Re: <nettime> GameStop Never Stops

GameStop checks all boxes of 'populism' as it has been defined by political scientists Jan-Werner Müller and Cas Mudde, namely as a revolt of "the good people" against "the corrupt elites". (I am less sure whether it would also check the boxes of populism as defined by Laclau/Mouffe).

As you pointed out, Felix, it's "hard to say" what the politics of GameStop are beyond such a diagnosis. Its orchestration on Reddit involved white suprematists [ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/31/market-is-rigged-in-favour-of-rich-as-gamestop-fiasco-reveals ], and it is heavily being pushed in right-extremist Telegram channels. One also shouldn't forget that it's the creation of a speculative bubble like Bitcoin, albeit a more nihilistic one, and maybe also a (IMHO naive and misguided) assumption that stock ownership is 'good' capitalism while short selling is toxic capitalism.

-F

blog: https://pod.thing.org/people/13a6057015b90136f896525400cd8561
bio: http://floriancramer.nl

On Tue, Feb 2, 2021 at 1:16 PM Felix Stalder <felix@openflows.com> wrote:

I find the GameStop saga endlessly fascinating, on so many levels.

For one, it's a fitting continuation of the year of American discontent,
that started with #BLM, continued with #StopTheSteal, and reached now
Wall Street with #Gamestop. Politically, these movements are, of course,
very different. The first reacting to deep historical, systemic
injustice and violence, the second bought into a political lie and the
third one, well, that's hard to say.

But all three express, in their own way, a belief, shared by large
segments of the population, that "the system" -- the institutions of
policing, democracy and the financial system -- are fundamental rigged
against them, and that they have to do something against it, even at
considerable personal risk. If you followed all three over the year,
even only superficially, you got a crash course in institutional
critique on an epic scale.

Here's pretty good segment from hill.tv, a relatively respectable
Washington outlet, that makes pretty much this argument:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTT4it_f7Jc&feature=youtu.be

In terms of GameStop, I think a good starting point is to assume that
there are predominantly bad-faith actors involved, that everything
expressed is part of an agenda, that may, or may not, be in line with
what is expressed. Additionally, we are in an environment that is fully
artificial, made up of ultimately arbitrary, but consequential rules. If
you are a deeply immersed gamer, or belief that we are living in a
virtual simulation, as people like Musk apparently do, then you are
right at home.

That doesn't mean that this is not political. It's a lot of things at
the same time. An insider-game between billionaires, a populist revolt,
a get-rich-quick-scheme, total market failure, and the free-markets
fully functioning. It's ultra cynical and naive, deeply individualistic,
and full of expressions of solidarity. It's deadly serious and hugely
entertaining. It's all about money and the recognition, after a decade
of quantitative easing and crypto bubbles, that money is somehow
meaningless. It expresses itself in spreadsheets and memes, and, no
doubt, soon also in congressional hearings.

While I don't expect this one event to have immediate, dramatic
consequences, I expect this to simmer on for a long time and light other
fires, in unexpected places.

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