When asked to justify their actions, many corporations claim that they create wealth for not only themselves but all Americans. Sometimes, it’s true. But when investments go wrong, the people bearing the greatest burdens are more often than not the lower and middle classes. The most recent example is that of the 2008 housing crisis. Large banks, which used predatory lending tactics backed by flawed statistics, eventually collapsed and caused many middle-class families to lose their homes. Yet the same large banks that were responsible for this crisis received significant bail outs from the U.S. government. This, along with many other events, has not only tarnished the image of Wall Street but has also convinced many lower- and middle-class Americans that games of finance are played by the wealthy to benefit only themselves.

But at the beginning of the month, amateur investors, aided by Reddit, worked together to  influence the stock market, and unexpectedly, the values of various companies rose drastically. Hedge fund executives were stunned when Gamestop shares skyrocketed from roughly $20 to a high of $483 on January 28. How had a company, stagnating for so long, suddenly become so valuable?

The answer lies in a trading tactic called “short selling.” An investor borrows a stock, sells it, and then later purchases it to return to the original owner. The hope is that the stock will decrease in price, thus making the purchase price lower than the selling price, resulting in a profit. With a company like Gamestop, slowly being pushed out of business by online retailers such as Amazon, investors swooped in to try and make as much money as possible. However, changes to the company's board of directors indicated that they were developing a digital strategy, and this, along with excitement generated by the r/WallStreetBets community on Reddit, prompted independent investors to buy these stocks, increasing their value and causing large hedge funds to lose significant amounts of money.

These actions weren’t the results of people being bored or investing in their free time: rather, they should be considered a form of protest. For years, the stock market has been seen as a playground for the elite, and ordinary investors have increasingly felt that financial institutions work against them. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, in 2019, the top one percent held 36.92% of U.S. wealth while the bottom 50% owned just 7.44% of assets. The amateur investors who took on Wall Street successfully have sent a powerful message: Though inequality seems impossible to combat, movements against the establishment are possible and turn the tide in favor of the common people. In turn, everyone can advance in their path to achieving the American Dream.

In Princeton, wealth inequality can seem to be a minor issue as everyone is assumed to be upper-class. However, this view of our community not only oversimplifies internal differences but also prevents us from seeing farther than our community. Instead, we need to recognize the various injustices around us and stop ignoring problems just because they don’t affect us. Gaining this understanding will allow us to work more effectively in targeting problems and solving them.

As students, this greater sense of socioeconomic awareness can help us better understand our positions in society and how we can best produce change in the world. Most importantly, we should hold on to the belief that our actions can create progress. We certainly don’t have the capital of bankers or the sway of politicians, yet Reddit has proven that even the most unlikely movements can lead to significant change. Whether this takes the form of discussions in class or political organizing outside of school, knowing that we have the ability to alter our world is a prerequisite to unified action and clear communication.

By late February, Gamestop had fallen to roughly $40, a far cry from the prices just a month before.Yet independent investors who’ve taken the stock market to unpredictable places don’t seem to be giving up any time soon in fighting Wall Street, and we, too, shouldn’t forget about the wealth inequality that permeates our lives.