kevinroose

Redditors, def.

That was a fascinating thing. Some of them dismissed the protests. But more than a few were really shaken by them. I remember one Goldman guy saying, "It feels so weird to be on this side of things." You have to remember that there were 22- and 23-year-old bankers. They had friends in the Occupy movement. And they weren't so far removed from the real world that they couldn't feel guilt for taking part in such a vilified industry.

Oh yay an actual question! Yes, I do think that on some level, my young banker friends are like my Liberty friends. Of course, their cultures are miles apart, but they're both being put through this kind of theological test. On Wall Street, you're basically taught to blend in – dress the right way, talk the right way, look up to the same charismatic leaders as everyone else. Same at Christian college.

But what might be more interesting, and a parallel I didn't suspect, is that both communities have apostates. There are a ton of people on Wall Street, I suspect, who don't really buy the whole finance ethos – who are going through the motions, but don't have their hearts in it. Several of the eight people I followed fall into this camp, so there have to be lots more.

I was too freaked out and nervous to remember exactly, but we'd had a conversation during the interview about his days as a bartender, and when he leaned in he told me some story from his bartending days about Wall Street customers that I'm sure would have been crude and and hilarious if I'd been sentient at the time.

All the effing time. I get invited to all these cool tech parties and then I RSVP and they're like, oh, sorry, the party's been...moved?