4 ms·

People need to be aware of their investments. If I buy shares in Phillip Morris, then I better be ok with people smoking cigarettes and everything that entails

People need to be aware of their investments. If I buy shares in Phillip Morris, then I better be ok with people smoking cigarettes and everything that entails. Especially if I’m publicly attaching my name with “prepend supports Phillip Morris.” There’s gradations of being a dick, but approving your portfolio managers plan to buy shady companies is still a dick move. So is not being aware of what your portfolio manager buys.

BizarroLand 3y ago
No, you're right, but I think maybe I didn't communicate my thought well. I'm not absolving them of their participation in bendingspoons and other such companies, I'm saying to not forget that it's the soulless portfolio managers that are the minds that move the body of evil. I do blame them for their participation, but not as much as the people offering them the opportunity to profit from the exploitation of others. It's like the Bernie Madoff "victims". A bunch of them were in on it to some degree so they could make a quick buck. I have no more sympathy for them than they do for me. But the majority of the people who both profited and lost from Madoff were people who were letting their 401k retirement plans be managed by a company which were ultimately being used to fund the scheme. Not a one of them likely knew that this was how their money was being used and they are all actually victims. The real jerks are the stockbroker portfolio managers. If they didn't offer to enable rich-jerk douchery for fun and profit, it wouldn't be a thing they were all doing.
- prepend 3y ago
  > soulless portfolio managers Only soulless people hire soulless portfolio managers. A portfolio manager, like a lawyer or attorney, is really specific and takes a lot of selection. People choose intentionally. Madoff didn’t work with 401ks. No one had their 401k funds with Madoff. It was all rich people using private hedge funds. Also, Madoff was a fraud, not an asshole. It’s very different to harm people with adware infected, terrible apps than to run a Ponzi scheme. Madoff deceived his investors. Bendingspoons says exactly what they’re going to do and then does it. They aren’t deceiving anyone. The jerk stockbrokers are all demand side. If people weren’t jerks they wouldn’t hire jerk stockbrokers. It’s a thing because people want it.

BizarroLand 3y ago

No, you're right, but I think maybe I didn't communicate my thought well. I'm not absolving them of their participation in bendingspoons and other such companies, I'm saying to not forget that it's the soulless portfolio managers that are the minds that move the body of evil. I do blame them for their participation, but not as much as the people offering them the opportunity to profit from the exploitation of others. It's like the Bernie Madoff "victims". A bunch of them were in on it to some degree so they could make a quick buck. I have no more sympathy for them than they do for me. But the majority of the people who both profited and lost from Madoff were people who were letting their 401k retirement plans be managed by a company which were ultimately being used to fund the scheme. Not a one of them likely knew that this was how their money was being used and they are all actually victims. The real jerks are the stockbroker portfolio managers. If they didn't offer to enable rich-jerk douchery for fun and profit, it wouldn't be a thing they were all doing.

prepend 3y ago
> soulless portfolio managers Only soulless people hire soulless portfolio managers. A portfolio manager, like a lawyer or attorney, is really specific and takes a lot of selection. People choose intentionally. Madoff didn’t work with 401ks. No one had their 401k funds with Madoff. It was all rich people using private hedge funds. Also, Madoff was a fraud, not an asshole. It’s very different to harm people with adware infected, terrible apps than to run a Ponzi scheme. Madoff deceived his investors. Bendingspoons says exactly what they’re going to do and then does it. They aren’t deceiving anyone. The jerk stockbrokers are all demand side. If people weren’t jerks they wouldn’t hire jerk stockbrokers. It’s a thing because people want it.