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Pete,
Thanks for your input, I recall the discussion below. If it sounds like I'm
not getting all the discussion it's because I'm getting the digest form of
RT.
Hopefully avoiding a major religious debate, I want to consider a few
aspects of this question. Getting up in the morning may involve risk but I
don't recall any commandment saying thou shalt not get up in the morning.
Infact staying in bed indefinitely is probably a sin(not including those
confined to bed for health reasons).
For us in the west, one cannot ignore the 10 commandments as an ethical
guide. The 10 commandments don't mention gambling as I recall. They do
mention coveting and stealing. Running a gambling establishment could be
stealing. But gambling isn't stealing. Risking yourself and your families
welfare could be a form of theft in my opinion
Now about coveting, this is a question of motivation. Coveting riches is
coveting. Wanting to succeed and provide for ones needs is not coveting.
It could be considered wrong to allow oneself or to encourage others to be
involved in sin. It's kind like being an accomplis. Brokers might be on
shaky ground in this, what is their motivation. Motive in the end is what
makes many actions ethical or not. It comes down to a question of degree
and we must weigh ourselves to find out what the degree is.
I think it's interesting that traditional farming is considered an
honorable profession. However, the risks involved in traditional farming
were colossal and the funny part is that the exchanges were created to
hedge some of that risk.
Best Regards,
Brent
> Brent,
> It is a wager to get out of bed in the morning. Most accidents happen
> close to home, so it is best to leave it. I don't see the difference. I
> also wonder about what's the difference between trading and thievery. Be
> assured I am not some kook who's lost all moral discernement. The real
> philosophical distinction is hard to make, no matter what Webster says.
>
> How about: Is selling market advice (trading systems) thievery?
>
> 5/15/98 -0400, Walt Downs wrote:
> >
> >>>Pete,
> >>>
> >>>ROFL. Lutheran .... hmmmm. My how this thread has blossomed. <g>
> >>>So, basically what some are saying here is that its o.k. to fleece
> >>>someone if they are too stupid to know better. This is certainly a
> >>>practical and apparently lucrative approach. But, allow me to
> >>>sum up some of the arguments:
> >>>
> >>>1. Everybody does it, so it's o.k.
> >>>2. If people are too stupid to know better, then it's o.k.
> >>>3. It takes advantage of people, but its not as *bad* as drugs, so
it's
> >>>o.k.
> >>>4. What Jake did is crummy, but the guy that replaces him would only
> >>>be worse, so it's o.k.
> >>>5. If it hurts people, but makes an obscene amount of money, it's o.k.
> >>>
> >>>Wow. Then I guess it's o.k.
> >>>
> >>>Walt
> >>>
> >>
> >>Walt,
> >>Your 5 points kind of do the straw man on the one side. How about a few
> >words for the other one......
> >
> >Peter,
> >
> >Oh, I am *sure* the huckster has no problems taking the money.
> >As far as a few words for the flip side of the coin, if one were to
> >ask JB if he felt he had done anything wrong, I am sure he would
> >say "no".
> >
> >Walt
> >
> Walt,
> I don't feel I have done anything wrong when I picked up $500
> on an option trade. That dough came from another pocket out
> there somewhere, whose owner earned it, and if s/he were dealing
> face to face with me, might picture me as a huckster. Exposing
> me as such would be tough because we made a deal and the market
> swung my way. I did not misrepresent and thus, steal.
> But still it is just simply business, both the trading we do
> and the deals that JB and his ilk offers. Taking action to
> expose a crook is just one of many market forces.
> PeteNa9090
>
> Trading, business, gambling, thievery? How do we sort it out?
>
> Pete
>
> P.S. I don't thing we need to. We all take chances. The difference
> between the honest but shrewd business deal and stealing is often
> the elusive factor of the one party knowing something big or not
> about his/her advantage in a deal and not disclosing it. How many
> of us disclose to the other party in our trades how we assess the
> outcome or our reasons why we think they are wrong and will lose?
> petena9090@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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