That sounds all well and good, until you peak behind the curtain and realize you've been gambling your life savings away into a casino disguised as a legitimate market.

That's not how it works. You fundamentally own a share in society. If the rug is pulled, it will recover. If anything, you now have an opportunity to acquire larger relative shares.

The only way there's no subsequent recovery is if we had problems so serious that money would mean absolutely nothing to anyone on this planet. Think nuclear war.

You also can't fall prey to manipulation if you go with recurrent purchases and diversify. The only way to get fucked for good is if you try to time your purchases and sales or go all in on any one type of asset. Which is why I specifically never mentioned trading of any kind.

People must learn that investments are one of the few real ways to not just generate wealth for yourself, but to indeed mold and evolve society. Consumers already do this on a much smaller scale, their choices impact what is made. Applying the same to investments fast-tracks the same effect.