Hi! It’s konkaz (@konkazuk).
Lately, I’ve been following Gary Stevenson, a former top trader at Citibank in the UK and now a YouTuber fighting to fix economic inequality. Excitingly, he’s bringing his talk show to my local area, Hackney!
I couldn’t miss the chance to hear his words live as he continues to advocate for a wealth tax on the super-rich! So, I took my wife along and went to see him.
Hence, this article is my report on the event.
For more details on who Gary Stevenson is, please refer to this article.
👉 Gary Stevenson: Former Financier Turned Advocate for Economic Equality
Here comes Gary!
The event was held at Hackney Empire, a theatre just a 20-minute walk from where I live.
Years ago, when I was in a band, I played at the front bar of this building. But right from the first song, a guitar string snapped, and I had to borrow an unfamiliar guitar from one of the other bands playing that night. It ended up being a disastrous performance—definitely a bitter memory.
Anyway, putting my own memories aside, the venue’s interior is steeped in history, giving it the charm of a long-established pub.
The audience is mostly in their late 20s to 40s, and to my surprise, there’s a noticeable number of women.
Our seats are in the fifth row from the front, which means we’ll have a great view of Gary. I’m really looking forward to it!
When it was time for the show to start, rapper and actor Jordan Stephens, who’s a football buddy of Gary’s, appeared to introduce him.
Then, Gary appeared from the side of the stage, wearing his trademark black hoodie with the No-Face print from Spirited Away, an Adidas tracksuit, red football socks, and Onitsuka Tiger shoes.
The audience welcomed him with warm applause and cheers.
Take care of yourself and reach out to others
The event is part of the promotion for the paperback release of Gary’s autobiography, “The Trading Game“, published by Penguin Books about a year ago.
And because of this, the talk revolved around the book, but Gary’s direct storytelling about the characters and dramatic moments made his personality shine through even more.
What stood out the most was the story of Gary becoming so obsessed with trading that “winning”—making more money than anyone else—became his everything. Meanwhile, Harry, who looked up to him like a star, got caught up with a crowd of brokers and ended up addicted to cocaine.
When Gary got fed up with Harry’s party lifestyle and confronted him, Harry said, “When was the last time you saw your dad? Why don’t you ever reach out to your friends? If you abandon me, there’ll be no one left for you to care about. You’ll turn into a heartless machine.” Later, Gary realised those words were painfully true.
Another interesting story was from Gary’s time working in Japan. He hated karaoke, but his boss told him, ‘Karaoke isn’t about singing perfectly—it’s about how much fun you bring to the people around you’. Hearing that, Gary thought, ‘That makes sense’.
Through these stories, Gary expressed his view that…
modern society presents us with a false choice: to live for ourselves or for others. Yet, this very notion is eroding communities, and in turn, fueling the deepening inequalities we see today.
His words carried a profound truth.
Some people are just struggling to get by, so the capacity to care for others varies from person to person. Even so, living for oneself and living for others are not choices we have to pick between. If we don’t balance both, something will inevitably go wrong.
I felt that this was the key takeaway from the talk.
It’s only the power of collective unity that can challenge those who possess enormous wealth!
“So, what is Gary trying to do to break down social inequality?”
The truth is, inequality is deliberately constructed by a handful of ultra-rich elites. The only way to challenge them is for everyone else to unite.
That’s why Gary is fighting to bring people together.
With their vast wealth and influence, they control the media, spreading misinformation and exploiting issues like immigration to manipulate certain groups of people. Their goal is to create conflict among ordinary citizens and keep them divided.
If only the public as a whole understood this truth. Unfortunately, many people are indifferent to politics, and once again, the media plays a role in steering attention away from political and environmental concerns.
Money is certainly important, but when “winning the competition” becomes synonymous with “earning more than anyone else”, life starts revolving around possessions as the ultimate status. In the process, empathy for others fades away.
The items in your possession may have been made by workers in developing countries toiling for hours in harsh environments, risking their health and lives. But since this reality is invisible to you, it likely never crosses your mind.
No matter how large the financial differences among ordinary people, they are insignificant compared to the immense wealth of a small ultra-rich class. Gary warns that if this situation is left unchecked, the general public will eventually be consumed by their greed, bringing society back to a feudal system.
Before that happens, it seems more likely that humanity will meet its end due to climate change…. But stopping them also means stopping climate change, doesn’t it?
Which means that unless we’re billionaires, we have no choice but to unite.
And that’s exactly why we need to embrace both self-interest and compassion for others.
Gary brought the heat again today. 🔥
That’s it for this article.
Until next time.
konkaz
*You can read this blog post in Japanese from the link below.
👉 ゲイリー・スティーブンソン氏が語る富裕税の必要性と市民の連帯