The old bargain is gone: grind, be patient, and you’ll get stability. For a lot of people, it’s not “hard” anymore — it’s blocked. Wages trail assets, the goalposts sprint away, and AI compresses the timeline until “just wait” sounds like a joke.
https://x.com/systematicls/status/2004900241745883205
So the casino starts to make sense. Memecoin degens, sports bettors, prediction-market addicts, guru subscribers — they know the odds are ugly. They also know the alternative: a life of guaranteed mediocrity. If the choice is “definitely stuck” vs “probably stuck with a tiny escape hatch,” you take the hatch.
That’s why the platforms win. They’re selling agency on a timescale that matters, and they take a fee whether you win or lose. You can moralize about it, but the real story is simpler: when the exit door is locked, people stop walking — they gamble.