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WORLD FINANCE
| "Our planet is a living
organism, balancing energy flows throughout the realms of nature as well as among
individuals, groups, and nations. All economic interactions, from the individual to the
international, take place within this body of moving energies. The planetary economic
system flourishes best when there is a maximum circulation of goods, resources, and
services throughout the entire body, nourishing all life in the system, thus strengthening
the whole. Given access to this basic life support, human beings will become producers as
well as consumers and contribute to the overall health of the system." "Spiritual Politics - Changing the
World From the Inside Out" by Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson
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"Philanthropy
is
commendable, but it
must not cause the
philanthropist to
overlook the
circumstances of
economic injustice that
make philanthropy
necessary."
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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...
Wave of the
Future:
Voting with Your Dollars
by Steve Schueth
Social investing is beginning to have a
tremendous impact on how people think and act. It is beginning to affect many of the
decisions we make as parents, as citizens, as consumers and as investors. Social investing
is one of the most powerful emerging trends in society today. Actually its more than a
trend, its a wave which may one day deposit us on the shore of a better, brighter
tomorrow.
The practical benefits of voting with your dollars
as consumers and investors is quietly working its way into common practice. Today, people
are better educated, and information is more readily available than ever before. They are
realizing that money is power, and that each purchase and investment decision we make is
an exercise of power. Many have come to understand that in the end, where we put our money
- how we use our resources - will tell the tale of where our values and priorities lie.
Its no secret that this generation of investors
priorities are increasingly focused on "quality of life" - now, for our
retirement years, for our children, and for our children's children And its becoming
increasingly clear to all that business is the most powerful force impacting quality of
life in our society, subsuming the influence of both church and state. Investors are
realizing that they can make a difference - that they can use their power as consumers and
investors to influence corporate behavior and encourage positive change in society.
Social investors are quite simply, men and women
who care. They are a fast-growing segment of the investing public who applaud and reward
management for responsible corporate practices, and put pressure on firms that refuse to
take responsibility for their destructive impact on society. As dollars are pooled around
social investment strategies, these individual and institutional investors encourage more
responsible corporate citizenship and positive social change through traditional
marketplace mechanisms.
Steve Schueth is Chair and President,
Social Investment Forum, consultant and resource to the social investment industry
"Wealth is by its very nature ad
extra - it is meant to go out from you, like a light that dispels darkness. Once wealth is
locked up within the walls of your own spirit, it becomes evil." — Saint
John Chrysostom, fourth-century |
Sharing As Circulation
The key to right circulation [of
money and resources] is sharing. By sharing, concentrations of resources become beneficial
to more people than just those who hold the assets. This can be done through socially
responsible investing, which is concerned with careful consideration of the social effects
of our investments or philanthropic giving. As these investments circulate, they build
well-being and prosperity for all. This type of sharing is based on a realization of the
unity of all humanity, a unity that is often discovered by systematically taking into
account the interconnectedness of all life. This leads to inclusive thinking and
ultimately to the experience of our common humanity.
The New Planetary Economics from "Spiritual Politics -
Changing the World From the Inside Out" by Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon
Davidson
"The form
of law which I propose would be as follows: In a state which is desirous of being saved
from the greatest of all plagues ...there should exist among the citizens neither extreme
poverty nor, again, excessive wealth, for both are productive of great evil." —
Plato, Greek
philosopher (427-347 B.C.) |
"Investing With Your
Values" (Bloomberg Press, May 1999) by Hal Brill, Jack Brill and
Cliff Feigenbaum. Foreword by Amy Domini.
"“Natural
Investors”—a term for those who bring along their values—are shunning
conventional wisdom that says we must abandon ethics when making financial decisions. Like
the Berlin Wall, this “unnatural” partition is being torn down piece by piece.
In its place we find the bridge of Natural Investing, providing a path that links who we
are inside to what we do with our money in the world. Growing numbers of Natural Investors
are crossing this bridge, attracting worldwide attention as they prosper and put down
roots smack dab in the middle of an incredulous Wall Street."
"When we delve deeper ...,
exploring... true aspirations, two cardinal, nonmaterial desires nearly always come up. We
began calling these desires “natural” because they transcend all class or
cultural groupings. They seem to call each of us in a different way—speaking for the
human spirit, reminding us of our highest qualities. Although they are difficult to
express with words, we’ve synthesized these yearnings-of-the-heart in this way:
- The natural desire to be of service, to
“make a difference” and help improve life on Earth, for ourselves, our children,
and children yet unborn.
- The natural desire for integrity, to
“walk our talk” and live in ways that are consistent with our values.
|
 http://www.naturalinvesting.com/
"Given the central,
powerful role of money and business—both in our society and our personal
lives—it is astonishing that so little attention is given to money’s social,
ethical and spiritual dimensions. Even the most caring commentators seem oblivious to the
enormous impact our financial decisions have on communities, the earth, and our individual
peace of mind. Our money carries our voice to the world, a fact we often ignore." Hal
Brill, Jack Brill and Cliff Feigenbaum
| "We can have a democratic society or we can have
great concentrated wealth in the hands of a few. We cannot have both." - Louis
Brandeis Supreme Court Justice (1916-39) |
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