Thursday 15 October 2009
The People vs Wall Street
Fact is: these guys did NOT think they were doing wrong - they thought they were working hard in the best interest of their clients and the economy. It was the whole system that was crook and they never looked at the system from a dispassionate viewpoint. (To be fair, neither did 99% of us - the general public - who were making money off them in the boom times. And we certainly ignored any commie-pinko-running-dog lackeys that said the whole financial system was wrong.)
Not dissimilar to the mafia soldier who thinks he is doing his best for his family. Ask him: is it right to whack someone? Well, yes, if he did something really wrong. Would you like to be whacked? Well, no, but if I did something really wrong, I should be whacked. Would you like someone to sell numbers or sex to your kids? Yeah, nothing wrong with that. Would you like someone to sell drugs to your kids? Well, no, but it's my job to raise my kids so they don't buy drugs; think of it as evolution in action.
Do you think the Mafia is good or bad for society? Well, that's a difficult one, there are pluses and minuses that can be argued and you're waxing all philosophical on me now. It's just the way the system works: I didn't invent it, I was born into it and I can't change it.
That's the way the investment business thinks and works, except they are completely convinced that they are on the side of the good guys, truth, justice and the American way.
Fact is: these guys did NOT think they were doing wrong - they thought they were working hard in the best interest of their clients and the economy. It was the whole system that was crook and they never looked at the system from a dispassionate viewpoint. (To be fair, neither did 99% of us - the general public - who were making money off them in the boom times. And we certainly ignored any commie-pinko-running-dog lackeys that said the whole financial system was wrong.)
Not dissimilar to the mafia soldier who thinks he is doing his best for his family. Ask him: is it right to whack someone? Well, yes, if he did something really wrong. Would you like to be whacked? Well, no, but if I did something really wrong, I should be whacked. Would you like someone to sell numbers or sex to your kids? Yeah, nothing wrong with that. Would you like someone to sell drugs to your kids? Well, no, but it's my job to raise my kids so they don't buy drugs; think of it as evolution in action.
Do you think the Mafia is good or bad for society? Well, that's a difficult one, there are pluses and minuses that can be argued and you're waxing all philosophical on me now. It's just the way the system works: I didn't invent it, I was born into it and I can't change it.
That's the way the investment business thinks and works, except they are completely convinced that they are on the side of the good guys, truth, justice and the American way.
# posted by Had It in Holland Park @ 02:57 
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