When I tell people I’m divesting my portfolio from fossil fuel companies and funds that invest in private prisons, they often admonish, “Don’t mix politics with money.”
“What!?” I reply, “Politics and money go hand in glove.” Politics isn’t about governance anymore. It’s about fattening the pockets of your campaign donors. This country is run by capitalists and the only way to sway them is to hurt them in the wallet.
I don’t like to do it. I’m a bit like the nobility of the middle ages who thought handling money was venal and base, but it’s a means toward an end. If I can have any influence on stopping the ruinous use of fossil fuels and the horrid abuse of asylum-seekers who’ve committed no crime in private prisons, I’ll do it.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale