Name: Government and power are not the same
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Government and power are not the same

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You have permission to edit this article.Back to TopHave you been following the news about how a Reddit group bought up undervalued GameStop stock, and sent its prices through the roof, causing losses in the billions to institutional investors who put money on GameStop’s stock price to fall? If you haven’t, there is plenty of news and opinion about it online and I would encourage you to browse the web for a few.It is of particular interest to me because, first of all, I’m a power-to-the-people kind of guy. Also, I personally love the idea of financial decentralization, which is manifested by cyber currencies such as Bitcoin which works on blockchain technology. Most financial transactions require authorization and verification by a centralized authority such as a bank which can charge what it wants, take as long as it wants, and can do what it wants to the money before the transaction is reconciled. By contrast, blockchain technology offers the same transactions to occur for less money and nearly instantaneously. I’m a fan because why should people pay more and wait longer when they don’t have to? And why should their money work for anybody other than themselves?Back to the stock market. The spike in the price of GameStop shares caused institutional investment firms, a centralized market transaction entity (the NCSS) and a retail investing service for regular people called Robinhood, to freak out. Robinhood abruptly halted the trading of GameStop in the middle of the price surge because its centralized “bank” – the NCSS – demanded $3 billion to cover the GameStock transactions it had flooded the market with. In addition, hedge funds called on their federal regulator friends – or puppets – to throw up additional roadblocks.Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.Error! There was an error processing your request.To what exactly, we must ask? Why should an individual with his or her own money and freedom to buy whatever he or she wants be barred from buying a product simply because billionaires are losing money?C’mon! The idea that the price of the stock was determined outside of the precious institutions that manage hedge funds, and by everyday people who organized themselves on two apps on their smartphones, is as cool as it is thrilling. It’s the stuff of legends.But here’s the thing: While our government and the media want us to think that the insurgence on the Capitol on Jan. 6th threatened the very seat of power; what happened with GameStop tears down the curtain that obscures the real power in this country. And, surprise!, it is not in the White House, Congress or the Pentagon. It’s on Wall Street.Consider the so-called power of our elected officials through the GameStop lens. In order to shut down Robinhood, Congress would have had to do a whole lot more than simply switching an off button, which Robinhood clearly did at the firm persuasion of the NCSS. Were the representatives, senators and White House in charge, I imagine there would have been some sort of resolution or motion for a hearing to take place, and then there would be hours if not days of testimony and argument leading to a decision. This is not power, this is bureaucracy. It is busy work, the kind of work you give your students to keep busy but is of no real consequence.Furthermore, political campaigns are not self-funded by members of Congress and presidents, except for a handful who can afford it. Their campaign coffers are filled by the money czars. There is no coincidence that billionaire Betsy DeVos was Trump’s education chair, or that “Mr. Monsanto” Tom Vilsack is Joe Biden’s pick to head the USDA. We hear a lot that “the system is rigged” which is difficult to prove; however, an obvious rigging has come to light:Big money greases the wheels of our sacred democracy, not the people or our little lives of insignificant financial weight.Truthfully, this has always been touted as the ugly underbelly of democracy. But I, myself, never realized it until last week when we all witnessed “the people” make power moves, and were punished. In the case of GameStop, a mostly unknown group of Redditors with a great idea were admonished and swiftly punished for daring to buy some stock which caused huge losses to the rich. Similarly, when school children are murdered with gun violence, nothing happens; although overnight thousands of National Guard members are summoned when a handful of Congressmen and women feel threatened without a single bullet being fired. The rich must protect their minions, after all.The rioting on the capital earlier this year was nothing more than an angry mob taking out their frustrations on another federal building, something which has been happening all year with both Democrats and Republicans rioting. And none of it has come nearer to the power center than last week’s bulk buying spree on the stock market by a peaceful mob on cyberspace.This should be a wake-up call for all of us about who our government really defends. It certainly is for me. 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You have permission to edit this article.Back to TopHave you been following the news about how a Reddit group bought up undervalued GameStop stock, and sent its prices through the roof, causing losses in the billions to institutional investors who put money on GameStop’s stock price to fall? If you haven’t, there is plenty of news and opinion about it online and I would encourage you to browse the web for a few.It is of particular interest to me because, first of all, I’m a power-to-the-people kind of guy. Also, I personally love the idea of financial decentralization, which is manifested...

Government and power are not the same

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