Ethical Investing

Good morning all. Well I was struggling yesterday to find something to write, and didn’t manage it. Bit annoyed with myself, because writers really should write something everyday. But now I have found my inspiration ‘Ethical Investing’. You’ve perhaps read a few of my articles now, so here’s a bit more about my background. I’m the only member of my family who isn’t a Christian. And I’m not talking about folk who claim they are Christians. My family are pretty hardcore. They give over 10% of their income to charity. My mother and sister went to Liberia last year to ‘help people’. Even as a little boy, all my holidays were Christian holidays. I decided at the age of thirteen that I didn’t believe, and that wasn’t a super popular decision. I still went onto do Religious Studies at A Level though, and even some modules at university. I also studied Philosophy at University for one year. Some pretty ‘interesting’ conversations there, such as ‘if a worm was cut in two, would it actually be two worms’?

Anyway, my favourite philosopher by far was Nietzsche. He’s well worth a read, even if he’s a bit unhinged. He basically dismisses the whole idea of ‘ethics’. A lot of what people call ‘ethics’ is just based on Judeo-Christian thinking, or mind control.

I thought about this subject more and more, and finally managed to write a decent post on my blog about it, which you can find here http://markhowitt.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/everybodys-doing-what-they-think-is.html “Everyone is doing what they think is best for Themselves”. This sums up all human motivation. Of course, people get mutual fulfilment with others, but all action is based on what people THINK is best for themselves.

Since 2011 I have set myself clear financial goals, which I also wrote on my blog. And I’m a bit annoyed this year I might possibly not make it due to share performance (and other factors), but we’ll see. I know in the long run I will make decent money, so I shouldn’t beat myself up about it. I would recommend you make goals and track yourselves in regards to finances and shares. Financial goals are some of the best you can set, as they’re readily accountable and easy to measure. Of course you shouldn’t make a financial goal your only goal, but I would recommend the vast majority of people reading this to make it part of their goals.

That’s why now I cannot be swayed by anyone harping on about having an ‘ethical view’- at least if they tell me about it and try and make me believe what they believe. They are just doing it to make themselves feel good. You could easily raise an ‘ethical objection’ to any company in the FTSE 100, but I guess even the people who believe in ‘ethics’ aren’t convinced by those against companies they hold. All that matters to me is how much money I make from shares.