Why Do So Many People Hate Wall Streeters?
O
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(Neanderthal, 2,416
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on 1/31/10 at 8:53am
I don't understand why so many people think that wall streeters and others finance professionals are bad human beings. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Do you guys have any ideas why they have such a bad rap?






bc the media gives them a bad
bc the media gives them a bad rap (deservedly so for some, but not for most)
cuz we're greedy risk-averse
cuz we're greedy risk-averse spineless country-clubbing WASPY with a yiddish/asian tint bonus-seeking deadweight-loss contributing whiny too many eDine-consuming Ivy League fatasses
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Cause of the media and the
Cause of the media and the way they are portrayed in movies as greedy selfish people. But mostly, because they are jealous.
Banker88 wrote: But mostly,
But mostly, because they are jealous.
agreed completely. i know it sounds hubristic, but im pretty sure most of the hate is out of jealousy. if there was a profession making serious bank and i wasnt able to get in for whatever reason, id be jealous too.
additionally, people who dont like wall street dont really realize the service we provide. for example, if there were no bankers, people wouldnt be able to invest n stocks/bonds and save for retirement. hatred in many cases arises from jealousy and fearing the unknown, and thats what we're seeing here.
There are a lot of reasons
There are a lot of reasons people dislike "Wall Street", but in my opinion, most of them can be boiled down to one thing: jealousy.
- Capt K -
"Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
While I think jealousy is a
While I think jealousy is a big part of it, I don't think it's just jealousy. Do we hate pro atheletes just because they make a lot of money? No, the fans love them. How about actors/actresses? Some make ridiculous amounts of money and we fawn all over them. The problem with wall street is the complete lack of transparency. Wall Street works behind the scenes and they have a rep for being greedy AND screwing people out of their money. While I'd say that the majority of people who got rich on Wall Street participated in activities that had nothing to do with the public, the public remains ignorant because they can't watch bankers do their jobs on TV nor do they care enough to educate themselves.
CompBanker
Ya, money is a more sensitive
Ya, money is a more sensitive topic to people than religion and marriage in some cases. This level of hatred or dislike stems from the fact that so many people lost so much money through activities tied to Wall St in one way or another. Since people are generally not educated in anything other than the most basic knowledge of what finance involves they automatically attribute trickery and theft to the whole industry. The media and self serving politicians don't help this much either.
I think a perfect example of this relates to the real estate bubble. Bankers used to have rather strict requirements for getting a mortgage which many people couldn't meet. Then these standards were relaxed and home ownership increased. Everyone loved bankers and wall street then because they could afford a house and people were making money hand over fist. Then the party ended and people went back to hating those very same bankers they used to love. Never once did these people attempt to understand how packaging mortgages, mitigating risk, selling them to investors and all those other now demonized activities helped them get homes in the first place. Until people realize that the life blood of main street circulates through wall street they will continue to hate the industry whenever things turn against them.
People always looking to point the finger when the root cause is right in the mirror.
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Who cares - journalists need
Who cares - journalists need something to write about..
When seagulls follow the trawler it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea..
All of the above can also be
All of the above can also be compounded by one thing:
People, by and large, especially in groups, tend to be much, much less rational than one would like to believe.
- Child Please.
Jealousy is a simplistic
Jealousy is a simplistic explanation. Some people simply don't think that people who move capital around without creating any real value (in their eyes), should be paid that much. They don't understand the risk/reward ratio and free market economics. Then you also have the leftist, liberal media portraying bankers as greedy and elitist. Its the combination of those two factors which contributes to much of the hate.
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Main Street hates Wall Street
Main Street hates Wall Street because they know they make alot of money and they don't understand what they do
this breeds the animosity, a mix of jealousy and ignorance