Yes, I agree, Wall St. is predatory and misleading. To think an investment does not have some associated risk is ignorant. But there are different levels of ris

Yes, I agree, Wall St. is predatory and misleading. To think an investment does not have some associated risk is ignorant. But there are different levels of risk. I'm still going to argue that there are fairly secure ways to be involved in "Wall Street" investments, as long as one is diversified, attentive, and cautious. Giving your entire retirement savings over to Wall Street is definitely too much of a gamble for most people, but giving over some fraction of it is usually a good idea. We participate in this economy every day. Why not invest in it, as long as we are prudent and cautious? It grows over the long term, and has done so for the last several decades, or even centuries. Now, that does not mean that the economy will continue to grow, and that is where the risk is involved. But I choose to believe that, over the long term, on average, the world economy will continue to increase in value. I also believe that personally owning very small portions of it will increase my own net worth.