Economic editorial ranting
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| The best way to help the world these days is by how we spend, invest, or donate our dollars. Monopolies raise my ire. I abhor Microsoft® due to its oppressive Windows™ market domination. Its bug-ridden, overpriced, virus-prone software is not the best available, but marketing, good luck, momentum and habit have brought it commanding market share and prodigious profits. |
| Besides avoiding monopoly corporations, another thing I wish more people would do is take their money from banks and deposit it instead in credit unions. The latter are, in effect, non-profit banks. While it was previously relatively difficult to join a credit union in Washington State, now it is easy. For example, you need not be a Boeing employee to join its credit union. And any Washington resident can join Verity credit union. |
| A third way to use money to effect positive change and justice, is to invest with an eye on social and environmental responsibility. This includes 1) community investing --microlending funds and community development pooled funds (www.communityinvest.org); 2) shareholders' advocacy (www.sriadvocacy.org); and 3) applying screening criteria. My IRA money is managed by Calvert Group™ that practices all three strategies in many of its mutual funds. For more about all this I suggest you visit www.socialinvest.org. |
| Besides spending money carefully, usual and customary practices I advocate include: vote, eat whole foods as much as possible rather than highly refined and processed concoctions, slow down, plant thoughtfully, walk more & drive less. |
Heretofore I tended to use my newsletters to detail the tours I was offering, and to plug various non-profit organizations that I was involved in. But this winter I'm not leading tours, nor sitting on any boards or committees. Therefore, to fill some space I editorialized above. This will annoy some of you. You can always ask me to remove you from my mailing list. My morals make me speak up; I thank you for your patience in reading; I respect your right to disagree.
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(originally published in my November 6th 2006 newsletter)
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