Hollow Island
New Yorker
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2011
- Messages
- 2,947
First of all, I’m not going to reveal exactly who I work for, but let’s say I work in portfolio operations and marketing in the institutional asset management wing of one of the big 5 banks.
Are banks often dishonest? Sure. Frequently unethical? Undoubtedly.
Pure evil? That’s a bit of a fucking stretch, no?
Banks didn't deliberately cause the collapse, but they deliberately engaged in behaviour that led to the collapse, and they knew that they were risking people's lives by committing fraud. Given how widespread unethical behaviour is (sub-prime loans, libor manipulation, HSBC laundering money for cartels), I think it's fair to say that the industry itself is corrupt. Meaning, the people who make the decisions are corrupt. Lloyd Blankfein is vile beyond words, but is everyone at Goldman Sachs evil? Of course not. Monstanto and Starbucks are cunts for suing Vermont because they passed a law demanding GMO food be labelled, but is the barista who made my latte awful? No, she's just doing a job. It's not her fault that her company wants to overturn a law passed in a democracy. It is my fault for giving Starbucks money to use to sue states, though, and that makes me a bit of a cunt.
People in "unprofitable divisions" get laid off because the bank has found another way to made that division more profitable. Which is just business, right? Yes, but that doesn't mean it's immune from moral judgement. The banks goal is to reduce its workforce as much as possible while increasing profits as much as possible, regardless of the human cost. But you're right in saying that it's not a problem unique to banks. I guess they get the most flack for that because their profits are always reported on the news, and because the big five are among the top six most profitable companies in Canada. They don't need to treat their workforce with such disregard.
I used the term "fired" deliberately because "laid off" is an insulting euphemism. I remember when "laid off" meant that the worker lost their job for a bit but eventually got it back, like seasonal workers. Now it means "sorry, your job has gone to China."
The TFW program is sickening, and you're right that RBC got killed in the press when people found out what they were doing (despite the best efforts of Amanda Lang). And yeah, I don't think I've seen a white person who speaks English as a first language work at Tim Horton's in 10 years. The problem is with the program, but companies don't have to behave unethically. Yet they do, given the chance, because growth is the sole reason they exist.
Perhaps it was wrong to say that banks are evil, but I didn't mean it literally. They're not on the same level as the oil and gas industry, for example. But the banking industry is unquestionable exploitative and unethical. That doesn't mean that you are - but the industry you work in is. As are most industries. It also provides a necessary function. I apologize for offending you - I didn't mean anything personal. I go to the bank almost every day and the tellers are pretty nice - I don't think they're evil. The people who constantly decide to raise fees? Fuck them. They're evil.