Levels of fiat currency understanding:

0. Dollar is backed by gold

1. Nixon broke peg. Dollar is fractional reserve.

2. Nope. As of May 2020, no fraction is required or enforced.

Levels of securities understanding:

0. You own a share.

1. No, the broker owes you a share.

2. No, the broker owes you a “security entitlement”—a pro-rata fraction of remaining assets AFTER secured creditors are made whole.

In both cases, it’s worse than almost everyone realizes. Even the people that know something.