‘Socially Responsible’ Investing
I don’t know much about this topic, I’ll be the first to admit. I’m not keen on making money I don’t earn, and I don’t think anyone is “earning” money unless they’re doing productive work. But as long as capitalism rewards laziness, people will want to make money by virtue of having money, so here are some websites that discuss the dilemma Pete raised today (and got chewed out for so much as pondering)…
Social Investment Forum
“Advancing socially and environmentally responsible investing”
Social Funds
“The largest personal finance site devoted to socially responsible investing”
Green Money Journal
“Newsletter that provides resources and contacts for environmentally and socially responsible investing”
Co-op America
“Strategies for socially and environmentally responsible investing”
I can’t vouch for how “socially responsible” any of these places are, but they’re a good start. Now I’ll sit back while people post how horrible the idea of socially responsible investing is or how stupid I am for not trying to make money off other people’s hard work.
Nice writing. You are on my RSS reader now so I can read more from you down the road.
Allen Taylor
I said this on the show and I will say this here. The great majority of us, myself included, are very hypocritical on this subject. While we may preach one thing, we all want huge returns on those few dollars we can afford to invest.
The only “social” investing i do is Sirius, and personally i boycott Nike because of their child labour practices—a milestone since in high school i wore Nikes long before anyone ever heard of them and used to get teased about wearing skips, and my Puma stripes were upside down.
i also stopped “reading” Players, a Black men’s magazine, when they did an article about kugerands and South African gold mines being good investments…this at a time when Arthur Ashe was leading the way against investing in South Africa [and that selfish bastard, Air Jordan, could’ve pressured Nike into selling those sneakers at a lower price (when i first wore them they were cheaper than Converses) AND stop using child labour…and of course he didn’t!]
John from Cleveland is mostly right—everyone is looking for the next Google stock—or a new crack or meth that they can make money off of without having to go to jail.
So do what I do: invest in what is socially immoral for nice returns. Anything with war or sex has nice returns. Being nice is one thing; being able to retire is another. I help my local community in many ways, but I also want to make a buck in one way or another, and today’s economy has made it hard for me, so I took the immoral road when it comes to investing. Keep in mind there are several manners in which to defur a feline. There are many companies that deal with the government: Navistar - International trucks has a military division which builds trucks, heavy duty fucking trucks, for war time military purposes. There are many companies that deal with the government one way or another, some of which have to deal with the ugly side of society, but all of these companies, good and not so good, work together to make the economy work. If we were to invest in only socially resposible companies, where would that leave companies that build vehicles for the military, companies that manufacture the bulllet proof vests for our fighting boys and girls? Where would that leave our soldiers without the proper equipment and vehicles in time of war? Where would that leave me when I’m ready to retire?
Mmmm, War-Sex. It’s true that it’s very hard, if not slightly impossible, to separate out only the supposed “socially responsible” venues to invest your money. Martin is right, the nitty gritty aspects are where the money is made because it’s where reality hits the hardest. The unsavory typically yields the best, and when investing, you are investing for your future, not the future of a particular company. However, what if you do rather well investing in the darker arts, but turn around and use portions, or the entirety of these earnings in a worthwhile, philanthropic manner? Can you justify the gains here or are they still considered “socially irresponsible”?
Good that you covered this subject. I see one post suggests that socially responsible investing does not make as good returns as through more conventional investing. That idea has been put to toast by dozens of studies on the subject. Generally, the studies show that socially responsible investing provides as good, and sometimes better returns, than conventional investing.
I’ve been following socially responsible investing for about forty years and have a website that covers the latest global news and research on the subject. For the research studies, readers can go to http://investingforthesoul.com/Main%20Pages/ethical-investing-CSR-research-studies.htm#Ethical-Investing
Also, I believe that if everyone does invest according to their personal values, then, since so many of core values are alike — and are supportive of higher ideals — that in the long run, only companies employing these higher values will truly prosper. Society itself would also reflect the higher ideals.
Good luck and best wishes, Ron Robins
I don’t know, I get a hell of a return from some of the immoral means I have invested in, and I’m not pushing a website. I do have other investments, but it’s hard to beat the totally legal immoral ones.
It still seems to me that almost any investment has some facet of social disregard. Can anyone tell me that anywhere I invest my money is going to benefit everyone involved? From the very bottom to the very top? Somewhere along the way someone is gonna get fucked and would this not make it, in some regard, “socially irresponsible”? What about the company that is “green friendly”, but pays it’s employees shit wages, while the top executives are sleeping on beds of cash? I realize that there are always exceptions, but I’d rather invest in War-Sex if I am not going to earn my money through my own hard work.
Pete we’re really likin’ the new INDIE channel.
We have gotten good returns by investing over the years in mutual funds @ Paxworld.com. I think they have always paid more than banks etc.
Another possible outlet for your altruistic spirit (and possible show topic is lending $$ for microloans) @ Kiva.org
Hello. Let’s get acquainted!
My name is Jessika.
Hello Jessika, my name is John. Can you tell me why you’d post something completely worthless?
Looks like spam, John.