Terrible Editorials, Opinion Pieces and Letters to the Editor

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VideoTapir: Oct 18, 2005; He'll tire eventually.

Look at this big old steaming turd:

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-there-this-opinion-that-jobs-in-banking-finance-sector-are-bad-and-evil-Is-this-opinion-justified

quote:

Originally Answered: Is it right to regard bankers as horrible people?
No. And here's why:

Most anti-finance hatred is severely misguided. People seem to think that investment bankers go to work, steal poor people's money, kidnap children, club baby seals, and then take some huge bonus check home to buy a bunch of douchey suits from Brooks Brothers. In reality, banking adds significant value to the economy, which I will discuss later.

Finance is extraordinarily easy to hate. We're a bunch of highly paid people sitting in a giant, multi-billion dollar glass and steel box in New York doing things that nobody knows about in a firm that is completely opaque to outside scrutiny. All the while we are making huge amounts of money.

That's all good when the economy is thriving, but the Great Recession turned all the attention to the one field that was directly involved but nobody understood - investment banks. Media began to write stories about the trickery involved in subprime mortgages and the conflicts of interest inherent in the credit rating system. Bailouts of the large banks cause cries of outrage as taxpayer money gets poured into saving what most see as a corrupt, broken, and morally bankrupt system that works against the "normal American." What people don't see is what the big investment banks do - activity is almost solely limited to syndicating the structured products (like CDOs and ABSs) and moving them off the balance sheet. However, as housing prices dropped banks were left holding onto a huge amount of toxic assets that were essentially worth nothing.

The result was a credit freeze as banks found themselves with huge holes on their balance sheets, a result of overzealous syndication and foolish optimism in the system. But who caused the foolishness?

All of us. We all want the American dream, the home we could never afford, and the 2007 boom gave all of us an opportunity to realize that vision. Credit was so easy to come by that we overextended and overleveraged ourselves, a practice that has become embedded in American culture. Just look at our debt, and the negative savings rates that prevailed for the past few years. Human nature, greed from all of us, caused the crash of the system. Not just bankers.

People who enter banking for all the wrong reasons will never last. Bankers are some of the most talented, intelligent people in the world - big firms recruit almost exclusively from Ivy League schools and most of the people who break in would have had the opportunity to do almost anything else they wanted to do.

Bankers work ridiculous hours. While it's easy to dismiss them as just "hardworking sell-outs" you will never truly appreciate how insanely difficult it is to work 100 hours/week doing something you hate. In fact, for most people it's impossible, and the money alone is not enough as a motivating factor.

Senior bankers are not sellouts. They love and believe in what they do. They are not evil, and assuming that they are is just as broad a generalization as assuming women are weaker than men or African Americans are subservient. The Goldman Sachs partner discussed this, and I will not repeat his remarks.

The assumption that bankers don't add any 'direct value' is completely wrong. Investment bankers operate on a level that is one degree removed from what we see and interact with on a daily basis. For example, the Toyota Camry is just that, a car made by Toyota in a factory by robots and mechanics designed by engineers. Simple.

But not quite. Who paid for the R&D that led to the development of the cars? Who led the fundraising effort for that multi-billion dollar capital expansion project that allowed the car to be economically produced in scale? Who brokered the deal that allowed Toyota to acquire hybrid technology and develop their award-winning Prius? Most likely not Toyota. (note this example isn't real, I do not work in auto and for all I know these may have been proprietary. But I'm trying to make a point)

Investment banks did it. It was bankers who syndicated the loan that allowed for the capital expansion project by assuming the risk for the transaction. Bankers brokered the acquisition and allowed Toyota to pay a fair price for the critical technology that has helped advance hybrid cars into a reality we all can afford.

Without banking, innovation would slow tremendously. We allocate money from people who don't need it to people who do - very simple and extremely important.

People completely ignore this. They see the doctor save a sick person and think, wow, that person is really noble because he saves lives. They see the teacher educating seventh graders and think wow, that person really believes in advancing the interests of our youth. Watching bankers build spreadsheet models isn't sexy and it doesn't explain what they actually contribute to the rest of the world. But believe it, bankers push dreams into realities. We save lives by allowing people to develop the tools that doctors use to diagnose and treat diseases. We educate the young by staking our reputations on academic businesses seeking to change the way we view learning. We finance entrepreneurs with dreams of changing the world, whether they're building a social network or a biotech firm.

Junior bankers are very fairly compensated. Notice I said junior bankers, because I am a realist and know that senior bankers are perhaps paid unfairly.

Junior bankers, though, put in the hours and have the talent to justify the ridiculous pay structure. When you work 100 hours a week, a 65k base salary makes sense, and the additional 40k bonus is just accrued salary because of all the hours that were put in. In fact, the risk-adjusted value of the compensation is significantly less because the bonus is discretionary and depends on the performance of the bank. That means the analyst may have no control over whether that accrued salary (or bonus) is paid out at all.

The belief that finance is somehow evil is fundamentally misguided and a reflection of the ignorance that the American people have towards the actual function of investment banking in the greater economy.

Regarding bankers as horrible people is just as invalid a generalization as any other common stereotype. Most bankers are good people. The few that go off the tracks should not define the image of everybody else.

# ? Oct 28, 2015 04:53

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 21:32

Valhawk: Dec 15, 2007; EXCEED CHARGE

VideoTapir posted:

Look at this big old steaming turd:

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-there-this-opinion-that-jobs-in-banking-finance-sector-are-bad-and-evil-Is-this-opinion-justified

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exnaY0l4XsM

# ? Oct 28, 2015 07:43

VitalSigns: Sep 3, 2011

quote:

But not quite. Who paid for the R&D that led to the development of the cars? Who led the fundraising effort for that multi-billion dollar capital expansion project that allowed the car to be economically produced in scale? Who brokered the deal that allowed Toyota to acquire hybrid technology and develop their award-winning Prius? Most likely not Toyota. (note this example isn't real, I do not work in auto and for all I know these may have been proprietary. But I'm trying to make a point)

Investment banks did it.

Couldn't even be assed to find a real example.

"Who did all that stuff for Toyota? I don't know, maybe they self-financed, but anyway it was actually bankers and that's why they shouldn't have to pay any taxes or follow any regulations and deserve a trillion dollars every time they gently caress up."

# ? Oct 28, 2015 09:23

Josef bugman: Nov 17, 2011; Pictured: Poster prepares to celebrate Holy Communion (probablY)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund

It reads like a loving parody article, every single point is undercut by something else he says in the same article. It's loving mind blowing.

# ? Oct 28, 2015 09:37

CellBlock: Oct 6, 2005; It just don't stop.

I used to think Quora was interesting, but it's basically just a bunch of 20-something internet millionaires (or weird prodigies) patting each other on the back repeatedly.

"What is some good career advice for someone just finishing college?" "As a 22-year-old CEO, let me just say..."
"How should I save for retirement?" "As someone who just sold his third company, I've got some information..."
"Where should I go to grad school?" "After going to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT, I can say..."

Every once in a while, there's an interesting little tidbit, but it's mostly terrible.

# ? Oct 28, 2015 18:33

FairyNuff: Jan 22, 2012

A response to an article is close enough right?

# ? Oct 31, 2015 16:31

Pope Guilty: Nov 6, 2006; The human animal is a beautiful and terrible creature, capable of limitless compassion and unfathomable cruelty.

VideoTapir posted:

Look at this big old steaming turd:

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-there-this-opinion-that-jobs-in-banking-finance-sector-are-bad-and-evil-Is-this-opinion-justified

My favorite part of this is how very, very carefully he avoids actually mentioning what happened in 2008 and why.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 16:40

Sinestro: Oct 31, 2010; The perfect day needs the perfect set of wheels.

Geokinesis posted:

A response to an article is close enough right?

That's really not that unreasonable. I mean, I have no interest in that stuff, but I find the banning of any kind of art to be a really creepy thing that shouldn't happen.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 16:51

Eggplant Squire: Aug 14, 2003

Pope Guilty posted:

My favorite part of this is how very, very carefully he avoids actually mentioning what happened in 2008 and why.

Yeah sometimes these guys are totally smelling their own farts but with articles like that you know he's aware of the fact that he's writing cover for criminals.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 16:58

OwlFancier: Aug 22, 2013

Sinestro posted:

That's really not that unreasonable. I mean, I have no interest in that stuff, but I find the banning of any kind of art to be a really creepy thing that shouldn't happen.

It's not really just art when he's arguing that there's nothing wrong with ~~taking~~DRAWING pictures of rape and murder and then wanking to it.

The argument against the criminalisation of underage hentai is that it's not supposed to be actually based on real things. Otherwise it's just literal child pornography which is in no way a victimless crime.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 17:01

Sinestro: Oct 31, 2010; The perfect day needs the perfect set of wheels.

OwlFancier posted:

It's not really just art when he's arguing that there's nothing wrong with ~~taking~~DRAWING pictures of rape and murder and then wanking to it.

The argument against the criminalisation of underage hentai is that it's not supposed to be actually based on real things. Otherwise it's just literal child pornography which is in no way a victimless crime.

That's just his lovely rhetoric. The laws are, if I recall, just banning it in general, which is really not okay. If you want to draw, entirely made up, porn of a dog with Dick Cheney's face loving a toddler, knock yourself the gently caress out, I have somewhere very far away to be, but it shouldn't be illegal.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 17:04

OwlFancier: Aug 22, 2013

I think the point is that the response is utterly terrible and far more damaging to the argument it's trying to advance and revealing of the motivations of the author than it was intended to be.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 17:06

Sinestro: Oct 31, 2010; The perfect day needs the perfect set of wheels.

OwlFancier posted:

I think the point is that the response is utterly terrible and far more damaging to the argument it's trying to advance and revealing of the motivations of the author than it was intended to be.

Ah yeah, that's true. Never mind, if true.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 17:10

Nintendo Kid: Aug 4, 2011; by Smythe

Sinestro posted:

That's just his lovely rhetoric. The laws are, if I recall, just banning it in general, which is really not okay. If you want to draw, entirely made up, porn of a dog with Dick Cheney's face loving a toddler, knock yourself the gently caress out, I have somewhere very far away to be, but it shouldn't be illegal.

This is incidentally, why the only guy ever arrested for just drawn child porn in the US was an elementary or middle school teacher who had been logged downloading real child porn (both on his home network and on the school network, yikes) but successfully deleted it - since drawn stuff is also illegal but until that point never used for the sole conviction, they were able to grab him for that. I think the case happened in Idaho?

# ? Oct 31, 2015 18:12

Sinestro: Oct 31, 2010; The perfect day needs the perfect set of wheels.

Nintendo Kid posted:

This is incidentally, why the only guy ever arrested for just drawn child porn in the US was an elementary or middle school teacher who had been logged downloading real child porn (both on his home network and on the school network, yikes) but successfully deleted it - since drawn stuff is also illegal but until that point never used for the sole conviction, they were able to grab him for that. I think the case happened in Idaho?

In the UK and Canada, it's been used other ways though. Still, I disagree with the law all the same.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 18:14

Nintendo Kid: Aug 4, 2011; by Smythe

Sinestro posted:

In the UK and Canada, it's been used other ways though. Still, I disagree with the law all the same.

At least for the US law, one law covers both, however courts have ruled that you really really shouldn't ever convict for just drawn stuff unless absolutely neccesary.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 18:43

FairyNuff: Jan 22, 2012

Sinestro posted:

That's really not that unreasonable. I mean, I have no interest in that stuff, but I find the banning of any kind of art to be a really creepy thing that shouldn't happen.

Following that current mainstream porn normalises harmful attitudes/behaviours towards women/sexual relations, the same could be said for his favoured :airquote:

art

Also uhhh (same guy):

# ? Oct 31, 2015 19:42

OwlFancier: Aug 22, 2013

I think we can all agree that people who like loli are basically the equivalent of holocaust survivors.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 19:45

Sinestro: Oct 31, 2010; The perfect day needs the perfect set of wheels.

Geokinesis posted:

Following that current mainstream porn normalises harmful attitudes/behaviours towards women/sexual relations, the same could be said for his favoured art

Also uhhh (same guy):

Well the first thing is loving retarded, second-wave feminist bullshit that treats men like children that can't tell fantasy from reality, and the second one is something that I honestly agree with, even if it is grandiose. Even if it's for something that you don't like, I don't think anyone on D&D would disagree with the idea of not following unjust laws, but I could be surprised.

# ? Oct 31, 2015 19:47

Dr. Killjoy: Oct 9, 2012

Masturbation as civil disobedience! I like the sound of it!
:fap:

# ? Oct 31, 2015 20:06

Selachian: Oct 9, 2012

Dr. Killjoy posted:

Masturbation as civil disobedience! I like the sound of it!

We will overcome!

# ? Oct 31, 2015 23:25

sexpig by night: Sep 8, 2011; by Azathoth

Sinestro posted:

Well the first thing is loving retarded, second-wave feminist bullshit that treats men like children that can't tell fantasy from reality, and the second one is something that I honestly agree with, even if it is grandiose. Even if it's for something that you don't like, I don't think anyone on D&D would disagree with the idea of not following unjust laws, but I could be surprised.

I'd love to hear you define second-wave feminism.

Also 'law I don't like' =/= unjust law. You don't get to jerk off to kids, that's a fair law most civilized countries have.

# ? Nov 1, 2015 01:52

I AM GRANDO: Aug 20, 2006

Tatum Girlparts posted:

I'd love to hear you define second-wave feminism.

Also 'law I don't like' =/= unjust law. You don't get to jerk off to kids, that's a fair law most civilized countries have.

Also his definition of loving retarded bullshit. I'm pretty sure the whole problem is the facile belief that the observer is always perfectly outside of and beyond everything he sees and reads and consumes.

# ? Nov 1, 2015 02:04

Nathilus: Apr 4, 2002; I alone can see through the media bias.

I'm also stupid on a scale that can only be measured in Reddits.

Tatum Girlparts posted:

I'd love to hear you define second-wave feminism.

Also 'law I don't like' =/= unjust law. You don't get to jerk off to kids, that's a fair law most civilized countries have.

I tried to write a post disagreeing with this on the grounds that art shouldn't be criminalized as long as no one is getting hurt because it's a dangerous free expression precident and edging really close to thoughtcrime. But then I read what I had written and was horrified. Probably since the particular subject at hand is drawn child porn. So yeah you get this point for free. Because if first they go for the lolis, I for one will be completely silent with absolutely no compunctions.

# ? Nov 1, 2015 12:57

Sinestro: Oct 31, 2010; The perfect day needs the perfect set of wheels.

Tatum Girlparts posted:

I'd love to hear you define second-wave feminism.

Also 'law I don't like' =/= unjust law. You don't get to jerk off to kids, that's a fair law most civilized countries have.

Criminalizing a particular set of pixels/pencil marks that has nothing to do with anyone actually getting hurt is pretty drat bullshit. Also, second-wave feminism refers to the feminism that arose in the 1960s including theorists such as Dworkin and McKinnon that was defined by a transition from first wave feminism, a modernist movement that focused on removing legal boundaries towards gender equality to a post-modernist movement that focused on removing societal boundaries. Third-wave feminism arose in the 1980s and 1990s as a response to the anti-sexuality/anti-pornography/anti-heterosexuality positions of many second-wave theorists, as well as adding more of an emphasis on intersectionality. I admit that might not be a perfect definition and more the relevant bits of it, but it's been about a year since I've read much about this stuff, and it's just from memory.

I admit it was inaccurate of me to conflate anti-pornography vs sex-positive feminism and second-wave vs third-wave feminism, potentially.

Sinestro fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Nov 1, 2015

# ? Nov 1, 2015 13:55

boner confessor: Apr 25, 2013; by R. Guyovich

Sinestro posted:

Criminalizing a particular set of pixels/pencil marks that has nothing to do with anyone actually getting hurt is pretty drat bullshit.

lots of symbols that don't directly harm people are criminalized. i can't threaten to harm people, for example, even though my words do not do anyone actual hurt.

i will stand up and be brave enough to admit that i am someone who does not in any way consume real or fake child porn, and so i do not care if fake child porn is criminalized. i am perfectly willing to compromise freedom of speech in this fashion

# ? Nov 1, 2015 20:11

The Dark One: Aug 19, 2005; I'm your friend and I'm not going to just stand by and let you do this!

Breitbart.

quote:

The next major problem with GPS usage is that it is emasculating, and not just politically with its endless entreaties to �turn left.� Married friends of mine report that navigation system usage is just another way for their wives to symbolically kick them in the groin. If the husband expresses any confusion about how to reach their destination, the woman will slyly say, �Shall I get out the GPS?�

This question actually means: �I believe your brother has a bigger penis than you and could better provide for our young during the long winter, and I�m going to leave you because you�re bad at finding things.� To the husband, this wife code is almost on a par with being cuckolded. Indeed, some men would rather watch their wives get banged by Mandingo than be reduced to asking a TomTom for help.

Many GPS systems also track speed, which results in wives chiding their husbands for even moderate violations of the speed limit. Previously, men were protected by the fact that the speedometer might as well display the speed in Chinese numerals for all the chance a woman would have at deciphering it from the passenger seat.

Even without a woman in the car, the GPS assaults our manhood. If we deviate even slightly from the course it chose for us, it starts nagging and whinging � in a calm female voice, of course � imploring us to do U-turns and increasingly bizarre manoeuvres to return to the original course. Now your wife and the computer lady are colluding. It�s like one of those shopping trips where she brings one of her terrible friends along everywhere to just agree with her, and you�re still not allowed to punch either of them.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 03:40

Pope Guilty: Nov 6, 2006; The human animal is a beautiful and terrible creature, capable of limitless compassion and unfathomable cruelty.

The Dark One posted:

Breitbart.

This is by far the whiniest, most pathetic thing reeking of wounded aspiration to performing masculinity I've read in months, and that includes a lot of Gamergate horseshit.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 03:54

Tacky-Ass Rococco: Sep 7, 2010; by R. Guyovich

Pope Guilty posted:

This is by far the whiniest, most pathetic thing reeking of wounded aspiration to performing masculinity I've read in months, and that includes a lot of Gamergate horseshit.

The author is a gay misogynist who shows up a lot in the PYF dark enlightenment thread. I think it's pretty funny, as long as you know in advance not to regard the writer as anything but a buffoon.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 04:10

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

The Dark One posted:

Breitbart.

Sounds like some healthy relationships. :goleft:

# ? Nov 3, 2015 04:23

Ratoslov: Feb 15, 2012; Now prepare yourselves! You're the guests of honor at the Greatest Kung Fu Cannibal BBQ Ever!

The Dark One posted:

Breitbart.

What an incredibly insecure person.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 04:28

The Dark One: Aug 19, 2005; I'm your friend and I'm not going to just stand by and let you do this!

Jack of Hearts posted:

The author is a gay misogynist who shows up a lot in the PYF dark enlightenment thread. I think it's pretty funny, as long as you know in advance not to regard the writer as anything but a buffoon.

It's like fanfic about how horrible it must be for straight dudes to be in a relationship. It's the weirdest thing.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 04:55

Tacky-Ass Rococco: Sep 7, 2010; by R. Guyovich

I'm not sure any of you are aware of this, but girls have cooties.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 04:58

Edible Hat: Jul 23, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

For those wondering: the traffic-related death rate for Saudi Arabia is 24.8 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year while the global rate is 18.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 05:06

Harold Fjord: Jan 3, 2004

The Dark One posted:

It's like fanfic about how horrible it must be for straight dudes to be in a relationship. It's the weirdest thing.

I love everything about it. I want to dig into this guys back stuff a bit.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 05:09

OJ MIST 2 THE DICK: Sep 11, 2008; Anytime I need to see your face I just close my eyes
And I am taken to a place
Where your crystal minds and magenta feelings
Take up shelter in the base of my spine
Sweet like a chica cherry cola
-Cheap Trick; Nap Ghost

Nevvy Z posted:

I love everything about it. I want to dig into this guys back stuff a bit.

Don't do this. Seriously.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 14:20

sexpig by night: Sep 8, 2011; by Azathoth

Nevvy Z posted:

I love everything about it. I want to dig into this guys back stuff a bit.

He's a very angry man with a very small penis, it's really not as funny as this article usually, usually it's just "loving WHORES AND BLACKS AND FAGGOTS (i'm gay so I can say it suck it PC nazis)" for a page.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 16:47

I AM GRANDO: Aug 20, 2006

Why would a gay reacto hate women? Shouldn't he hate good-looking men who have no interest in him?

# ? Nov 4, 2015 00:13

Dr. Killjoy: Oct 9, 2012

He still has to find an audience among the regular crop of straight, women-hating conservatives. That and avoid being TOO gay for them, just gay enough so that his readers can invoke "Well this gay CONSERVATIVE agrees that faggots shouldn't marry" to their liberal friends.

# ? Nov 4, 2015 00:36

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 21:32

VitalSigns: Sep 3, 2011

Jack Gladney posted:

Why would a gay reacto hate women? Shouldn't he hate good-looking men who have no interest in him?

Pretty sure Milo is only gay because he hates women, not because he actually likes men.

# ? Nov 4, 2015 00:44

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