Too Big to Fail, Too Small to Win: The Counter-Hegemony of WallStreetBets

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of r/Wallstreetbets as a counter-hegemonic movement that is juxtaposed against the traditional Goliaths of finance in America. It argues that a series of factors, including: the Covid-19 pandemic, the coming of age of the 2008 GFC generation, rising inequality, a rejection of self-professed capitalist authority, group affinity, a “YOLO” yearning for leisure and experimentation, and disenchantment with the corruption of Wall Street;all collectively galvanize the r/Wallstreetbets community of retail investors to pose counter-hegemonic pressure and seek to smash the idols erected by the high priests of hypercapitalism.