Investing for Change

But ultimately, we need to change our state constitutions to eliminate corporate liability protections. Investors will more closely supervise corporate managers if they are personally responsible for the entire cost of mitigating harm they cause.

It might seem unfair for me to suggest that others invest their money more responsibly, having already made a fortune at Microsoft, a company whose ethical practices I now reject. But I found no evidence that investing more thoughtfully involves more risk than mainstream investments. In fact, socially responsible investing might decrease long-term risk while strengthening communities.

Rick Dahms

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Until now, most of my investment choices have been fear-based. How will I provide for a family if I choose to become a full-time activist? How will I send my future children to college? Who will care for me when I'm old? Perhaps you're worried about paying next month's rent or for your child's next doctor visit.

Who are we kidding to think that a well-intentioned investment strategy can outpace the rising cost of health care or college? We need to work politically, as well, to create a world in which commerce does the public good.

I've never been a religious person, but I was touched by a concept my former girlfriend shared with me, the Jubilee. According to the Old Testament, the Jubilee is a time every 50 years at which all wealth is redistributed—"a time of freedom and of celebration when everyone will receive back their original property, and slaves will return home to their families."

Could any institution be more anathema to the Jubilee than the immortal, limited liability corporation, designed to create and amass wealth for a privileged minority while progressively externalizing costs and harming the majority? Is the modern corporation consistent with our ethical, spiritual, and democratic values?

info@seattleweekly.com

Jeff Reifman is a technologist and social activist who works at Groundspring.org. He can be reached at readermail@gmail.com. He's co-hosting a lecture on corporations and democracy by Richard Grossman and Thomas Linzey on Thursday, Feb. 10, in Seattle. Visit www.democracyschool.info for more information.