What are hedge funds?

What do you think of hedge funds?

• The labor theory of value says that whatever time you put in directly correlates to worth. So any sort of profit comes about by paying a worker less than their work is worth - essentially exploiting the worker ("Ain't No Makin' It," Jay MacLeod). That's capitalism. Now, Hedge Funds... I don't understand. I get that people come up with obscene amounts of money, but what do they do? Medical doctors heal, teachers teach, firemen/policemen keep communities safe... Bill Gates made a huge contribution to society with everything Microsoft related. But people in hedge funds? Again, what do they DO? I don't understand how someone could morally feel good about themselves doing this. As far as I understand, they don't make any contribution to society and they end up with ridiculous amounts of money. How do you think they'd fare at career day at an elementary school? "What do you do?" "I make money." "What do you actually DO though?" "Yeah that's the central idea about everything I do - I just make money." "So... what is your societal contribution?" "Ummm nothing really I just get money." You see what I mean? I'm a student at an Ivy League school so the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to do this is right in front of my face. It's not like I'm bitter about something I can't have, so don't read me like that. Because if I wanted it, it's right there. But I don't want it! I think it's absolutely disgusting how anyone does this and I don't know how anyone could want to do that. I'm in school to become a doctor. I know that people are waning away from the medical field because the relative earning potential isn't as high as it used to be, and you spend years in school and stuff... but hey, all the better for me and for everyone else who REALLY wants to be a doctor. My uncle is in business, but before he got his MBA (from Stanford) he got his BS and MS in electrical engineering (both from Stanford as well) and he CREATED. There was innovation to his work, and that's what he got paid for. After working in that field, he went on to become general manager of an engineering firm. I do think that business people up there do get more money than they deserve (that's an entirely new issue though), but hedge funds? In my opinion they don't really deserve anything but yet they're getting paid more than anyone else. That is what I don't understand. What I don't get is how there are people in other countries starving to death, but yet we have shows in the US such as food competitions, where judges get all whiny about there 'not being enough salt' in some sauce, or something. I don't understand how you have people who make a big deal about what brand of water they buy, or people who don't drink Perrier and only drink San Pelegrino.. when you have people in deserts in 3rd world countries who would walk 10 miles to get a couple gallons of dirty water for their entire family and they treat it like gold. This world is so messed up but yet... freaking HEDGE FUNDS? That's so pathetic. I understand that it's not the easiest thing to manage money in that way, but if someone is so intelligent, imagine what society is losing out on? What if those same brains were going to work actually making a difference in this world?

• Answer:

  You may not wan't it but hedge want's it.