I never ever played politics. And I was on the sell side before I traded purely prop at banks and hf.i did pay a price for not engaging in politics, but only initially. People respected me for my integrity and confided in me because they knew I don't ever participate in gossip of any sort or betray such trust. My bonus was always earned purely based on my performance and it allowed me to comfortably run my own show from 2011. You can of course choose to disbelieve me if you are so inclined. But i am telling you that it works also with pure and utter honesty. The reason I switched to prop was not only because that was what i ultimately always wanted to do and suited my skill set but also because I could for most part escape the BS and politics that plays out on sell side trading floors.
@Zzzz1 You and I have gone back and forth about this so no need to rehash it, but you are wasting your time trying to make a moral statement here. So you took the high road, great for you. I'm not gonna. And perhaps others won't and some others will here. This is ET, what do you get out of making your point? You really want to spread your moral integrity, go help your local church/parish/whatever in impressing more flexible minds. Better ROI than here.
I do not try to convince others, I do not attempt to show off and I am fully aware I won't get anything of value for myself out of this sort of discussion. But I still feel convinced that the other side ought to be heard as well. If we start to choose to shut up about our convictions, especially when they are on the right side of the moral divide, then we can as well revert back to anarchy and total chaos. There is a reason the Philippines or Thailand are where they are and the US or Europe is somewhere different. It is certainly not because Europeans or Americans have a different DNA. It is because we have different moral and ethical codes (at least on average, especially decision makers). American and European leaders (Just two examples, I do not want to exclude others) do not sell out political decisions for money. At least not in the majority of cases (and please can some of the fuxxwits not mention Clinton or xxx as counter examples, I said in the MAJORITY of cases, not all). There are always black sheep but we ought to strive for better standards for the majority of us citizens and human beings. And someone pointed out correctly re Germany, the full legalization of prostitution in Germany has the country gone down the moral slope and you now find brothels and seedy places that attract shady characters at most every street corner in the German inner cities. I do not think that is desirable for the majority of people. It serves the interest of a few but fucks it up for the majority of the rest.
"Very different in the US imho where someone at the bottom is treated like shit and people believe he/she deserves to be there." Yes, there are people here holding these beliefs. However, I've run across just as many who believe the polar opposite: that people at the bottom are simply victims of the system, and bear absolutely no responsibility for their situation. In most cases, probably neither extreme is the truth.