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Incredibly naive to think that WSB itself isn't filled with rich and well-connected people. In its early days, WSB was almost entirely a bunch of rich wall stre

Incredibly naive to think that WSB itself isn't filled with rich and well-connected people. In its early days, WSB was almost entirely a bunch of rich wall street traders with extra tens/hundreds of thousands to spare on crazy bets. Nowadays, it's one of the largest subreddits on one of the largest websites in the world. WSB isn't some niche gathering of "average joes" - all of the major wall street firms monitor it, and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that many of them downright manipulate it via astroturfing.

the_only_law 6y ago
I’m convinced that this is just a “win the battle, lose the war” moment. I can imagine well funded financial institutions doing whatever they can to make sure this doesn’t happen again and if they can, punishing those who took part.
- guscost 6y ago
  Same exact thing that they are trying to do to Trump. The war between populists and establishment is just getting started. This is probably not a popular (ha) opinion on HN right now, but just wait and see!
  - IggleSniggle 6y ago
    I agree with you regarding the war between populists and establishment, but I don’t think Trump fits into that as more than a cataclyst. The Obama story was the same: Hope and Change Populism. Trump is business establishment through and through and has managed to wake a populist movement for his own enrichment. He (and his sycophantic cronies) were (and continue to be) very much part of the “I got mine” greed establishment. Instead of answering to the Population, it seems that Trump and his crew care only for self-enrichment. How he managed to capture the imagination of a Populist movement is indication of the total lack of alternatives.
    - guscost 6y ago
      We apparently live in different realities. “If big business is on your side, everyone on TV is on your side, Hollywood is on your side, every university faculty is on your side, and almost every union is on your side, then you are not The Resistance.” -Apocryphal
    - berryjerry 6y ago
      It takes some effort to blame this on Trump. Trump literally gave up his fortune to serve.
      - alxndr 6y ago
        A) he didn’t give up what he already had, and B) “fortune” is being pretty generous
        berryjerry 6y ago
        His companies have been battered, protested, and boycotted. He also donated his entire presidential salary. No one asked him to. WSB bets top posts are literally AOC, a democrat congresswoman, supporting them right now and somehow someone is still finding a way to blame Trump?
        magicalist 6y ago
        > WSB bets top posts are literally AOC, a democrat congresswoman, supporting them right now and somehow someone is still finding a way to blame Trump? Missing the mark here, mate. No one in this chain said that. Maybe re-read the actual criticism?
        berryjerry 6y ago
        You're right, I read that Trump started a populist movement for his own enrichment and assumed he was relating that to the WSB populist movement getting started, since I just read an article stating that. Edit: Here's the article I was reading: "How Trumpism explains the GameStop Surge" https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/politics/gamestop-stock-surge-trumpism/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/politics/gamestop-stock-surge...
rory 6y ago
I'm incredibly naive to think something I didn't claim, allude to, or comment on at all? Rich and well-connected people can tick off other rich and well-connected people.
- idolaspecus 6y ago
  This is a really good example of a type of hidden bigotry in a good chunk of the rhetoric from the left. Of course you made said claim because all rich people are in cahoots because their wealth is the single dimension which completely defines them.

the_only_law 6y ago

I’m convinced that this is just a “win the battle, lose the war” moment. I can imagine well funded financial institutions doing whatever they can to make sure this doesn’t happen again and if they can, punishing those who took part.

guscost 6y ago
Same exact thing that they are trying to do to Trump. The war between populists and establishment is just getting started. This is probably not a popular (ha) opinion on HN right now, but just wait and see!
- IggleSniggle 6y ago
  I agree with you regarding the war between populists and establishment, but I don’t think Trump fits into that as more than a cataclyst. The Obama story was the same: Hope and Change Populism. Trump is business establishment through and through and has managed to wake a populist movement for his own enrichment. He (and his sycophantic cronies) were (and continue to be) very much part of the “I got mine” greed establishment. Instead of answering to the Population, it seems that Trump and his crew care only for self-enrichment. How he managed to capture the imagination of a Populist movement is indication of the total lack of alternatives.
  - guscost 6y ago
    We apparently live in different realities. “If big business is on your side, everyone on TV is on your side, Hollywood is on your side, every university faculty is on your side, and almost every union is on your side, then you are not The Resistance.” -Apocryphal
  - berryjerry 6y ago
    It takes some effort to blame this on Trump. Trump literally gave up his fortune to serve.
    - alxndr 6y ago
      A) he didn’t give up what he already had, and B) “fortune” is being pretty generous
      - berryjerry 6y ago
        His companies have been battered, protested, and boycotted. He also donated his entire presidential salary. No one asked him to. WSB bets top posts are literally AOC, a democrat congresswoman, supporting them right now and somehow someone is still finding a way to blame Trump?
        magicalist 6y ago
        > WSB bets top posts are literally AOC, a democrat congresswoman, supporting them right now and somehow someone is still finding a way to blame Trump? Missing the mark here, mate. No one in this chain said that. Maybe re-read the actual criticism?
        berryjerry 6y ago
        You're right, I read that Trump started a populist movement for his own enrichment and assumed he was relating that to the WSB populist movement getting started, since I just read an article stating that. Edit: Here's the article I was reading: "How Trumpism explains the GameStop Surge" https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/politics/gamestop-stock-surge-trumpism/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/politics/gamestop-stock-surge...

rory 6y ago

I'm incredibly naive to think something I didn't claim, allude to, or comment on at all? Rich and well-connected people can tick off other rich and well-connected people.

idolaspecus 6y ago
This is a really good example of a type of hidden bigotry in a good chunk of the rhetoric from the left. Of course you made said claim because all rich people are in cahoots because their wealth is the single dimension which completely defines them.