It's funny to see people saying that a battle between retail investors and hedge funds doesn't matter because it's all the same when those same people say the battle between Democrats and Republicans matters because they're so different...

Something a lot of people might not understand is that during the pandemic in 2020, millions and millions of Americans who had little or no income but were threatened with healthcare debt, eviction, and utility shut-offs turned to free online trading in the hopes of surviving.

It was only very recently that no-fee trading emerged. E*Trade only changed to $0 commission trading in October 2019 after pressure from Robinhood and others.

This meant for the first time millions of low income people could afford to play the game that the rich have played.

Of course no one who is struggling with debt, lack of healthcare, or facing evictions wants to be gambling online to try and survive. But capitalism and bi-partisan refusal to act has left people no other options. And key point: Wall St has been profiting from that fact.

Corporations, like brokerages, that provide this "free trading" are only doing it because they make money off it. Tiny amounts with each transaction. They also make money selling data about the users. They're not doing it to be nice or to democratize anything, we all know that.

But capitalism is not an economic system. It's a game. A game where the wealthy gamble and when they lose all of the penalties are paid by the poor and low income and they walk away, still rich.

People are forced to play the capitalism game if they want to survive.

If you choose not to, you will be homeless, hungry, locked in prison, or killed by police.

That's the situation in which this meme stock issue has emerged. Consider that.

It's no more legitimate to play capitalism by getting a job if you can find one and working under wage slavery than it is to go online and gamble on stocks.

Both are part of the violent game that capitalism forces people to play. Both are jobs in this fake economy.

The millions of retail investors who have turned to no fee trading during the pandemic, or who are trading options, or who have turned to cryptocurrency investing or trading, are all trying to survive in the same system as people working jobs. They're not less than you.

We have a cultural problem where we celebrate people like Warren Buffet for playing the stock market and winning but we describe the retail investors who are fighting the hedge funds over meme stocks as "greedy" or "lazy."

Almost everyone in Congress is rich because of stocks.

For a long time investing in securities, like buying stocks, was a whole part of the capitalist game that wasn't available to everyday people. It was reserved for the rich. And they were the only ones who could benefit from it.

That is changing. But that change isn't justice.

Everyday people getting access to no fee trading through apps like Robinhood is obviously a continuation of the system.

But it's exact same kind of expansion as "give everyone good jobs" or "access to affordable healthcare."

None of these challenge the unjust system.

Capitalism is a game that we force people to play. But only poor and low income people are harmed when the gamble doesn't work out.

The question to ask today is: Why do we let capitalists subject the entire planet to a game that only a few powerful people want to play?

To defend capitalism they tell us it's about "choice" and "freedom." They say it's about the freedom to work hard, earn money, build wealth, to better ourselves and our bank accounts...

But wouldn't “freedom” mean being allowed to opt-out of the game?

Real freedom would mean not being forced to play this game.

Capitalism is not a “natural law” of Earth, or the universe, it is a system created by humans. Real freedom would mean being allowed to live without having to play any games at all.

If capitalists love gambling their rights to adequate food, housing, healthcare, education, and more — let them do it.

Let the capitalists play their game only with each other just like we allow people to gamble in casinos.

Let the capitalists play their game in a closed gaming system where they are the only ones subjected to the penalties of devastating poverty, wars over resources, starvation, and destruction of their environment.

Let the capitalists play, but free the rest of us from the game.

To defend capitalism, they say it's about "personal responsibility," taking responsibility for the choices we make and the success or failure that follows.

So, let the capitalists take responsibility for once.

Don't take away capitalists’ precious choice, freedom, and responsibility.

Let them play the game in a closed system where they can accept responsibility and live with the consequences of the game, rather than displacing the burden onto the rest of us who never wanted to play.

It is time to acknowledge capitalism is a deadly game.

So leave the rest of the planet to live in peace and plenty while the capitalists fight with each other to accumulate wealth and possessions, in their own private Thunderdome of gold and death.

Don't take away the precious right of choice from the majority of people on this world, let us choose the default economic and political system of this planet: collaboration, distribution, sharing, peace, equality, and justice.

Let us have the freedom and choice of living with comfort and plenty, with leisure, as the factories and technologies of the economy and industry work not for the profit of a few but to provide for all, to feed, house, and take care of the world.

It's time to recognize that capitalism isn't an economic system, it's a deadly game and state violence is about forcing poor people to play it and suffer the consequences while protecting the rich. https://medium.com/@OmanReagan/capitalism-the-game-ad9830907a5d