Week 46: It Is Economy (Not ESG) Stupid

Dear all,

ESG is flawed—it does not work, and it does not deliver. It is too shallow, too simplistic, and paradoxically, too complex. It doesn’t address the real priorities: profits and shareholder value. It is simply garbage. It always has been and always will be about the narratives we tell ourselves and the ones we are told by others.

I read headlines in major media outlets around the world about ESG in the context of the convicted felon and techno-feudalism era. The coverage is all doom and gloom. Headlines read like bullets; the media seems to be competing over who can present the most brutal execution of ESG. This is not only sad but, of course, untrue. However, the bigger the lie, the higher the likelihood that people will believe it after hearing it repeated continuously.

Mainstream investing, Wall Street-style, delivers pollution, the degradation of natural systems, corruption, slavery, inequality, and increased CO2 emissions—and it has been doing so for a very long time. All of this is legitimized and neatly framed within fiduciary instructions and requirements that enable it.

The financial system merely follows the rules set by regulators, who are heavily influenced by lobbying from the financial sector that pays its way through. There is no morality encoded in the financial system’s software. It is a ruthless machine—mathematically precise, cold in execution, and brutal on weaknesses. Many would call it unforgiving.

A rather interesting document from the U.S. Congress, which not many people have paid attention to, sheds light on this. You can find it here.