Almost ten years to the day since
Adbusters magazine sowed the seeds of the Occupy movement with a call for “a popular uprising in the West […] a million man march on Wall Street”, the news media is captivated by the story of a group of retail investors who have apparently kept the video game retailer GameStop alive by causing its stock price to rocket – and beaten hedge funds at their own game.
“Meet the amateur traders fighting Wall Street” gushed the BBC this morning, presenting an audience of 438 million people with the stories of a few plucky individuals – normal people, just like us – who used financial trading apps such as Robinhood to support GameStop and combat the destructive cynicism of the financial elite.