willstrickland Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 How many of you who bitch about Wal Mart's labor practices, big tobacco's ethics, and Exxon's environmental practices own stock? You got a 401k at work? Got some indexed funds in there? S&P500 indexed fund or SPDRs? How about DJIA indexed or Diamonds? Cubes? Do you examine the complete holdings of every fund you have money in each quarter? Do you feel bad about owning Exxon (XOM), Altria (MO), and Wal Mart (WMT)? I'd even wager that most large cap mutual funds are holding each of these three. Checked out your holdings lately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marylou Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Yah Will that's a tough one. My 401 fund choices don't include a "green" one, so it's a bit of the lesser of evils with the investing. Generally small-cap stuff's not as bad, and it's been reasonably fruitful for the most part. Life is full of contradictions, and it can be damn near impossible to make the right choice, or know everything there is to know. What's your point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I may be liberal, but I'm also working class. No stocks, mutual funds, 401k etc. Couldn't tell you what my wife's retirement is in, she's with Washington State under Pers II and I haven't a clue what they invest in. I'm not that pure about things anyway. Oh, I bought gas from an Exxon station the other day, I didn't flinch. They're the only station in my small town, and I'd just as soon see them stay open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marylou Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Hey, Off, don't let being a blue-collar working stiff keep you from setting up a retirement plan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foraker Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 This is rather a specious argument. What you've assumed is that simply because one is liberal, one is anti-business and therefore it is hypocritical to have a retirement plan. I think, if you bothered to ask around, nothing could be further from the truth. I myself have some liberal tendencies, have a 401k and am pro business. What I have a problem with are the practices of certain business and the politicians who aid and abet them. I can do little, perhaps, about the stocks held in my mutual funds but I can certainly act both politically and as a consumer, can I not? Are you saying that when companies sell products that maim or kill, or when they pollute, or when they defraud, that we should simply lie back like a reluctant virgin (to steal a phrase) and let them have their way with us? No, I say. If your Ford Explorer rolls off the highway, killing your family, are you forbidden from seeking redress and recall of the vehicle simply because you are an extremely minor stockholder in their company. "Ooops! Better not sue! My portfolio might take a hit!". If that is your thinking, sir, we should forego all pretence and dress our parts: them as wolves, us as sheep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foraker Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I'll never get decent climbing partners using words like 'specious'. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoboy Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Will, I tend to examine my investments carefully, taking into consideration the very sorts of things that you mention. As small as my holdings might be, I want them to be supporting things that I believe in. We (libs and dems ) may not be perfect, but it's worth trying to make a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 i bought lottery tickets with mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foraker Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I bet all those Enron/Worldcom shareholders are *REAL* happy about how the company was run.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirp Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 WOW should I be thinking about stuff like the aforementioned? I think im a liberal, I eat meat tho...but I dont watch TV but I do play Everquest? I save some money but I also enjoy spending it on new gear, garden stuff, bolting hardware and music, I dont believe in organised religion either...what am I? WOW I am confused now. pls PM is you can help me and ill link you my PayPal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 ha what a dumas. they even say lottree tikits are not for invesmet porpoises Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foraker Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I'm sorry, chirp, but you don't fit into one of our neat little boxes. Right, off the planet with you then.... Come now, no dawdling...that's a good lad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foraker Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I wish someone would hack the billboards for Lotto or Megamillions with "Taxing the Stupid to Pay for Education!" Perhaps a more feasible fantasy than others, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faster_than_you Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Ah Will, I don't ask such hard questions. We liberials don't sweat that shit. Invest my money in third world prison workcamps for all I care . Make sure the workers have no benefits, that stuff cuts into my profits. Squeeze tightly so we hypocrites can get the most out of our corporate death machine investments. I want my social security too BTW. I only vote liberal, b/c it makes me feel better. Now can we get back to shooting and driving SUV's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWolfe Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 ha what a dumas. they even say lottree tikits are not for invesmet porpoises Sucker Tax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineK Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I've invested my savings in beer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDoolittle Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 My Ordinance and Combat Consumables fund is doing AWESOME!! Fuck that "Green" shit. Defense Systems Technology fund is also screaming right along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucK Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I've got 10% of my retirement plan going into TIAA-CREF "Social Justice" fund. I don't think I've ever bitched about Wal Mart's labor practices, big tobacco's ethics though. I have bitched about big faceless entities' environmental practices. So Will, is your post a rhetorical, you're a fucking hypocrite", slap, or is it a call for all socially conscious individuals to investigate possibly overlooked ethical problems with their portfolios? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_W Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Hey, Off, don't let being a blue-collar working stiff keep you from setting up a retirement plan! Yeah, Off, what's with your boss? Fuck that guy, get with your fellow employees and demand a retirement plan from the business owner...oh, wait, you work for yourself...Bwahahahahahaha!!!!! Buy savings bonds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 i bought lottery tickets with mine retirement plan A you need a plan B as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDoolittle Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 i bought lottery tickets with mine retirement plan A you need a plan B as well Slots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I'll never get decent climbing partners using words like 'specious'. ;-) I'd climb with you if you hadn't spelled 'pretense' wrong. Come on, we've got standards on this board, mister... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foraker Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I blame the previous administration for any errors in spelling. ;-) I saw that I misspelled it, but didn't think anyone was going to mention it given the low bar set by others. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Hey, Off, don't let being a blue-collar working stiff keep you from setting up a retirement plan! Yeah, Off, what's with your boss? Fuck that guy, get with your fellow employees and demand a retirement plan from the business owner...oh, wait, you work for yourself...Bwahahahahahaha!!!!! Buy savings bonds... Hey, I do have $1400 in an IRA, does that count? Actually, my strategy involves local residential real estate, so I hope to not wind up too dependent on the kindness of strangers. I suppose being a slumlord and real estate speculator is no more ethical than investing in GloboChem. As for the lottery, I've always thought of it as a tax on people who aren't too good at math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arlen Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I have half my retirement plan allocated to TIAA-CREF's Social Choice It was less productive than the aggro choice, before the economy went south. It's done better on many reports since then. Anyway, back to Will's question, I criticize Walmart, Exxon etc because they're wrong, and separately I avoid them when I see that I have a choice. I also pay taxes even though our current government spends it on crap I don't believe in. And why? Because if I disconnected from everything I didn't agree with and went around carping about them, that, really, would be hypocritical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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