Questioning Finance

Sellout - slang. a person who compromises his or her personal values, integrity, talent, or the like, for money or personal advancement.

When is it appropriate to start seriously considering the term? While I think of myself as a whore to the industry, I haven't capitalized on any opportunities to seize wealth or advance personally.

Why work in finance? As far as I can see, the goal is to get rich beyond anything imaginable at the expense of the majority of the world's population, while not creating any value. When that hasn't happened, what are you left with? A job that you aren't overly excited about going to on most mornings, a looming fear that tomorrow might be the day that they call you in to see the coach with your playbook, and a head of hair that suggests you're fifty seven. So I've battled with the term, but hardly think it is applicable as demonstrated by my penchant for pb&j sandwiches.

"This above all: to thine own self be true..." vs. the Adam Smith theory of acting in one's own self-interest.