Your general idea is valid, but I think OP had a more nuanced point: caveat emptor, don't get carried away, this is literally a gamble and will crash eventually.
Is their any shame in using it
There's some. Participation in capitalism is involuntary, but participation in the stock market is. You're giving it some validity by using it/getting excited about it publicly. It's not much worse than owning a smartphone or eating a hamburger, but boycotting can still be an ethical choice.
Sure, but there's a difference between "this is the only way they'll give you your retirement money" and "let me invest my savings in it". You can avoid deeper involvement.
Spare bucks are savings. I'm unaware of any difference between them. And I think OP is highlighting the same point - don't actually risk anything. My point is that any additional participation or non-participation is a minor ethical choice.
Not really? Maybe for people good with money, but like "I have $2k in savings in case I lose my job" and "I have $20 left to spare cus beans were on sale" are different. Sure that $20 can go into savings, but it's pedantic at best to say all spare money is savings.
any additional participation or non-participation is a minor ethical choice.
Then so is buying a computer when you could build one, renting a movie when you could pirate, or buying fruit when you could pick a lemon tree. It just feels very lifestyle-leftist-y.
We live under a global capitalist system and hand wringing about some people trying to get a bit of extra breathing room feels like an incredible waste of time.
We live under a global capitalist system and hand wringing about some people trying to get a bit of extra breathing room feels like an incredible waste of time.
Which is why I compared it to owning a smartphone at the start. I'm not saying anyone getting involved should feel bad. But there's also nothing wrong with someone saying "this isn't for me, because I want to avoid the stockmarket as much as possible".
Lifestyle leftism is when your only anticapitalism is trying to do ethical consumption. But that doesn't mean trying to do ethical consumption is bad in and of itself.
Your general idea is valid, but I think OP had a more nuanced point: caveat emptor, don't get carried away, this is literally a gamble and will crash eventually.
There's some. Participation in capitalism is involuntary, but participation in the stock market is. You're giving it some validity by using it/getting excited about it publicly. It's not much worse than owning a smartphone or eating a hamburger, but boycotting can still be an ethical choice.
Not really. If any melinial wants to retire you have to set up a 401k/IRA which is mostly going into the stock market.
The american financial system tries it's hardest to get people investing the very little bit they have into it so they become stakeholders.
Sure, but there's a difference between "this is the only way they'll give you your retirement money" and "let me invest my savings in it". You can avoid deeper involvement.
Nobody (here at least, that I've seen) is saying invest life savings.
You have a few spare bucks that you don't mind losing? Fine. Give it a shot. Nobody should be dipping into savings or becoming a day trader for this.
Spare bucks are savings. I'm unaware of any difference between them. And I think OP is highlighting the same point - don't actually risk anything. My point is that any additional participation or non-participation is a minor ethical choice.
Not really? Maybe for people good with money, but like "I have $2k in savings in case I lose my job" and "I have $20 left to spare cus beans were on sale" are different. Sure that $20 can go into savings, but it's pedantic at best to say all spare money is savings.
Then so is buying a computer when you could build one, renting a movie when you could pirate, or buying fruit when you could pick a lemon tree. It just feels very lifestyle-leftist-y.
We live under a global capitalist system and hand wringing about some people trying to get a bit of extra breathing room feels like an incredible waste of time.
Which is why I compared it to owning a smartphone at the start. I'm not saying anyone getting involved should feel bad. But there's also nothing wrong with someone saying "this isn't for me, because I want to avoid the stockmarket as much as possible".
Lifestyle leftism is when your only anticapitalism is trying to do ethical consumption. But that doesn't mean trying to do ethical consumption is bad in and of itself.