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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 07/05/2026

The "defined benefits pension" (that guarantees you an inflation-adjusted sum every month until you die) was replaced with 401(k)s and other "market-based pensions" (where you only get to survive after retirement if you bet correctly on the movement of stocks): pluralistic.net/2022/05/29/a... 38/

pluralistic.net

Against Cozy Catastrophies – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 07/05/2026

Despite this having all the appearance of a rigged game - finance industry insiders are always going to be better at betting on stocks than teachers, nurses, janitors and other productive workers - proponents of this system always insisted that workers weren't *really* the suckers at the table. 39/

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 07/05/2026

But the stock market is like Kalshi or Polymarket in that one bettor's losses are another bettor's gains, and in those markets, nearly all the money is harvested by less than 1% of bettors: www.coindesk.com/markets/2026... 40/

coindesk.com

A tiny group is winning on Polymarket as under 1% of wallets take half the profits

After research showed a small minority moves prices, new data suggests an even smaller group captures roughly half of all gains.

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