Framing speculation as gambling inadvertently legitimizes rational homo economicus

Evidence

Lastly, I want to be clear from the outset that homo speculans should not be confused with a gambler. A long-standing view of financialized capitalism as “casino capitalism” is often translated into depicting modern capitalist societies as “poker nations.” The most sophisticated relevant argument that I am aware of is proposed by LiPuma’s (2017) and LiPuma and Lee’s (2012) prescient studies of financialization, which contend that emerging global imagined communities of poker players are driven by a sanitized speculative ethos and an ill-placed belief in “having a good hand” against all odds. Poker nations indulge in gambling tournaments and online betting of all sorts and are prone to “individualistic wagering against others” (LiPuma 2017, 260). As I show, however, this view ultimately contributes to the legitimacy of the rational homo economicus by setting it up against the immoral and irrational caricature of the gambler. This language complements the argument of a fragmented, anxious, and narcissistic (collecting ego-boosting likes and swipes) political subject, which this book seeks to debunk. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 29

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces homo speculans by distinguishing it from the gambler, a core clarifying move for the reader’s task of defining the term.
• XREF: connects to: Finance embraced computers because algorithmic complexity hides gambling as innovation — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 294