the way i see it is this: they want everyone on earth to put as money as possible into a broad index of stock, reit and bonds. this will increase the value of the market in total. what they dont want is people investing in small caps and individual stocks. why? because theres a good chance the rich dont hold any of these. if a person invests in an index, then its almost certain that the powers that be have holdings within that index and will therefore benefit from your investment and the subsequent increase in price.

this is why im hopeful of the future. the internet and reddit and other have done so well to propogate the "just put your money in the S&P" mantra that future generations of individuals and institutions will do almost only that (after their risky small cap investment blows up, perhaps), proping up the 500 richest companies, and therefore delivering consistent yearly returns for 99% of investors, of all classes.

keep in mind (and this isnt the OG kush talking): all our information comes from the same people whose companies are in the large and mid cap indexes - or who invest primarily in these companies. where do u search for info youtube, amazon, google, bing. lol. why would goog, amzn and msft want u to do anything other than invest in VOO (therefore, them).

as i said, by people putting their money in an index, the big money is guaranteed that a bit of that money goes to their company's stock.

its sad what they dont teach you in school, as well as outside of school. the internet is a terrible place to learn about finance, since the ones with the most interest to keep people retarded control the serps. also is the fact that people naturally stay quiet when they know how to get an advantage. no one explains the advantages of leverage, trailing stops to prevent falling markets from destroying you, the many benefits of etfs over mutual funds, etc. the list of things people dont know - things that would make em millionaires with almost no investment, no knowledge - is so long that it worries me to even write this stuff. how is not eveyone a millionaire? a billionaire? ive had to sit down with so many people and explain compound interest, show them past returns in the best and worst market. once they see the reality they always go, oh shit. are you serious. its that fucking easy. why dont i know this.

then u have reddit personal finance goving the worst advice possible. its almost like a conspiracy to keep people mediocre and working.

fucks sake