Who does it serve, really? I’m not necessarily looking to make a point, but hopefully to be proven wrong…
These days our retirements are tied up and bound to the stock market. We should be grateful with the upward trends on Wall Street. Yet, the money sending company stocks ever higher comes from us. It comes from our labor. Our labor is the engine that drives the economy. It comes from our pockets. Our purchases are what powers any successful company. There has to be a better way.
How many times over, again and again does a company go public, or is otherwise bought, and the product or service suffers as a result? How many concessions are made in the name of the shareholders? In the name of profit alone?
Billionaires, for the most part, aren’t worth actual billions, at least not in immediate cash. Their money is their stake in the market. Their pay is often relatively modest, as they don’t particularly need it. Nor do we particularly need billionaires.
How much of the money we spend leaves our pockets solely for the shareholders? How much goes to line the pockets of those who are well enough already?
So what does the stock market do for us? I think it’s a filter. It helps those with capital gain more. Money goes through, and trickles out. It’s a tool for the rich to maintain and grow their wealth. All of this is of course based on the idea that growth can continue indefinitely. I think we’re now seeing evidence that it cannot.