THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD

And how to buy it back

THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD

And how to buy it back

You wake up, get out of bed, drag a comb across your head. Then you eat an overpriced bowl of cereal bought at one of four chain grocery stores that are allowed to control 80% of the American food market and drive to work in a car powered by the fuel industry whose products pollute the planet without consequence because of their huge donations to pay-to-play politicians. Once at work you get hurt doing your job because courts that are supposed to enforce worker protections are presided over by judges paid to rule in favor of multibillion-dollar corporations. You cannot afford to see a doctor for your injuries since it's March and you have not yet met the $2000 deductible on your private health insurance plan and there are only two health care systems in your city where prices for care are outrageously overpriced by exactly the same amount. At the end of the workday, you limp to your car to pick up your child and learn that she endured yet another active shooter drill at school because the gun lobby buys votes that block even the mildest of gun control laws. On the way home you drive through Wendy’s to grab dinner and pay 30% more than you would have 15 minutes earlier due to surge pricing that allows businesses to charge higher prices when people are most likely to need their product or service. And tomorrow you go back, Jack, and do it again.

In a functioning democracy you could write your problems down in detail and take them to a higher place. In America 2.0, it all depends on the money. Every minute of every day you're face to face with the man who sold the world. And those buying it are getting a helluva bargain. According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) year-end report, Elon Musk, for example, donated $238 million to the man’s presidential campaign—a hefty sum. In exchange, Musk’s companies have received $20 billion in government aid (aka your tax dollars), for a staggering return of 8400%. And it’s about to get worse—perhaps much worse, and we’re bloody well right to be pissed. When ballots don’t work, people resort to bullets, as recent news demonstrates.

But there’s a better option. You want to change government (aka corporate) behavior? Hit them where it hurts most: their stock price and their bottom line. In other words, let’s buy America back. Sure, few of us have Elon Musk level cash, nor do most ordinary Americans donate their hard-earned money to political campaigns, but we all shop. In fact, the average American consumer funds politicians & PACS about 3 times more through their purchasing decisions as compared to their direct political contributions (Goods Unite Us). And because there are 335 million of us, our purchases can power the change we want to see in the world.

COUNT CASH MAKE CHANGE

It all starts with doing your own research 😊. Don’t panic--it’s quick and easy, and no youtube videos are involved. It’s even kind of fun to find out how your current spending habits line up (or don’t) with your political values. The Goods Unite Us tool lets you answer a few simple questions about your buying habits, then spits out your shopping score and recommendations for how to rebalance your purchases to better match your priorities. You can drill down deeper by researching how companies donated to specific causes with the Index Align tool. Concerned about gun violence? Choose Nike for your footwear needs. Really, just do it. Believe in giving women access to reproductive health care? Check out AIG over Aetna for insurance. While it’s probably not realistic to sync your spending and standards perfectly, some simple changes times 335 million can add up to real change.

Deciding where to park your investment cash can send an even louder message to those corporations whose billionaire owners fund foul politicians and policies. Like many Americans, your 401K or IRA dollars may be invested in S & P 500 funds (funds made up of the 500 largest U.S. publicly traded companies). Such funds comprise 80% of U.S. stocks owned by market cap. Also like many Americans, you may not know that more than half of S & P 500 companies donate large amounts of money—YOUR money—to Republican politicians and PACs. AT&T, for example, provided 90% of the financing that created and supported One America News, the cable network responsible for spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and the COVID pandemic.

Why not put your money where your mission is instead? You could research every company in every mutual fund to find one that matches your values, or you could switch your savings to the Democratic Large-Cap Core Fund (symbol DEMZ). This fund includes only companies that give 75% or more of their political donations to Democratic causes and candidates while providing comparable levels of risk and return as the S&P 500 funds. The DEMZ fund is available through popular brokerage services such as Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, Robinhood, and others. And the DEMZ fund is not only good for democracy, it’s good for your wallet; average returns since its inception have matched or beaten those of other same category ETFs.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Bullets are bad. Ballots aren’t working. Let’s make change with our bucks.