Exactly. Stocks weren't meant to be traded as a way to make money. They were meant to represent ownership in a company that payed out dividends.

But then finance bros being finance bros, figured out they could gamble against a stock's value and potentially make even more money.

Then it became normalized.

At least there are rules now and some oversite. It used to be a literal secret group of men, in a room, deciding value and who gets what.