Since everyone’s likely already worked out the specifics of what happened with the reddit nerds and Wall Street (and if you haven’t this is a pretty good, short explainer video), I’m less interested in working out the “what happened?” and way more interested in sorting out why.
Especially since there’s been this weird push to compare the r/wallstreetbets Reddit guys with what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6. No, really. That’s happening.
#BREAKING
Former SEC Commissioner Laura Unger compares short squeeze to January 6th at the Capitol pic.twitter.com/H1PCv1ZUk6— PG Howie (@pghowie3) January 28, 2021
Such a strange narrative to push, especially since the behavior of disrupting the system is definitely more the purview of the progressive side of the aisle, not that conservatives can’t get a kick out of it. As Dave Portnoy put it on Tucker Carlson’s show last night, when AOC and Donald Trump Jr. are on the same side, you know something’s gone horribly wrong.
But it would be extremely foolish to blame Trumpism (as Washington Post does) for GameStop’s surge and hedge funds losing billions.
The Gamestop saga is one of the greatest direct actions. The people are seizing the means of production. In America that's not a factory it's the stock market. Where imaginary value gets put on our labor, where speculative capital gets to bet & believe in many possible worlds.
— Alex O'Keefe (@_dotgov) January 28, 2021
And CNet quotes at least one redditor as noting this is a war for redistribution of wealth. So…until we know exactly what the impetus was for the redditors to move on the GameStop stock, I’ll reserve judgment and just laugh at the establishment Democrats flailing around as their buddies lose their shirts.
I cover all that on the show today, as well as how the Wall Street upheaval actually benefits China. And I give you my thoughts on an interesting and unusual film, “A Promising Young Woman” (trailer below).
The show lives below on Spotify and you can also find me at iHeart radio, Apple Podcasts, FCB Radio’s Spreaker, and Deezer.
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