I came across this sign in a town close to where I live. It’s supposed to be a nice neighborhood too! 😉
The sign indicate that a new apartment complex is going to be build in the near future – it even says “climate friendly”. Apparently, someone did not approve of this message. This someone took it upon themselves to share their own message instead: FUCK CAPITALISM!
My immediate reaction was: BLOODY VANDALS! – But then I started to think about it, and a few minutes later – much to my surprise – I found myself sympathizing with the vandals.
How did that happen!? A project like this is actually just the kind of project that I’d like to invest in myself, so obviously this left me very conflicted about the duality of this graffiti “artwork”…
Ethical investing has been a lot on my mind recently. There’s nothing like money (and power) which can corrupt even the best intentions. We’re all victims of our environment – whether we realize it or not, the people we surround ourselves with have a huge impact on our politcal views and how we choose to live our lives. I tend to shy away from the extreme. This form of expressionism (spraypainting on a sign that try to convey a positive message) is very far from what I believe to be the right way of expressing yourself – but I’ve got to admit, it’s effective. I found myself suddenly admiring these people, who chose REAL action – rather than just post an angry comment on Facebook (like the rest of us). They took matters into their own hands, and decided to stand up for something they believe in…
So what is it really that these people believe in? – Obviously NOT capitalism 😛 So that got me thinking: what is actually the opposite of capitalism? Socialism? Communism? I’m fairly sure we’ve tried that before: It didn’t work…
Historically, I’ve been a big fan of capitalism. But I (and my family) have also benefited from it, in that we’ve managed to create a good life for ourselves, based on the “free market” forces, and a good education – paid for by socialism, of course…
A couple of weeks ago, I went on a business trip to the middle east, to visit the main hub for IT Security in the biggest software company in the world (you know which one…). Invited together with a group of people from the same industry, I spent 3 days in Israel getting “pampered” by the sales people from this software company. I’m fairly sure that the graffiti-people back home would NOT approve of this trip – and actually as I sat there eating large steaks with an endless supply of alcohol (I don’t drink – but there were people in the group who drank for more than one 😉 ) I did not approve of it myself. It just seemed so wrong that I should be away from my family to spent countless hours doing – nothing, really…I reckon this company spent more than €10.000 on restaurant- and bar visits in those 3 days. – And tomorrow, they do it all over again, with a new group of people…
I felt a little sick actually, because this scenario plays out all over the globe, every day. Millions, even Billions of €/$ are spent every day, lobbying/pampering other people – all in the interest of selling a product. Hail capitalism.
We could END poverty TODAY. – But we don’t…
Only two things are infinite: The Universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about The Universe. – Albert Einstein
Einstein didn’t really say this, but it seems to be a broadly accepted Einstein quote on the Internet, so let’s just go with it! Whoever said it, wasn’t completely accurate though. There’s another human trait that also appear to be infinite: Greed.
Remember this guy?
Yes that’s Michael Douglas, but he portray the famous Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street (the original), and he became a legendary movie character for uttering the words:
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. – Gordon Gekko
After the whole Occupy Wall Street movement, and the aftermath of the financial crisis surely we’ve gotten wiser, right?… All evidence points to the contrary – because as we’ve now established, human stupidity (along with greed) is also infinite…
Allow me to once again quote the great Albert Einstein (this is an actual Einstein quote – or so it is said…)
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. – Albert Einstein
So, not only are we infinitely stupid and greedy, but we’re also kind of insane…Capitalism cannot fix our problems, because it is inherently flawed in the premise that individual freedom can promote equality. Humans are simply too stupid and greedy for this system to ever prevail.
Could it be that these vandals had it right all along? FUCK CAPITALISM.
A while back, I went down a bit of a rabbithole and ended up “pulling on some threads” that led me to an interesting movement, called the Zeitgeist movement. If you’ve spent a little time investigating “the alternative” you’ve most likely come across some of these ideas. What first struck me about the Zeitgeist movies was the utter lack of productional value – these movies were made by people who had just learned to use a movie editing tool. It’s really a shame, because the messages are interesting, but they are kind of clouded by obscene LSD-like sequences and strange sound effects. They really do strike me as these “crazy conspiracy nuts” who took some shrooms, and then decided to make a home video about their world views (which is obviously very alternative…).
I then found a production with a much more polished look and feel (a real high-production value documentary) called Four Hoursemen. I highly recommend watching it – see if any of it resonate with you 😉
If we accept the premise that we are being “manipulated” by MSM (Mainstream Media) and that the elite is running the world, it really does put things into perspective…
I realize that by posting this, I’ve now put myself in the same boat as “the conspiracy nuts”, but this is a personal finance blog. There is going to be some personal stuff here (also) 😉
The question is: Do you take the blue, or the red pill?… (Yes, that was a Matrix reference…)
Hi Nick. I think it’s very difficult to be a completely ethical investor. A few weeks back I did a post on whether one should feel guilty being a buy-to-let landlord (based on all the very negative news media about landlords being the devil). And the general consensus was that people are very sensitive about real estate because it is emotive, but investing in shares isn’t free from potential ethical quandry. Even if the only thing you invest in is a vanilla workplace pension, it’s likely the main shareholdings there will be in the likes of big banks, big pharma and big oil.
Having said that, the upper excesses of capitalism do often leave one rather queasy.
Hi FF!
Thanks for stopping by 😉
I agree with you that It’s difficult to be ethical in everything that you do.
I was mostly surprised about my own reaction towards the graffiti really. It took me two minutes to turn 180 after my initial outrage 😛
I Never really know where these posts are going to take me when I start writing. I usually have a rough idea, but this time I was surprised it ended up with me denouncing capitalism 😛 Obviously that’s a falsum, as I do indeed intend to use the mechanisms of capitalism to become FI. So there, I’m a hypocrite too 😛
I think we all are to some extent… 😉
Interesting thoughts, Nick 🙂
Capitalism has brought some of the best things to our world, shaped life as we know it and impacted billions of people’s lives positively. However, I’m not sure it is the right fit for the problems we are now facing in 21st century; climate change, AI, inequality and other grand subjects impossible to cover in this comment 😉
Ethical investing is definitely also on my radar and I’m starting to shift investments towards ethical index funds instead.
Looking forward to watching The Four Horsemen!
Lol good clickbait post heading. Be careful with f*cking the capitalism. In the end it might turn out that capitalism will be the one that is f*cking you, not the other way around 😀