Some game. Intellectual work isn't easy. And when it results in actual innovation and discoveries it makes a huge difference in how well we humans do in nature. What is "normal" exactly and why would what "normal" people think necessarily be the correct thing? I will admit there is a nasty incestuous relationship between the State and court intellectuals used to propagandize for and make excuses for the State. That is very nasty and more common when the State has close to a monopoly on controlling the funds to academia.
How is it a scam to have better insights into what will do well financially than others or to be better at calculating risk vs reward? That is a pretty useful skill and useful to more than just the one that has that skill.
Mindaugas
The problem is that it is a game that gives you food by playing it. In nature you do not get food by playing games. In nature you have to create things to get things. Normal people know it and expect to live by these natural laws. Fraudsters create and run games that trick normal people into being poor. There is a thin line between good smart that uses energy efficiently to create things easier and faster without scamming others, and fraudster smart that scams others instead of creating anything at all.
Trading smart, running an exchange and running a casino is the same thing - a scam.
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Yes, but what you describe is a factory boss. You have better insights what will do better financially, you produce it, you profit. Trader, while smart, is using his smartness for theft. He does not produce anything, but profits by scamming both, the consumer and the producer.
It is simple. If you do not produce but get profit, you are a thief. Nothing in between, no tax, law, trading smartness matters.
