Saying No to Crisis Creators and Amplifiers

Polycrisis and Just Transition – Part 3

Image description: A middle-aged Asian man wearing a plaid shirt and making an emphatic thumbs-down gesture with both hands. Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

A part of the strategy to respond to the polycrisis is refusing to support corporations and institutions that contribute to the problems we are experiencing.

Individuals can boycott businesses or industries that are doing harm and use screening criteria to avoid investing in them. This sounds simple but often it is not. Bad actors may include major tech companies, polluters, weapons manufacturers, and many more. The major tech companies are monopolies, and we may be forced to utilize their services, at least professionally. Lack of transparency can also thwart our efforts to avoid unethical or harmful businesses practices. Yet, there are actions we can take. You may choose to focus on one issue area or strategy that is available to you.

Boycotting – Are there ways that you can stop using the products and services of companies that do not share your values and contribute to the polycrisis? If so, make your move. Here are two examples in the news this week: Corporate dollar stores are exploitative businesses to avoid. For nonprofits committed to solidarity with immigrants, Salesforce may be another given recent reporting on their work for ICE. There are so many more. Ideas: choose a credit union or local bank over a large bank, buy local and support small businesses, avoid companies with unethical practices, move to alternative providers of tech services like search, email, and social media.

Personal investing – Screen your investments when feasible. Can you add screening that targets polluters, fossil fuel producers, or other industries contributing to climate change? Even if you can’t stop using Google services, can you avoid investing in the company? It can be confusing to know which mutual funds to choose and becomes even more complicated when you are trying to apply several screens. Some of us may already apply some investment screens related to DEI or other issues. Alternative retirement investments are limited—most of us feel stuck with standard stock market investing via diversified funds. Still, it is possible to pick one or more issues to screen for. Collectively, this can shift capital toward green energy, opensource technology, or other worthy endeavors. Ideas: learn more about socially responsible funds, invest in people and local businesses when available.

Institutional investing – How can we work together to change how our government, universities, and large pension funds invest their money? Retirement funds are holding workers’ contributions and should be accountable to them. Currently, most state pension funds are increasingly invested in investments that are antithetical to society’s interests, especially worker’s interests. For example, the Washington State’s Public Employees’ Retirement System invests 29% of its funds in private equity, which is fairly typical for large pension funds. This is a part of its strategy to maintain balanced, diversified investments and maximize return for retirees, but it is coming at a social cost, as financialization and private equity are contributing to the polycrisis as well (I’ll rant more about private equity sometime soon. It’s awful.). Ideas: pay attention to how your retirement plan funds are invested and advocate for change, learn more about the social impacts of private equity, advocate for the creation of public bank that would invest Washington State’s funds to benefit Washington’s citizens and economy.

Advocacy – There are endless opportunities to advocate for positive change (usually through nonprofit coalitions). Here are a few Washington State examples:

• Digital equity advocates worked for many years to achieve passage of the new “right to repair” law that will remove barriers and allow consumers in Washington State to repair their electronic devices. This is a victory that will increase affordability and cut waste generated by cell phones and other electronics. And disability activists were able to add wheelchairs and mobility scooters as well. It takes time, but great changes can happen!

• A group of advocates in the City of Seattle campaigned for passage of a ballot measure to implement social housing, a type of permanently affordable housing that is more common and proven in Europe.

• Join me in advocating with Balance Our Tax Code for all Washingtonians to pay their fair share of taxes. Let’s end the regressive tax system that leads to Washington taxpayers with income over $878,000 (top 1%) contributing 4% of their income while families earning less than $33,500 per year pay almost 14%.