Very tangential, but the story of Jim Simons is interesting.

He was an American cryptographer who took a very public stance against the Vietnam War. Being forced to leave, he went and set up the world's most successful hedge fund, became a billionaire and led the nerdification of trading.

There are lots of really really interesting interviews with him on YouTube.

You can enjoy the intellectual challenge of what you do, while understanding that the political context of it is bullshit.

What?

Well, enough Americans do for the NSA and CIA to have plenty of highly intelligent math geeks on staff.

Or did you think the US doesn't do propaganda?