Hey Spitzer, FUCK YOU!!!

DISCLAIMER: there is no useful info in this post, it is merely an "I hate gov't regulation shpeel". At this moment, I hate the government more than I can express.

Ok, so, I work in sales and have the opportunity to do a part time ER gig at another firm, but I have to turn it down because it's illegal. A few years ago, Elliot Spitzer, that bastard of a hypocrit, extorted his rules into place: simply put, research isn't allowed to communicate with sell side, EVEN IF there was no prospect of insider trading. I however, have no intention of doing anything unethical. I was thinking of doing both jobs for maybe the next six months/year, training my replacement here, and then doing ER full time. BUT, the government won't let me, and HR says it's a big no-no. Compliance will never know of this, and as usual, has no idea what's going on. So, I'm passing this opening on to an alum, and hoping that good karma comes back to me.

The sales group has absolutely nothing to do with the research group: different products, different sectors, different companies, and totally unrelated aside from the fact that they are both in the financial industry.

To illustrate how I see things, I'm going to contrast the financial industry with another - hospitality: When I was a bartender, I had no problem picking up shifts at other places. In fact, changing the scenery around from week to week drove business up: new people would follow to places they hadn't been to before, and each establishment would get the benefit of customer cross pollination. New people were introduced to new places, drink recipes were compared and contrasted, pricing was discussed, bar crawls were organized, employees were able to find extra shifts, owners got free publicity, each establishment gave each other the heads up on troublesome customers, and we enjoyed the benefits of living in a free country. Rivalries were also kept in check because owners that drink together are less likely to try and screw over the [very friendly] competition, and sometimes they even bailed each other out with supplies or staff in a pinch. The customers LOVED it, and everyone was making money.

This was good for all parties involved. Win-win-win all around.

Following the analogy, if I was a manager at a Mexican place, I would be fired AND SANCTIONED for mopping floors at the French restaurant down the block. For free. What if I wanted to open a French-Mex fusion place of my own at some point: NO! says the gov't, you must know everything and have all of the capital up front. In other words: the guys at the top keep control, and an ambitious person without means is screwed.

This is bullshit.

My honest opinion is that these rules serve the people at the top end of the food chain in keeping everyone under control. I see no other reason for not being allowed to go work FOR FREE somewhere else in my spare time. A decade ago, I was fair minded and would listen to either side of a debate, but now I see regulation as nothing more than bureaucratic bullshit created by government agencies to make pretend that they're doing their jobs, and make thier lives easier at the expense of the people actually generating revenue. But they aren't, and the last few years are proof of that.

My intention is simply to advance my career in a field that interests me. I am willing to work harder, longer, and FOR FREE in the hopes of a better situation, and I am not allowed to. Meanwhile, the sad parade of criminals who fucked millions of people, and each other, out of billions of dollars smile into the television. I had nothing to do whatsoever with the housing meltdown and am new to this industry, and it's almost like I moved to a different country where the 'rules' benefit the dictators.

THIS, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, IS BULLSHIT