There goes civilisation...

I'm sick of hearing people bashing investment bankers for being greedy, selfish, blah blah blah, whatever.

For the record, I've worked in finance my entire career, but I'm a computer programmer, so while I earn a comfortable living, it's by no means lavish. I'm well aware that I may be out of a job soon. My boyfriend is an equity derivatives trader at a large investment bank. He may be out of a job soon as well. Who knows what the markets will do.

The credit crunch and the current state of the financial industry is the aggregate of a lot of mistakes made by a lot of people. It's the fault of the mortgage lenders who decided to lend stupid amounts of money to people who couldn't afford it. It's the fault of the people who were too dumb to see that the house they were buying was beyond their earning capabilities. It's the fault of the bankers who didn't realize how risky it was to buy those debts, or saw the risk but were too greedy to care.

People are quick to condemn greedy bankers and seem to think they're responsible for the world's financial and social woes at the moment. But how do you know that the boom time we've all been enjoying the past decade or two aren't the result of those bankers as well? If their greed has the power to royally fuck everything up, then it stands to reason that it has the power to make everything all bright and shiny as well.

The fact of the matter is, most people would love to have the amount of money some -- NOT ALL -- bankers do. Most people would love to have a good house, and send their kids to the best schools, have the latest electronic gadgets, drive nice cars, go to nice restaurants, etc.

How can you fault somebody for wanting to make a good living and provide for their families? If a well-paying job is available, and is perfectly legal, and well-respected by some, how can you fault somebody for taking it?

+Rep
Good point, well made