The utility is always the same. The stock market provides price discovery, which drives efficient resource allocation (in theory).

Theoretically, more gamblers should mean better price discovery because the payouts for correctly taking the opposing side of the trade are higher.

The market solution would be that the gambling will eventually solve itself. They’ll either learn enough to be trading on knowledge rather than vibes, fueling price discovery, or they’ll exit the market when they’ve lost too much or everything.

My sticking point is that a lot of brokers offer leverage to people they really shouldn’t. I could have sworn you had to be a qualified investor to get leverage, but if that isn’t law it should be. Show the brokerage your certification, or a pile of cash large enough to convince them you can afford to lose the whole thing.

I don't know if "theoretically" is good enough here. The theory hasn't really been tested or proven. It's more of a hypothesis, and an ideologically driven one at that.