ESG
On Corporate Behavior and Empire's Scorecard.
As a state treasurer I have researched carefully and fought this ESG issue for years. Thanks, James, for addressing this MESS. ESG is a multi-trillion dollar BOYCOTT of the traditional American way of life, especially the middle and working classes. Larry Fink at BlackRock is the point man for this evil...but he is not alone. Be careful where you spend your money...boycotts work! - @curtisloftis6003
Larry Fink said, he's not calling it ESG anymore. He said they're not calling it ESG anymore because everyone knows what it really is now, so if they keep calling it ESG they won't be able to get their way, so they have to call it something else and pretend it's not the same thing. (He didn't really say the second sentence, but that's what he meant.) - @RoddyFuhr
"Social credit scores could never happen in the West" ESG: Hold my bug burger. - @nekomakhea9440
I work in financial services and my inbox is drowning in ESG bullshit.
It’s all top-down stuff, none of it is grass roots. Clients don’t walk in asking for ESG (the exception doesn’t make the rule obviously) and the pressure is all from above to “manufacture demand”.
I was speaking with a relationship manager of one of the larger fund managers (American owned) at a business function a few months ago, and I asked him “do you believe in all this ESG shit?”, he leaned over and whispered to me that they all have KPIs that they need to report on about how many ESG conversations they have had in a week.
I wonder if our conversation helped him with his weekly quota.
Empire was once against Collectivism, at least outwardly, back in the days when it was cool to be anti-Communist (anti-Soviet).
But Empire (and those that control it) saw the success of Mao’s China (Cultural Revolution synergized with Corporatism), and decided, with the collapse of its “useful enemy”, the Soviets, in the early 90s to start rewiring and rewriting Empire’s operating system.
It chose Maoism and we are 30 years into the birth and development of Western Maoism, or Neo Maoism.
This operating system change undoubtedly requires a change in how we are to think about money. About how we think about the allocation of capital, and more importantly who directs the traffic on global capital allocation, and where it is directed to.
Empire got tired of contending with pesky “shareholders”, and needing to justify its actions, wants and projects, against a backdrop of annoying “returns”.
And so, Empire has swapped Shareholder for Stakeholder.
And it has swapped Return for Impact.
Empire: “How could you be so callous as to focus on Return when your Capital is making such a great Impact on reducing Climate Change, reducing Gender Inequality, and reducing Racial Discrimination.”
And so, Empire developed a scorecard. ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance).
A score card of what? Corporate Behavior.
A corporation, through its small executive, controls two resources. Capital and Human.
Via ESG you can exert coercive pressure on the Corporate to modify its decisions on Capital allocation, and you can also get it to exert pressure and behavior modification on its Human resource. If you know anyone that works at Google, for example, ask them how much Pride material (indoctrination) they are exposed to. It’s a reeducation campus.
I saw this great short from Lindsay recently and it prompted me to write this article. Here is a summary.
Executive summary:
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) scoring is a system that originated at the United Nations as a means to leverage passive investment money towards impact investing, which involves supporting companies engaged in environmental and social activism.
ESG compliance became a focus for long-term asset management, with the belief that companies adhering to ESG principles would yield better profitability. However, over time, ESG has been captured by a small group of unaccountable stakeholders, including large passive investment firms and organizations like the World Economic Forum, leading to the concentration of power.
The real threat of ESG lies in its arbitrary nature, as it can change policies, environmental standards, and social justice objectives based on the interests of those in control.
Key takeaways:
1. ESG compliance was initially justified as a way to ensure corporate success in the long term and promote responsible behavior.
2. However, ESG has become concentrated in the hands of a small group of unaccountable stakeholders, including passive investment firms and international organizations.
3. The concentrated power of ESG allows these stakeholders to manipulate corporations, influence boards, control financial institutions, and even impact interest rates.
4. ESG policies can change overnight, making it difficult for corporations, healthcare industries, and municipalities to navigate and adapt to the ever-shifting requirements.
5. The social justice aspect of ESG promotes the woke cultural revolution, creating division and chaos in society, which further consolidates power in the hands of ESG stakeholders.
6. ESG's threat lies in its arbitrary and capricious nature, as it allows those in control to push their own agendas and exert control over corporations and individuals.
7. The arbitrary nature of ESG scoring enables stakeholders to push for social justice objectives, but these objectives can change at any time, causing confusion and compliance challenges.
8. ESG's power extends beyond corporations and impacts governments, which align their policies with ESG objectives, leading to corruption and an unhealthy public-private sector relationship.
9. ESG's concentration of power enables stakeholders to influence stock prices, de-list companies, and manipulate access to capital, creating economic instability.
10. ESG's real threat lies in the unaccountable power it grants to a small group of individuals, who can use it to enforce their own ideologies and attack dissenters.
11. The arbitrary and ever-changing nature of ESG policies makes it a dangerous tool that allows those in control to exercise absolute and unchecked authority.
Excerpts:
1. "ESG compliance became a focus for long-term asset management, with the belief that companies adhering to ESG principles would yield better profitability."
2. "The real threat of ESG lies in its arbitrary nature, as it can change policies, environmental standards, and social justice objectives based on the interests of those in control."
3. "The arbitrary and ever-changing nature of ESG policies makes it a dangerous tool that allows those in control to exercise absolute and unchecked authority."
The main takeaway for me from Lindsay’s short is the focus on the “arbitrary” nature of ESG. It’s like quicksand. The small group that controls its definitions, direction and intent can arbitrarily decide that your behavior is “good” one day and “bad” the other.
The Musk/Twitter example is a great one:
The section about Elon Musk and Tesla highlights their involvement in the realm of ESG scoring. Elon Musk and Tesla have been successful in the electric car industry, which aligns with the current environmental focus of ESG. However, the arbitrary nature of ESG scoring means that it can change at any time, impacting the ESG score of companies like Tesla. For instance, if Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, speaks up about free speech or takes actions that go against the ESG agenda, it can result in a decline in Tesla's ESG score. This illustrates how ESG scoring is not only influenced by environmental factors but can also be influenced by other considerations, potentially affecting companies like Tesla in unpredictable ways.
Another great example of its arbitrary nature is that of the Ukraine and arms manufacture.
In the context of ESG, the section mentions that the conflict in Ukraine had an impact on the ESG scoring of weapons manufacturers. Initially, weapons manufacturers were assigned a low social score in ESG due to their association with the arms industry. However, when the social environment demanded military intervention in Ukraine, the ESG scoring changed. Suddenly, weapons manufacturers, who were previously considered a liability in terms of ESG, experienced a significant boost in their social scores. This example illustrates how ESG scoring can fluctuate based on changing circumstances and social demands, highlighting the arbitrary nature of the system.
Lindsay makes the great point that ESG is being used to “unlock” pension funds.
In the discussed section, it is mentioned that by proxy through their management, a small group of stakeholders, including large passive investment firms, own significant percentages of the stock of most of the companies in the S&P 500. The text suggests that this ownership by proxy allows them to exert tremendous influence and control over these corporations. It is claimed that these stakeholders potentially own over 40% of the entire S&P 500. This level of ownership grants them considerable sway in shareholder meetings and the ability to manipulate stock prices, de-list companies from ESG compliance, and cause market turbulence. The text highlights the power and control these stakeholders possess over the largest corporations in the world, which could impact shareholder interests and the overall economy.
This goes back to the point of changing the goal from Return to Impact. Under the cover of ESG, pension fund managers and trustees are pressured into capital allocation decisions that would have been considered absurd not that long ago.
I find this passage from Denis Rancourt’s 2019 OCLA Report appropriate to this article and arguably the most important passage of that whole report:
The empire seeks to turn our attention away from actual crimes with actual victims — whether the weapons are depleted uranium or economic sanctions or debt devastation or capital flight — and instead asks us to look up to the sky for the threat (CO2) that could end the human species, no less, unless we are sufficiently good, active, and cooperative.
This, in our opinion, is the process of how the global-warming “religion” was born. Like any proper religion of an empire, it must be taxable, exploitable by a large layered array of power players, and useful in motivating massive restructuring campaigns. The alleged danger must be gigantic, involving humanity and the planet itself, in order to focus attention, and for personal investment in the religion to be rewarding.
Vivek Ramaswamy is one of the more articulate on the subject of Woke Capitalism.
Here he is in Chapter 5 of his book, “Woke Inc.”, about ESG. Summarized.
Chapter 5 - The ESG Bubble
Executive summary:
The chapter highlights the growing influence of large financial institutions and corporations in the realm of social and environmental causes. It emphasizes that mutual fund complexes, such as BlackRock, generate profits based on the total assets they manage, irrespective of the actual investment performance. The author argues that the alliance between big government and big business has led to favorable treatment, leniency, and financial benefits for corporations, which use their apparent commitment to social causes as a means to capture government support. This trend raises concerns about the impact on democracy and the potential for undue influence over policymaking.
Key takeaways:
1. Large financial institutions, like BlackRock, make money based on managing assets rather than the actual investment performance.
2. Mutual funds and corporations can benefit regardless of whether their investments succeed or fail.
3. The alliance between big government and big business allows corporations to leverage their apparent commitment to social causes to gain favorable treatment and financial benefits.
4. Corporate practices of feigning social responsibility indirectly influence government decisions and policies.
5. The Biden administration can utilize Wall Street's Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) apparatus to advance climate-related goals without requiring new legislation.
6. The relationship between government officials and banks raises questions about transparency and potential quid pro quo arrangements.
7. The pursuit of profit mixed with ancillary social causes can lead to outsized political and social influence.
8. The author advocates for targeted nonprofit endeavors and sound government policy as better ways to advance social causes.
Excerpts:
1. "Mutual fund complexes like BlackRock make money based on the totality of assets that they manage, not based on the actual investment performance of those assets."
2. "The winning trade may not be to short ESG stocks but to short American democracy."
A good friend sent me a note this week about how Phillip Morris was “transforming beyond nicotine”.
“Researching and developing less harmful noncombustible alternatives that are scientifically substantiated was the first step; broadening access for adult smokers, while simultaneously and deliberately working to phase out cigarette smoking, completed the equation of our smoke-free purpose. In the process, we have expanded our social, human, intellectual, and manufactured capital in ways that allow us to go a step further and develop products that seek to be better than merely less harmful; the aim now is to find new growth opportunities that go beyond nicotine.”
As my friend said in his email.
This simple text above (posted in 2021) has now accumulated into 87 new medicines developed by Philip Morris and the likes to battle lung cancer. Yes, you read it correctly. Philip Morris is moving 'beyond nicotine' by fighting the disease, not the product. There is synergy between these cartels, and that makes it even more warped.
Phillip Morris wants to make an Impact by battling lung cancer. It truly is the Twilight Zone.
Click on the link and tell me if you think their Chief Sustainability Officer might get an invite to the Young Leaders function at Davis?
If you go to their Integrated Report 2022, you will see that they are all over ESG.
Integrated Report 2022 | PMI - Philip Morris International
In fact, they have a Sustainability tab on their home page, complete with plenty of green tree imagery.
What does our sustainable future look like | PMI - Philip Morris International
Phillip Morris simply loves the environment; you would be hard pressed finding a better “stakeholder capitalist”.
And here I will repeat Rancourt for good measure:
The empire seeks to turn our attention away from actual crimes with actual victims — whether the weapons are depleted uranium or economic sanctions or debt devastation or capital flight — and instead asks us to look up to the sky for the threat (CO2) that could end the human species, no less, unless we are sufficiently good, active, and cooperative.
And lastly, I want to end with Lindsay again and a summary of his ESG page from his website.
One of the reasons I write these types of articles is so that if someone has no idea what the subject is (ESG in this case) but has just a bit of curiosity, then there is enough material to feed that curiosity and then signposts to follow pointing to the serious thinkers in the space that can help them further.
Executive summary:
The concept of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scoring is gaining prominence in the business world as a measure of a company's adherence to stakeholder value. ESG scoring is used by large investment banks and governments to assess long-term investment risks and encourage impact investing. However, there are concerns about the potential for collusion and the imposition of ESG policies on corporations of all sizes. This article highlights the power of major investment firms like BlackRock and Vanguard, which control significant assets and influence ESG compliance. It also discusses the ideological agendas underlying ESG, including environmental activism and social justice, which can lead to bundling and potential legal issues for companies.
Key takeaways:
1. ESG scoring is becoming the gold-standard for measuring a company's commitment to stakeholder value and is being enforced through government action and societal pressure.
2. Large investment banks like BlackRock and Vanguard, along with governments, are leading the adoption of ESG scoring systems.
3. ESG compliance is strongly influenced by organizations such as the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, potentially leading to collusion and mandated policies.
4. ESG investing is primarily done through passive investment programs using other people's money, giving significant power to the firms controlling ESG scoring systems.
5. The lack of clear definitions for ESG metrics and disagreements on what constitutes good environmental, social, and governance policy prevent healthy market competition.
6. Highly ESG-compliant nations and corporations do not always perform well, and there are legal concerns about ESG compliance violating fiduciary responsibilities.
7. ESG programs create pressure for companies to bundle social, political, and environmental ideals into their offerings to maintain high ESG scores, potentially leading to illegal bundling.
8. Investment firms controlling ESG scoring systems have virtual cartel power, controlling substantial percentages of large publicly traded corporations.
9. ESG scores can be manipulated to serve particular agendas, such as demoting or upgrading companies based on political or social circumstances.
10. The E in ESG focuses on environmental policy aligned with radical environmentalist movements, including the reduction of carbon dioxide and opposition to nuclear power.
11. The S in ESG represents social justice and includes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which companies are compelled to adopt for higher ESG scores.
12. The G in ESG pertains to corporate governance, but criteria beyond best practices, such as having a diverse board or hiring DEI and ESG officers, affect the score.
13. ESG scoring is seen as a tool used by a monopolistic financial-sector cartel to shape the world according to its founders' vision, potentially risking retirement assets.
Excerpts:
1. "That is the reason why, in the coming years, measuring ESG performance will be the gold-standard of business adherence to stakeholder value."
2. "Large investment banks use ESG scoring as a form of what they claim is risk assessment for long-term investments like those in index and mutual funds and other forms of pooled or passive investment portfolios."
3. "ESG scoring is, for example, intrinsically woven into the foundations of the UN 'Sustainable Development Goals' (SDGs), which are '17 Goals to Transform Our World' as a part of their Agenda 2030."
This article is long enough, so SDGs will have to be a subject for another day.
I’m off to bed, good night.
Thanks for being here.
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Wow, it’s hard to absorb, how deliberate and creepy, switching preferences on our brains, culture and traditions…imagine! that skin color is so important in measuring a pilot, an engineer~~~let’s just agree that most likely our brains are all pale beige or pink, and start from there…~~~ Out of several kids in a family, I think it is magical that one boy wants to be a mountaineer, another wants to be a chef and a sister wants to be a neurosurgeon. And they may all be white, black or whatever! And here I say Good grief! Talk about alphabet soup, where did these leaders come from?~~~ Not even the most stupid assumes that a tall black boy has dreams of being an athlete; they may want to play the cello…. How we have messed with young lives and assumptions….. so sad, molding young lives, guiding their dreams, the freedom to be, but not squishing square pegs in a round hole. What a mess…..
Elons ESG score fluctuates with his mouth. Never know what’s going to come out. Drives the ESG scorers absolutely bat shit crazy.