If it was _only_ human ability / trade craft, that makes good traders (hft or conventional), imo those traders would have earned their cut. Honoring such a market making service and economic foresight with profits is reasonable for the public.
Unfortunately, the difference between a good trader and a successfull one is not ability alone but privilege! Be it insider information or better latency, its the same thing here!
> There is no principle that all market participants must been on equal footing.
This statement is objectively false, when you take "equal footing" as "equal access".
> in every field of human activity, professionals are advantaged over hobbyists, and that's fine.
The gap between professionals and hobbyists is the same between professionals and customers, its the main reason of trustee obligations / market regulations. So something about this issue is not fine.
My point is, privileged market access leads to growing power asymmetries, which a newcomer can never compensate with genius abilities alone. This kind of market capture is similar to institutionalized corruption btw.
Once a vital service provider gets too dominant or the power gap gets too wide, regulators must step in. See health care (medical complexity), legal systems (cost of equal representation) or basically all infrastructure (obligation of contracting).
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I replied to your stronghold statements, didnt i?
Now, is HFT just a client side approach of front running? Which is an insider privilege and illegal.