Like invest in a renewable energy company with employee-shareholders?
If you’re just a passive investor/shareholder this probably falls into the “perhaps marginally better than random ETF” bucket.
They’re not doing jack shit to help anyone.
And how far is that on your moral pyramid chart from directly investing in Raytheon?
If you read that as a morality meter rather than a post showing the problems with other people’s morality meters upthread, I’m sorry, I should have worked to make it less ambiguous
I’ve been pondering the idea of a dyi version of UBI for Americans.
I think poker players definitely need one. As in, if you make over that amount then you give away what’s left to grass roots business that pay their employees that amount and no less.
A number that factors in what the the minimum wage should be, but also is pragmatic enough that it could be popular.
I’m sure this idea is not new. I am a caveman.
So just to be clear, investing in general market ETFs is immoral?
If it’s immoral, what type of investing, exactly, is moral?
Stockton CA did 500/month and it seemed to really help.
Speaking for others but I’d guess, from an anti capitalist perspective, none? Or at least not investing in big businesses whose goal is shareholder returns (aka profit).
Like a lot of issues through the capitalism vs anti capitalism (same could apply to gender, race, disability) lense the purity threshold is high and some (probably many) would argue impossibly high (they would argue purchasing power, gotta give their kids the best life etc). Tis a quandary.
Yeah, I think to be truly anti-capitalist you would have to be committed to not invest in your children’s education.
At least in America and (most) other systems where paying does better for them in terms of success in that society (chicken egg type of thing). The having families aspect of life really does add a wrinkle.
Edit for clarity I’m not slamming focusing your limited energy and resources on your loved ones
It is easy to be a nihilist when you have nothing, to paraphrase Dylan.
Ok so can you answer the second question? Because if the answer is “do nothing with any capital I obtain for my future” is the only moral answer we’re just being stupid.
I mean I guess what you/I should invest in and the morality of that individual doing it is a tough answer. Maybe there isn’t anything to invest in but the anti capitalism view of it all seems to suggest it’s not really about you or individuals in general. I mean it is in that we make up society but this wider society needs to shift and that shift probably only comes from lots of individuals taking action (or, optimistically, government) not yourself/myself/ a few others alone taking any sort of moralistic view. It’s just my read on what’s been said anyway, I’m sure others have arguments the other way itt (focus on family, purchasing power etc) that are less ‘stupid’ from the perspective of the individual.
Edit: all of this recent thread makes me curious as to what it all looks like in 20 years. I’d suggest investing, probably the smart option for an individual quality of life perspective, has driven income inequality to a large extent worldwide (at least within countries not really developed world vs developing) and that seems to be getting worse. Will see if investing thesis are the same in a generation (if we aren’t all dead).
A hypothetical concern for wider community/environment vs one’s own blood is nihilism?
A dichotomous view that investing in an educational plan for one’s child’s education is really no different than any other immoral investment is nihilistic, yes.
Consciously investing in companies that “do good” and have social awareness is really not that much different than investing in defense contractors for the anti-capitalist. See upthread.
I for one think that there are shades of gray.
Yeah I think there very well may be shades of grey. Still unsure I’d call it nihilism. Seems harsh. Anecdorally I know a fair few people who’ve opted out (actively) from this stuff for various reasons and they care about a lot of things and people in society. And yeah they’re fairly poor.
One aspect of this that I’ve thought of is charity. The more one has, the more one can give. Just anecdotally, the people I know with money give a lot. The people that can barely make ends meet, don’t—and I don’t blame them.
Tuning out and going for a walk in nature is never a wrong life choice.
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