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Viewing all posts tagged "finance"
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TL;DR Version: Rolling Stone - Is the SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes?
Yes.
(Surprise, Surprise: The back and forth ping-pong of employment between the SEC and Wall Street banks has created an ethical cesspool.)
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As of 8:30am this morning, there were about 100 people “occupying” the public park area outside One Liberty Plaza (Edit: It’s not public, but the owners gave permission, see comment below). The massive NYPD presence is ringing the area without much to do. It’s close to several food vendor trucks and is generally a nice spot to enjoy one’s lunch al fresco, though it’s rather cool and drizzly today, so I doubt they are displacing anyone. It kind of looks like the saddest Phil & Friends show ever.
Foot traffic by the NYSE is being heavily regulated by metal guide barriers, and people seem generally pissed that the trains which normally stop there are not running south of Fulton. Multiple entrances to most buildings have been closed off, and one must show a building ID to get inside. Interestingly, I did *not* see the standard SWAT cops with assault weapons scattered around. The visible NYPD presence is wearing regular cop uniforms.
All in all, there aren’t enough protesters to cause much more than a nuisance, but the city’s protective measures are certainly a pain in the ass to the people who work here. And FYI - we’re not all grossly overcompensated executives or traders.
Disclaimer: I fully support people’s right to peaceably assemble and protest whatever they want. I personally think that the “protest now, figure out our cause later… via Facebook” idea reeks of contrived populism with a dash of ironic “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” but I probably would have found the idea romantic in my high school days, too.
One reason I came to work in this industry - with my degrees in Political Science and Economics, and a specialization in International Relations with respect to developing economies - is because of a desire to understand the overwhelming complexity of the global financial/political ecosystem, and to act to make that system a more compassionate one when possible. In my years on The Street I’ve taken a variety of steps to make my small universe of influence accountable to a resonable ethical standard, and beyond that I’ve selfishly absorbed as much information as possible about why the status quo is what it is.
I’m of the opinion that committing one’s life to understanding this shit is hard; sleeping on the street for a while is not only easy, but creates the appearance of an adversarial “outsider” citizenry that is not a critical (and often willing) participant in the system itself. I have no further intention of explaining or defending my admittedly jaded view of the Occupy Wall Street folks.
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To all Occupy Wall Street Participants, here is your key to victory
From Reddit, where the comments are also worth reading:
Guys, listen. Here’s the deal.
I love you guys with every shred of my hard-left leaning heart. But I think you might be doing something wrong. Here is one thing that can help you.
Tomorrow, wear a polo and khakis
Seriously. polos and khakis. Every time you guys DO finally get some fucking press, it’s a scrawny dude with dreads in a ratty t-shirt. You’re going big here, dress it. Tomorrow, Polo shirt and Khakis.
Why? Because you need to get the right-leaning equivalent of me on your side. I’m 35 right now. I understand where the hippy thing comes from. I get it as well as a guy who’s 35 can. My Counterparts do not. They think you are scummy druggies on welfare and when they see on tv a bunch of people who they think are S.D’s on W, they root for the cops to hit you again.
Speaking of the cops, Who do you think they’ll mace first? SD’s on W, or a guy in khakis and a polo? Seriously, it’s fucking cop camouflage. And if they DO come for you. When people at home see PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE THEMgetting abused by police… That’s when shit changes.
Seeing protesters get beat up means nothing because protesters get beat up all the time. Therefore, don’t look like a protester! This connects you to the person watching and opens them to your side!
So for serious. Do it. You’re almost about to tip this thing over. Polos and khakis. Cop Camo + target audience = Shave, shower and polos and khakis.
TL;DR: Polo shirt and Khakis = dress code for nyc protests tomorrow.
Do it.
Edit: Going to bed soon, one more thing before I turn it over to all of you.
Please spread this as much as you can. Professionalism will help push this thing over the edge. You have labor pushing you. National Media is starting to wake up to you. You’re almost there. Keep pushing.
Think: Business Casual Friday. Don’t play it up like the Billionaires for healthcare. You’re just a guy, going to work in this big office building here.
Even if you don’t think that you SHOULD be judged on appearances (which I do agree), You have to realize that you ARE. Fight the appearance fight another day. Polos and khakis.
Do it.
Yes! This!
And how about we upgrade the signs … Get some white posterboard (New Yorkers learn to ignore people with chicken-scratch cardboard signs as it is, make it look like you tried…)
…And put some *innovative thoughts* on there.
For example, did you know that interest rate derivatives trading (largely blamed for the 2008 worldwide market clusterfuck) grew 29% in 2010, surpassing pre-2008 financial crisis levels?
Or how about the fact that of the 3905 Domestic Equity funds listed on the Fidelity Fund screener (a good mutual fund resource for Normal People), <2% allow the use of short selling to hedge for market downturns?
…Trufax.
Pose a real question. Start an actual dialog. Yes?
Based on Postage by Greg Cooper. Everything heavily modified by me.
*Unlikely to find your lost post using this but you can try...
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