Put it in the kitty
“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
― George Orwell, 1984
Roaring kitty recently made headlines (and with his signature headband) in his recent livestreaming event. It may not have been a repeat of earlier successes, so perhaps it was more of a purr than a roar. Nevertheless, it does bring back into the spotlight some great memes. Afterall, who doesn’t love a David-versus-Goliath story with some full froth FOMO mixed in for good measure
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A prerequisite for any good folktale is a hero and a villain. In Roaring Kitty’s 2021 heroic exploits, the unlikely villain turned out not be a small virus but instead a startup stock trading app Robinhood. Robinhood’s purported mission from its inception was to "democratize finance for all". But as GameStop stock soared during the meme stock frenzy, Robinhood made the controversial decision to restrict trading on the stock, citing liquidity issues and regulatory compliance. Keep in mind Robinhood had benefited handsomely from pandemic boredom trading and helicopter money. This move was seen by many as a betrayal of Robinhood’s ethos and a capitulation to the pressures exerted by institutional investors and market makers.
Once again, the narrative of small investors triumphing over Wall Street behemoths captured the public’s imagination just like the original Robin Hood renown for stealing from the rich to assuage the suffering of the poor and downtrodden. This recent livestream was once again about “blowing up the billionaire’s funds” or so we were told
As seductive as these underdog, narratives and memes are, we would be remiss if we didn’t stop and examine the original Robin Hood, a meme-worthy icon even in modern times - steal from the rich, give to the poor.”
Characterizing Robin Hood as a marauding outlaw is in fact more of a reflection on big government’s propensity to overreach. The Sheriff of Nottingham wasn’t collecting taxes from the rich nor was he collecting taxes from the poor. He was collecting taxes from the yeoman farmers. Yeomans weren’t rich, but they weren’t poor either. Yeomans were the middle. In this context, Robin Hood emerges not as a petty thief, but as a rebel against the fiscal tyranny of his era.
Fast forward to present day and the modest yeoman farmer has been transformed into a lawbreaker while the Sheriff of Nottingham’s cruel statist thievery plays second fiddle. Somehow Robin Hood has been rebranded a hero of Marxist social justice warriors. Who would have thought the 1973 Disney cartoon version championing wealth redistribution would have been so ahead of its time? At least its watchable compared to some of the more recent Disney+ productions.
It has been said that one should never meet their heroes, and for a lot of Che Guevara-t-shirt-wearing Marxists this is probably sound advice. However, the hero, that both the GameStop saga and Robin Hood share is that of regular, ordinary, real people. In Robin Hood they are called his Merry Men, and in the meme stock GameStop world they rally to “Ape Strong”.
Ape Strong underscores the formidable strength derived from unity and collective effort. The Apes success and resilience are not merely products of individual prowess, but rather the result of their solidarity and mutual support. Fellowship is certainly something that should be cherished, but perhaps we should Venmo Roaring Kitty 20-bucks for his live stream theatrical productions and cut establishment middle-men out of it. This would involve giving up the lottery ticket hope of options, but could unlock something more real than derivatives. After all the Casino not only loves a winner but depends on them too.