outhouses ( communal facilities we didn't see in Sinclair Deluxe ).
4) Its unlikely that gunfights and war quite went on in the English slums there shown ( We still saw those Barricades in the game, which was a logical cause for ALOT of the damage seen - being due to mass violence ).
5) The video's slum scenes look more like Fontaine's Home for the Poor (by far).
6) Film being done during Depression era Britain. Not really mentioned was : How many people were even employed - this is still typically 'Welfare State' housing ( which 'Sinclair's' was not - he built it for people who could pay )
7) "Living in one room" - How many of the apartments seen in the Sinclair Deluxe were only one room ? If he wanted to 'pack em in', slumlord Sinclair really did a very lousy job of design for that purpose.
8) If anything, the video's proposed NEW replacement modern (reform) facilities look MORE like what Sinclair HAD built. ( Though you need to see what those 1930s replacements themselves LATER looked like -- by the 1960s/1970s )
I don't think this video is a particularly effect piece of evidence (the slum part) - find something more 1950s/1960s America to compare Shantytown to would be better ( like infamous FAILZOID 'Projects' Housing built by Socialist Big Government ).
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Not ROOSEVELTVILLES ?? ( I wonder why ... )
The 'Hoovervilles continued to grow during Roosevelt's many years in office, some of them lasting until WW2. The so called 'New Deal' really wasn't one, and Americans' lives got worse when the money Roosevelt had handed out quickly RAN OUT.
WE Need to create some pithy sayings that Sinclair had about THAT.
"Suckers are the people who allow themselves to be Paid to NOT Work. Its a fine Leash."
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Allegations that Sinclair Was a 'Booze Pusher' : 
The writers did the usual inept hit-job upon Sinclair - allegedly to paint him as a questionable character. He is to made to look ( to current Player's eyes ) to be taking advantage of his 'Hotel' residents ( based on limited (Audio Diaries) evidence - a simpleton's too-literal interpretation of Sinclair's colorful language ) :
It is hard to reason this booze-pushing with a strangely non-existent "Sinclair Spirits" in Paupers Drop ( note that REMOVED Audio Diary mentioned above ). Alcohol was available ALL OVER Rapture anyway. "Discount" it everywhere would be Sinclair's business tactic to get a market share. 
Alcohol was implied as used by him to keep his 'slum' renters captive, as he catered to them with the cheapest place in town (Short of being 'on the Streets'). But if those people already don't have much money, then losing them as Renters ( Can't pay and you are out ... Ooh that Meanie!! ) just to gain some at a liquor store ?? -- That doesn't make business sense. Making them worse than they already were by instilling Alcoholism ? ( People who lose their jobs soon can't pay rent. ) Again, hardly makes business sense. 
Actually a High-Falootin place like "Sinclair Spirits" (seen in Poseidon Plaza) wouldn't fit in Paupers Drop. Smarter would be to sell the Booze at a LOCAL Grocery Store business that also sold everything else (discounted or otherwise) -- THAT would have been a better business move. The writers had that commonly seen type of business missing ( even when the Sinclair Deluxe apartments HAD kitchens needing groceries ).
-
Generally it was implied (anecdotal sob stories) that Sinclair allegedly made a fortune through spin and exploitation - that many of his costumers consisted of the most vulnerable of Rapture. But CONSIDER the breadth of his businesses :
* He manufactured Plasmids didn't he ? - if they were they substandard it would have been shown. 
* He bought and processed Scrap metal (DLC) ... 
* He did Research for other Tech companies (including Ryan's). 
* He produced and sold cheap toys to Tourist-site gift shops ( AND gave the owner a 'really good deal' ). 
* He built a Jail/Prison/Asylum Facility for the City (and sort-of ran it).
* He built and ran a good sized Hotel for people who couldn't afford other places, or it was cheaper so to give those people options with the rest of their money ( and NO it wasn't a 'slum' when HE was renting out rooms there - the apartments were quite substantial/well-appointed - go look at them ... ).
* The area labeled 'Paupers Drop' looks to have been built up/improved/redeveloped - likely due to Sinclair improving the neighborhood property values.
* Any who couldn't afford his place would still just find another 'maintenance tunnel' to inhabit ( the Sinclair Deluxe had paying customers ) . 
* He employed cripples gainfully.
* Persephone Prisoners rented for 'testing' ( as mentioned - a common practice in the Real World at that time (( BTW, where is the rest of that story to have enough evidence to make a proper judgement ? )) ) 
* BOOZE ?? OMG, He sold booze !!!! Rapture was 'floating in' Booze if you hadn't noticed. Sinclair also had that upscale place in Poseidon Plaza. 
* OMG - He asked a woman for the rent that was DUE - How evil !!!!! ( Was this the kind of thing the writers thought should convince the Players he was a swindler/evil ? ) 
The game's writers were VERY selective/manipulative about making it look like all his profits came from swindles/unethical practices ( Like ignoring actual necessities of operating a REAL business - which many Players, ESPECIALLY TODAY, don't even realize happen ). Much of what Sinclair sold DID have competition, and he is shown aiming at some lower quality products to be sold at a lower price (( You Walmart much ?? )). 
Is he 'evil' because he made a profit ? Maybe to some people THAT is 'exploitation', and the game (its writers) plays to such foolishness ignorance, which is actually very common today.
The game writers were playing Very LOOSE (It IS a 'Shooter' game after all, and not a documentary) with its settings basis being a 70 year old version of the Real World (from the late 1940s and 50s). Rapture was based on a well documented society/culture ( It is based on a recognizable/familiar worl d system/society - at leas t to those who see old movies or lived through it, or know a little history ). The setting reflects well known social patterns/conventions/thinking and motivations/actions and perspectives and historical references ( that whole Nostalgia thing ). It was meant to be only an icing layer's difference from the historic world. Familiar world-filling details don't need to be explained as much in-game to the Players ( so allows more depth with less work and less confusion ). 
THEN that normalish 'known' type of fictional world setting is subjected to a new Sci-Fi phenomenon, responding how the writers THINK could have happened in THAT scenario. 
Unfortunately, these games are limited to be a gunfight forcing 'story' in a contrived dystopic world with some kind of character involvement wedged in between. The BioShock game writers DO seem to frequently discard/warp/omit significant aspects from the Real World. Perhaps it was easier/less-effort for them to simply skip it, and likewise whenever some real world logic got in the way of that plot they'd decided on. 
IF it had been a much more Fantasy-basis society, then they could just say : "Its what we say it is" ( like what Infinite BS degenerated into ). But in Rapture, the games serious intent was to be heavily based on a recognizable nostalgic past. So they couldn't get away with that in those earlier (Rapture) games. 
Consider : When gamemakers have limited/wasted-their budget/time/expertise, and have no priority/desire to try to keep things pure/kosher/logical, you get : Infinite BS - with "Its ONLY a game" as their defense for the incoherent mess they created.
--- --- ---
Sinclair's Diverse Products 
Sinclairs.jpg
--- --- ---
Why Did The Writers of BS2 Dump on Sinclair ? :
Sinclair, who had pride in his own ability to create wealth, wouldn't begrudge others their chance to make their own wealth ( unlike those like Fontaine, who ultimately wanted to steal the wealth and power of others ). Sinclair did seem to have disdain for those who had wealth but who hadn't seemed to have done anything to create it, and those who stupidly wasted theirs.
--- --- ---
YET ANOTHER CONTEST CATEGORY : "SAYINGS OF SINCLAIR" :
"Trying to find useful materials in Rapture is Work 'Harder than a cat trying to bury a turd on a marble floor' " - Augustus Sinclair
"Ryan is too big to see the Trees, An' I know how to sell Trees ..."
--- --- ---
Sinclair Offering Delta Advice on 'Eating Little Sisters for their ADAM" :
" Their brainz is the tastiest part of them, Sport. Add some Cajun Pepper and that makes for some rather fine eatin ... "
Sinclair's philosophy maintains that he should see to his own survival over that of others, and I get the impression that they (the game writers) try to present that as 'bad' to the Player.
Yet in the game YOU (as Delta) kill hundreds of people ( Splicers are still people if you don't want to split hairs ) supposedly to get to what YOU seek (Eleanor). Are you given a choice ? You could make an excuse that YOU are compelled to do this, so you bear little guilt. The game doesn't let you go very far if you refuse to kill again and again, and YOU are NOT given many tools to get very far without being required to kill, WHICH if they (the game developers) wished they very well could have supplied HAVING that choice available for the Player ( BUT, THEY DIDN'T ).
Hypocrisy ? Alot of hype about 'choice' from Levine & Co, but little actually to be had ? Denounce 'evil' characters, yet force the Player into the very same evils ? To provide Players with that versatility, it is hard skilled writing work and costs alot of effort, but remember this is SUPPOSED to be a game with 'moral choice' and 'story' ... NO ?
--- --- ---
Sinclair Smeared ? :
Sinclair didn't believe in The Great Chain in the way Ryan did, and did things largely for himself. Was that why Ryan disliked him ? But isn't what Sinclair did exactly what the Great Chain entails - Where his Achievements for his own good/benefit pulled others forward as a byproduct ?? ( Not HAVING to be be a direct motivation, or some kind of 'Altruism' ). Fontaine was an out and out Crook, yet the game shows (Audio Diaries) Ryan actually being impressed by Fontaine's actions (That may have been before Ryan knew that Fontaine was the city's biggest Smuggler, or before many of Fontaine's thuggish business practices were realized). But Sinclair, who Ryan uses repeatedly for more than a little of his dirty work, is somehow looked down upon (or so the selection of Audio Diaries appears to indicate).
Was this all some effort in the BS2 game to misleadingly smear your 'ally'/'mentor' Sinclair ... instilling some distrust, THAT after in BS1 they (the game writers) MADE Atlas so 'nice' (to the Player) to easily manipulate and lead YOU around like a dog on a leash. That game was designed to lay the empathy on thick, to push YOU along their plot line ( including into doing (MURDERING RYAN) what Ryan was supposedly accused of being 'evil'/bad/a-tyrant-for ).
The same smearing goes for Sinclair somehow wanting to 'arm' people ( in his Home Defense Product Testing ) who really would want to kill him (Atlas's terrorists). (( That can be de-emphasized as Canon because it was sloppily used to facilitate the Multi-player DLC subplot )).
--- --- ---
Toys Sold 'Cheap' ? :
'Evil' Sinclair is making people make toys/etc.. and making a buck off it. How dastardly of him ...
Reference should be made that the 'cheap labor' might be the effect of cutting out the middleman. If people in Paupers Drop don't want the offered jobs, they don't have to take them. Rapture for all its advanced technology and appearance of a Big City is still the size of a small town, and does not warrant assembly line production for many products. SO, hand labor would be much more common, and it is fully possible that the laborer could make as much or more money as classic assembly line workers did. The flexibility of working at home was another bonus to a worker, as well as being able to do it part time. 60-70 years ago people were commonly still doing this kind of work, the writers needed to seriously get their 'Heads into that Era' a bit more.
--- --- ---
Sinclair Found Niches ... :
In the real world : http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/12/10/0051220/brain-cells-made-from-urine
I had joked writing that Sinclair bought the concession for processing Human Waste (in sewage) to recycle ADAM (a business opportunity apparently that might not be so appetizing to Ryan) --- Being paid for the collection service as well as for selling the 'byproducts' (fertilizer would be a valuable product in self-sufficient Rapture).
"Profits IN and Profits OUT"
Then low and behold, in the real world, reprocessing of Stem Cells from bodily wastes ( Adult Stem Cell technology ).
Stem Cell therapy would be part of 'the Cure' process used to rebuild a Splicer's tissue damage ( but not the way that ADAM does ), and as part of the 'no death' mechanism for a MMORPG - The way that Players get healed after 'losing' ( someone dragging your corpse/dying body back to civilization in New Rapture ).
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BS2 - Why Should Ryan Show (Some) Admiration for Fontaine While Disparaging Sinclair ?? :
More Strawman rubbish from the later Devs, when Ryan most certainly SHOULD/WOULD have already known what a scum-bucket/criminal Fontaine was already ??? Fontaine's unlawful gangsterism could hardly be kept secret in Free Press Rapture.
Ryan thought Sinclair was an opportunist ? And somehow Fontaine was not ? Sinclair might not have believed in 'The Great Chain' the same way Ryan did, but was still in business for himself and his own advancement -- Which was STILL a large part of Ryan's Philosophy, and Sinclair went ALONG with and supported and made work Ryan's system, instead of trying to break it as Fontaine did.
Are the writers implying that Sinclair cheated people ? Yes they did. And no he didn't. Yet DID they ever actually showed any real evidence of that ? It was only Half-Explaining to so many ignorant Players how business works - Done to intentionally distort the situation to smear Sinclair.
The writers have SAID that 'Let the Buyer Beware' WAS the watchword in Rapture's Philosophy -- That is Where YOU are responsible for your own decisions. And Free Speech was not blocked in Rapture ( That is the traditional COUNTER-BALANCE to manage a 'Let the Buyer Beware' system - where REPUTATION prevented abuse. ) 
Sinclair a 'Huckster' ? Ryan would understand that small businesses/niches would make up more of Rapture's Economy than the larger Big-Market-type industries up in The Surface World (the ones Rapture was far too small to actually support).
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THIS IS Inconsistency from Game Developers who have to make their characters mouth whatever they found convenient to set the tone they were contriving ... More 'Laying It On Thick' to make Sinclair out as a dodgy character - While forcing a simpleton-style condemnation of Capitalism (and Ryan) at the same time.
Part of the puzzle/challenge of the MMORPG will be trying to resolve/repair such original inconsistencies.
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Sinclair Mystery :
Mis-made Assumptions - If Sinclair wanted to 'sell' Rapture to the Surface, why did he hang around for 10 years ( it really doesn't make sense ). He appears to be a man with a sense of self preservation. He would have resources. He should have managed a way out years previous ( to BS2 ) unless there were other reasons. It is quite likely he may have squirmed out of his game-shown fate in BS2 ( some quaint saying about 'playin possum' no doubt ). Ten years to make the Vita-Chamber work for him ( and he WAS one of that systems developers ... ) SO its not to hard a stretch. The expanded Lore of Rapture could explain this and other things. 
Consider : The BS1/BS2 developers had problems making most of the story cohesive. They had to wait until more details had been filled-in which explained the repeatedly changing 'larger story'. Fitting it all together required more decisions and effort, instead of it being "It would be neat for this to happen, so lets just add it to the plot". 
The MMORPG story will possibly need some 'twists and turns' to get everything to fit. Fortunately, many of the story details (we heard) are from second-hand sources - some quite biased and also limited to what that person was able to see. We also can use the fact that many could have been mentally destabilized through ADAM use.
Sinclair was actually a technologist on par with Suchong/Tenenbaum/Gilbert Alexander/etc... He was instrumental in the work on the Vita-Chambers, which was an advanced and significantly different ( need I say revolutionary ) technology - combining Pharmaceuticals (Sinclair's specialty), Ryan's Power technology ( sourced from his Ryan connection ) as well as various ADAM related technologies ( adapted for this different 'external use' ). He also was likely adept at managing other people to reach his goals ( like his captive 'Brain Trust' in Persephone ).
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Sinclair Technology Developments :
Previously mentioned - Bio-Electronics - use of biological tissue with its evolution perfected mechanisms to do useful things which even Real World transistors (X-isters) technology would take decades to produce.
Sinclair had made a fortune on the Surface in pharmaceuticals, and he had his hand into the ADAM technologies in Rapture. Thus he would be a logical candidate to be one of the developers/collaborators of the Bio-electronic products. He would know about the use of computers and the potential of electronics. Bio-Electronics tech opened up a shortcut into producing many useful new products to sell. His 'Think-Tank' operation in Persephone would drop some cheap/persuadable expertise into his hands ( a handful of useful inmates for his Think Tank ). 
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Sinclair's Logic Advancement (Bio-Electronics) :
Groups of nerve cells could be shaped via 'training' to fulfill certain logic patterns ( including some of great complexity ) which subsequently could be converted (baked) into electronic devices. Shaving the cell pattern with a Micro Lathe to duplicate a 'trained' pattern numerous times could increase the 'yield' (slicing certain materials extremely thin was one of the secrets in pharmaceutical production processes). Procedures used to mass produce vaccines and antibiotics could be employed to produce cheap useful circuitry.
McClendon and others had built computers in the fashion of the Surface World designs (Tubes, then X-isters). They were expensive, huge, clumsy and a maintenance headache. Sinclair could develop and sell them newly developed processes which allowed component miniaturization with much greater complexity at a fraction of the cost of the 'big iron' computers.
The significantly lowered price and growing utility led to a greater use of computers for business and research, as well as myriad other control uses for consumer goods and industrial systems. As computers for research were combined with Brain Boost for the designers/programmers, other technologies/production also pushed forward more rapidly.
The bio-electronic cell technology was different from the 'digital' methods the Surface World computers used - It could handle both binary and analog data. Biological neural analogs could be employed, where a few dozen modified nerve cells with their thousands of weighted interconnected inputs could do complex logical functions, which would otherwise take tens of thousand of X-isters in a large rack of conventional circuit boards. ADAM was used to force/guide natural nerve cells into special formations like Grids (memory) which would be used to temporarily store quantities of processing Data information or to hold sequences of command Instructions for the computer to execute.
Building block circuits could be standardized and mass-produced with custom logic being done only when needed. The sub-circuits would be assembled into larger modules upon a more conventional substratum to which external signal lines and power conduits would be connected.
An particular innovation by Sinclair was : To use a 'Comp-u-ter' itself in a process to Train/Grow ADAM-controlled nerve cell circuitry - using repetitive stimuli/adjustments employed to shape the cell network for the desired function (something quite tedious to do by hand). Microfilm conditioning programs could be fed into the training machines to produce a wide range of pre-designed logic functions. Machine Controller devices of all kinds could thus be made by others like McClendon. Various methods could be used to simultaneously train multiple circuits to aid in mass production.
(( Note - this is a example of collaboration between geniuses to produce/improve a technology - Something that happens constantly in the Real World ))
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MMORPG - Bring Sinclair Back ??? ( Did he Ever Actually Leave ?? ) ... He knows something... Tenenbaum needs Something... :
Sinclair wasn't actually killed by Delta - He was in a simulator ( weirded-out/disoriented/drugged/fed information Sofia wanted him to see/hear - like Sofia Lamb employed upon so many of her 'followers' ... ) while another 'conditioned' Alpha ran about with that Key ( which Sofia obviously wanted Delta to get ) which subsequently was killed ( this all is plausibly mentioned elsewhere ). Sinclair might have been a little too valuable for Lamb to waste that way, or it just wasn't possible to turn him into such a complacent robot in so ridiculously short a time .
Another sub-plot to bring back one of the most beloved BioShock characters who WASN'T a mass murderer...
Preferably, Sinclair will be more than a 'brain in a jar' kinda thing.
His story of survival will be harrowing and fascinating, no doubt (and the backstory of his existence during the Lamb Pestilence (as he calls it) - all told in his own genteel words).
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Sinclair Sold Plasmids to Both Sides In the 'civil war' ( Dat Evil Meany !!! ) :
Yes, and in cooperation With Andrew Ryan :
How else was the Pheromone Control add-on supposed to take control of Atlas's Splicers ( who otherwise would ONLY use Fontaine's stockpile of unmodified Plasmids ) ? If there were no customers left alive in Rapture later, Sinclair would not be able to make any profits. Ryan would re-establish order and Rapture would be rebuilt, offering numerous business opportunities to Sinclair, whose production skills were quite versatile and innovative.
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Sinclair Has Derisive Comments About the Inhabitants of His 'Hotel' :
Sinclair constantly uses colorful phrases to express himself, and is frequent disdainful of what he sees. So it is a mistake to take what he says literally, instead of reading it in a more understanding way. SO 'slum' and 'rathole' are his derisive comments about the less than affluent accommodations ('rathole' is probably more a comment about the piecemeal worker type person in that set of Audio Diaries). Anyone who can't realize that his comments are hardly literal, and keep insisting that they are - they have my sympathies.
We also don't know when he made this 'slum' (Audio Diary) statement. After the 'civil war' started ? After people just start living in his Hotel for free because of the disorder ? (And treating the place the way people who 'squat' in places usually do - shitting in the corners). He was kicked out by Sofia Lamb's minions eventually - Might this (Linky Audio Diary) be a comment sometime after that ? You can't really say that is not the case.
If you go by In-Game evidence (Yes, lets actually try to do that) - take a look at the accommodations actually IN the Hotel that we see :
* Rather better accommodations than your mid-range hotels/apartments these days.
* Fireplaces ? Who goes to the expense of putting fireplaces in apartments/rooms meant for low-grade tenant/rentals ?
* Rather nice (originally) wallpaper
* Rooms with PRIVATE 'accommodations' - rather that communal ones - 'down the hall' (like in Fontaine's flophouses).
* I've seen "slums" ... THIS AIN'T A SLUM (Fontaine's places 'for the poor' are SLUMS - intentionally as he wanted them as his pawns, and NOT to actually help them)
* Big holes blasted through walls (product of 'civil war' fighting ? Or of fighting when Sofia Lamb took over ???)
* Collapsing structure ? Sorry that's on Lamb's 'watch' (7 years since, by BS2 ), not Sinclair's.
SO Not quite built as a slum was it ? (a wholly illogical assumption).
Try to get your head around the fact that the BS2 appearances are YEARS after Sinclair has had anything to do with the place, and the battles (appear to have taken place inside) MIGHT POSSIBLY have something to do with much of the damage we see. (Ritzy (well built ?) parts of Rapture we saw in BS1 look equally damaged or FAR worse). SO it is merely a Splicer-Mental assumption (or Lamb propaganda) that : "The way the place (Sinclair Deluxe) looks is because its was created as a 'cheap' 'slum', and was intended that way by that evil slumlord Sinclair" (Yet another game writer smear against Capitalists ...).
Maybe perceptions of graduations of appearance is a problem ? Fontaine's Home for the Poor - That's by far closer to being a 'slum' (go revisit that place which we saw in BS1 nearly a decade earlier to see what REAL crappy accommodations look like -- Visualize what that place looked like before its battle damage (actually pretty much the same !!!) - Note the prevalence of communal facilities ...).
Sinclair did build the "Sinclair Deluxe" for cheaper/affordable ("on a Welders Wages"...) accommodations than the rest of Rapture ( probably a good business opportunity consistent with his history ) - Built to be affordable for working people and their families ( 'indigent people' can't pay rent ). It DOES NOT have the appearance of a place to 'Pack-In' as many poor/indigent welfare state dependents as your typical 'slum' is today (it has individual bathroom facilities, good-sized multiple rooms, kitchens, fireplaces, wallpaper, windows, decorations -- and was apparently built NEWLY that way for the expected 'clientele' ).
The whole 'Paupers Drop' (before it was called that) area was obviously built up/redeveloped/revitalized since before, when it was just 'a Maintenance Facility under the tracks', and a "Hooverville" squatter camp (Note AGAIN : Its damaged state IS seen IN BS2 times, after the 'civil war' and Lamb's depredations, and her subsequent mis-running of the place for many years). The 'Shithole' moniker is thus Lamb's legacy - hopelessness under HER delusional/murderous regime.
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SO the game verbiage trying to imply the place was a swindle by Sinclair is faulty and contrary to visible evidence, and unsupportable by any misuse of comments made by Sinclair in Audio Diaries.
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Was Sinclair's "Alpha Conversion" Just Another of Sofia's Lies/Manipulations ? :
First, it is Quite a bit too fast to get Sinclair grafted into a suit (just the work to do that isn't trivial, assuming they even had the parts all ready to go and it was all to be done at THIS facility ?? Not Point Prometheus). Fitting, Surgery, Treatments, Whatever mechanics/electronics are needed...
And then to get him all Conditioned (the training just to work the suit is significant) to be controlled as much as he is shown to be. He wasn't a willing candidate and that can greatly effect any 'success' or significantly delay the conditioning.
It is also rather difficult to run a body on remote control - to do all the fancy (and quick) actions that the 'Sinclair' Alpha does (and reacting as quickly). Jack's training/conditioning took over a year to create. SO, Some kind of 'drone' remote control ? ( Except it needing to be about 20 X as complex as any existing drone has today - human body movements take ALOT of coordination ).
Some variety/variant of Hypnotize ? But that Plasmids effect is all about Motivation ( "Daddy Now Friend !!" ) not remote control - the Hypnotized Daddy still coordinated itself and carried out typical behaviors/actions and just the target selection was different. 
And the issue of 'Daddified' Sinclair's mouth/speaking ( still working on Sinclair, so he can do his 'swan song' verbiage for the plot ) IS part of your bodies motor control, so NOW how to split between that and other parts of the body he isn't allowed to control ?? ... That aspect just adds another layer of difficulty ( If he'd been quiet/silent then it would have been simpler ).
Voice control (?) telling him what to do -- when Sinclair's mind is still there to jam it ? Now we are doing complex multi-mind weirdness ? Simpler to have Sofia Lamb Possess the Alpha/Sinclair/whatever like we did the Little Sister previously, but then it wouldn't talk with his voice or his thoughts. And what happens if we kill the body while Sofia is still possessing it ??
Add ALL those things up and it is pretty unlikely to be implemented and made workable, and then ALL of that done so ridiculously fast as well. How Fast ? How long between the time Sinclair was left in the Train ( at FF you still heard him guiding you ). He still wasn't yet "caught" when you went into Outer Persephone, and soon after when he is admonishing you to get Eleanor out of the isolation room. 
Sinclair Radio Message "Signal Breaking Out" : ""Your signal's breaking up ... I can't see or hear a thing — something about that room is blocking me !""
So somewhere in there, Sinclair is captured ( How long were you out unconscious when Eleanor was strangled and you were moved, then 'dying' on the table ? ... ) All the "You Become a Little Sister" stuff happens - but it can't be too long if you are supposed to be 'dying' from the Pair-Bond being broken. Then you (Delta) explore half of Inner Persephone before you see Sinclair (allegedly as an Alpha) and chase him to the locked Warden's Office ? How long was it to that point? Hours?
First time we got ADAM, how long were we unconscious when the shock hit our system ?? ( Heh - "System Shock" ... ) Subtract that time as Sinclair being too 'out of it' for starting 'conditioning'. 'Hypnotize' is temporary and wears off and doesn't provide any real command control. If they had something like that, why not just use it on Delta directly - Why didn't Sofia use it again ??
Sinclair also mentions that Sofia tortured information out of him ..."bomb codes" (yet another odd thing... what bomb codes ??). Anyway, yet more delays for this alleged 'conversion' of Sinclair.
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I would suggest an alternate explanation : Lamb was just pulling one of her psyche manipulation games, and that wasn't Sinclair in the Alpha Suit that Delta chases. All we hear is a radio link (no face as usual) of his voice and he thus could be anywhere ( and NOT in the Suit ). He could be whacked out on drugs and made to think a simulators TV he's watching is him in the suit ( to account for the few comments he makes - most of which are actually his comments on what Delta is doing - how is he seeing that ? ) .
This is possibly alot simpler than THAT Oh-So-Quick "Turned Sinclair into a Pet Robot" which Sofia claims - AND the game writer present.
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No, Sinclair Never Had a Sinclair Spirits in Paupers Drop :
Some Players get ideas based on Content WHICH WASN'T INCLUDED IN THE GAME :
'Canon' ? Things being based on an Audio Diary never used in the actual game ... Uh, No. It made no sense in the game ( Paupers_Drop setting and story ) as presented, which may have been the reason it was intentionally discarded. So there is no 'evidence' that it existed in the actual game, just that they had contemplated and even gone far enough to create that Asset and then decided not to use it - It is like all the notes a Composer scratches out of their work's musical score ( or even ones they tear up or burn ) - they are NOT the final product as intended to be presented to the audience.Such Logic is lost when trying to talk to many Fanbois ...
Sinclair is also not 'cheating' people out of their money ( the non-existent liquor store adjunct to the Sinclair Deluxe to debilitate the 'fat cats' ) unless you think that 'giving people what they want' is "cheating" them. Discount Booze being sold by him to keep his renters captive ? They can buy cheap booze ANYWHERE (like the Limbo Room) - Alcohol was all over Rapture. Sinclair understands that people have delusions/flaws, but that only makes opportunities, and it is shown that he is good at 'beating out' competitors to create business from those opportunities. He does it by making 'the better deal'. 
Remember the guy Sinclair's Company had doing 'Piecemeal Work' assembling syringes Sinclair#What_A_Snap, which offsets Sinclair#Profit_Coming,_Profit_Going ( which usually gets 'pointed to' (writers inferring) as some kind of Evidence of Sinclair being 'Dishonest' and 'Exploitive', or whatever ). If YOU know anything about real business, you realize those tiny viewpoint vignettes distort/leave-out most of the details of such a business relation/operation : 
* The risks and expenses Sinclair takes.
* The fact that he's giving that guy a flexible job he might not otherwise have,
* All the other aspects of the business transaction with Ryan's company that Sinclair has to work to arrange and organize. 
It is the same stupid one-dimensionalism of everything they (game writers) show of Sinclair (and Ryan too) in the game, and the vagueness/lack of detail for so many other aspects (its a FPS, though it was sure hyped as if it was something more ... 'story' ... Yada yada yada). 
But being a 'game' (Just a game), realistic factors (like the above) are mostly ignored to make out Sinclair as a cardboard cutout villain/shady character for a story in what first-and-foremost is a shoot-em-up game. 
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Delta Saves Sinclair ( If ONE can be "Resurrected", just about ANYBODY can be ) :
Well, the Vita-Chambers seem to work for anybody these days, so 'Who is to Say' ?????
( Tenenbaum - needing serious help (autism ?) at least knows that Sinclair is quite capable - After all he survived Sofia Lamb's "purges" ... Sofia's "Purges" : A bit like : https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/great-purge )
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Sinclair Solutions ( Yes, Sinclair Was A Major Player ) :
He had the Sinclair Solutions Pack ( seen in the Multi Player game ), which did have Plasmids in it. SO would Sinclair sell someone else's Plasmids, or would he want to 'Cut out the Middleman' and be vending his own ? His Surface businesses had included Pharmaceuticals ... Remember others ( bootleggers if you can use that phrase in an unrestricted environment ) also sold Plasmids/Tonics they produced in Rapture. Specific genetic adjustments would be a small part of the entire process.
Sinclair - Pharmaceuticals ... I remember seeing it somewhere. Possibly it is from the Novel ( but in the game we do get this Vita-Chamber device ) showing Sinclair is not a lightweight in the area of technical medical knowledge/skill.
Sinclair was already rich when he came to Rapture, and Pharmaceuticals was a real world way of making that happen ( and at that time, plant-based chemicals were a large source - Something you really didn't have pre-made sources for in Rapture. But Sinclair could, using his previous experience/know-how with plants, bring them to be cultivated - and having useful modern drugs would be something Ryan would want for "self-contained" Rapture ). Ryan's having the Pre-ADAM-labs which Tenenbaum worked in meant Sinclair probably already was working in the medical (Drugs ? Anti-biotics ?) field ... 
Ryan actually had regard for proper competition ( Offer a Better Product ) so Sinclair also being in the ADAM product business probably would not make him Ryan's enemy ( even better if Sinclair could figure out how to make the ADAM products safer ). Ryan had all the rest of Rapture and his businesses to worry about. Sinclair might develop/market something different on his own ( via his 'Think Tank' - in Audio Diary "Sinclair#sellingshort\Selling Ryan Short" ), or if the project was too big, sell it to Ryan who had 'deeper-pockets' and who wanted to outdo Fontaine. 
Remember, Rapture's ADAM industry was big, with alot of different people/companies working on many different projects/products. So it would be highly likely Sinclair would not know all of what Tenenbaum was working on ( particularly if it was something Fontaine wanted kept secret ). Ditto for Suchong. 
BTW - The Vita Chamber is some different technology, and remember Ryan himself was a technical genius (power systems, etc ... ), so his know-how tied in with Alexander's/Suchong's/Sinclair's might have produced an exclusive product separate from ADAM. It could then compete with ADAM and Fontaine ( and maybe it was planned as a way to alleviate ADAM side-effects which would be in increasing demand ). We saw Vita Chambers deployed all over Rapture ( If we wish to NOT discount them merely being there as a Game Save convenience ), so they must have worked and been in demand by consumers. 
I will have to go back and read the Novel again. ( After forcing you to follow the villain Atlas in BS1, the gamewriters wanted you to doubt Sinclair ). Those pages (ex- p119) paint Sinclair in a better light than he is portrayed in many parts of the game. He is more mindful of 'civilized'/moral conventions - Lines that he wouldn't Cross, and that he thought people would (in Rapture) be held responsible for their actions - Which is a major balancing/counter-balancing component/factor of the Philosophy Ryan held. 
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Remember that Anti-biotics were the latest things in world medicine around the time Rapture started and alot of the advertised ADAM products were medical related ( I hadn't heard of "Phossy Jaw" (phosphorus poisoning) before seeing a poster in BioShock for curing that malady ). So there probably were very many different/specialized products of just that kind ( we never got the name of the one(s) Steinman used for his surgery ). 
Also the industrialists/technologists/scientists/engineers also had skilled staff which many may have brought with them to Rapture ( So Sinclair didn't do it all himself, but it sounded like he could understand all the very technical stuff ). No doubt like Silicon Valley, as the industry expanded, many people would form their Own Companies off of good ideas they got while working for others ( and could switch/change-jobs to the company which compensated them the most for their work -- OR adapt their work to what was available ). So I don't think Sinclair would have 'double-crossed' Ryan, but would keep any additional business of his own separate, and might take advantage of opportunities in niches which Ryan ignored. Count how many Plasmids/Tonics were in the Gatherers Garden, and think how many more there likely were ( and how many may still have been being developed/researched ). One just to get rid of migraines or hangovers might have outsold all the rest. 
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Sinclair's Niches (ADAM Opportunity) :
The detail that Suchong maybe missed was : The Biological recycling process that all humans have - And it was Sinclair who realized this and obtained rights to Rapture's Sewage recycling 'effluvium' ( for business purposes ... and rather cheaply. ) "ADAM in ADAM out" was one of his favorite sayings in those halcyon days.
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What Interesting Things did Sinclair have in the Batman Utility Belt there ????
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Audio Diary "What A Snap" : 
( Elliot_Nelson : A disabled man who Sinclair has given piecework to do, assembling Syringes ) 
""... and that's a hundred ! What a snap ! Give Sinclair a few bucks for a load of vials and needles, then it's evenings putting these syringes together while I listen to the radio ... Sell 'em back to Sinclair at twice the price ! Whatta racket ! A few pin-pricks here and there's nothin' to complain about. Gonna be back on top soon. Thank you, Mr. Sinclair ... sucker ...""
This is perhaps presented by the gamewriters as an example of Sinclair "Exploiting Workers", but it demonstrates Sinclair's flexibility and use of niches in his various business ventures. This Audio Diary offsets Sinclair#Profit_Coming,_Profit_Going - seemingly attempted as some kind of Evidence of Sinclair being 'Dishonest' and 'Exploitive', or whatever.   If YOU know anything about real business, you realize such tiny vignettes Distort/Leave Out most of the details of the real business relation. 
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Audio Diary (Sinclair) "Profit Coming, Profit Going" : 
""Now, I'm a modest man. But my piecemeal needle scam's an outright masterpiece: some slob shacked up here buys a box of syringe parts from me for twice what it's worth. He assembles 'em in his rathole, and I buy back the finished product ... for a dime against the dollar that I'll get from Ryan. Profit comin', profit goin'. Ol' Andy rambles on about the Great Chain ... I got people shellin' out to pull it for me! ""
AGAIN, the Gamewriters 'playing on' the ignorance of Players about how REAL Business Works ?
Ignoring : 
* ALL The Risks and Expenses Sinclair takes in the business venture.
* The fact that he's giving that guy a flexible Job which he might not otherwise have (being disabled).
* All the other business aspects (overhead) of the business transaction with Ryan's company that Sinclair has to work to arrange and organize. 
It is the kind of stupid one-dimensional "Evil Capitalism" they (game writers) show about Sinclair (and Ryan too) in the game.
This is a rather bizarre Writer Manipulation when it is combined with the other Audio Diary in the set ( ex- Sinclair#What_A_Snap ). They made Sinclair do alot of this type of evil chortling thing ( WHY would someone record such is the strangest thing of all ). It is a weird "Simon Legree"/"Snidely Whiplash" simpleton caricaturation trying to smear Objectivism/Capitalism. (( It is like Fifth-Grade-level storytelling. ))
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