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Not sure if this is mentioned in the documentary, but passive investment funds played a huge role in their rise. Basically if you want to invest in the stock market but are somewhat unsure about how to best approach it, you get recommended a passive fund. This fund only buys the stocks that composes a certain index (say SP500) and so has basically the same returns and risks. This in turn attracts much more people that wouldn't otherwise touch the stock market, and Blackrock ends up owning a huge portion of the stocks on the market instead of individuals. And with Blackrock's ownership of said stock comes voting rights in the respective companies. And presto, they now control those companies.
It's worse than you think. No one owning any stock certificate in the world has any rights of ownership - it doesn't matter where you live in the world. It's all going to be wiped-out and used as collateral to line the pockets of those cowards who cannot yet be identified:
  • Essentially all securities “owned” by the public in custodial accounts, pension plans and investment funds are now encumbered as collateral underpinning the derivatives complex, which is so large—an order of magnitude greater than the entire global economy—that there is not enough of anything in the world to back it.
  • Legal certainty has been established that the collateral can be taken immediately and without judicial review, by entities described in court documents as “the protected class.” Even sophisticated professional investors, who were assured that their securities are “segregated”, will not be protected.
  • Ownership of all securities as property has been replaced with a new legal concept of a "security entitlement", which is a contractual claim assuring a very weak position if the account provider becomes insolvent.
Quoted from this book called the Great Taking that I just shared here on SN
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