there's been a lot of commentary already on the new Dan Olson video about financebro culture (https://youtu.be/5pYeoZaoWrA) and I've barely digested it myself, so I don't really have anything too insightful to say. I'll say this much: it's good to be reminded that these days, people really will believe in just about anything. just about any bizarre assertion that taps into a powerful social force—and I think we'd have to agree that avarice is pretty damn powerful—can generate a subculture, it would seem. flat-Earthism seems almost sensible, as a faith, in comparison to worshipping a "meme stock", and dedicating yourself to the proposition that clutching reflexively to a single corporation's stock won't just make you rich but will destroy Wall Street and revolutionize all society.
capitalism subsumes all critiques and challenges into itself, it's been often said, and I can't think of a better example than this. real actual human beings believe in the Good Capitalist vs. Bad Capitalist narrative so completely that it's the literally the only way that they can imagine a revolution against capitalism: some golden-boy CEO, pure of heart and high in IQ, will come along and somehow change it all from within, as long as we believe in him. now I can at least sort of see why people might think Elon Musk was such a champion...but the GameStop guy??
faith. I blame faith for this—the metaphysical concept of faith, as Christian culture has defined it. faith is in serious need of conceptual overhaul...maybe it was always a bad idea, and maybe we should all simply learn to live with at least some degree of perpetual doubt. if matter and energy are intrinsically doubtful (i.e. probabilistic) things, then maybe it's not a great idea to put absolute faith in anything visible or concrete?
~Chara