[continued from previous message]   
      
   seems more committed to leftist causes than to his shareholders or the   
   beneficiaries of the pension money that his company invests. Nineteen   
   state attorneys general have warned him that BlackRock may be mismanaging   
   state pensions by adopting costly ESG requirements and standards that   
   reduce shareholder returns on investment, forcing companies into   
   unnecessary regulatory compliance schemes (thereby reducing profits and   
   lowering stock prices), and coercing companies into supporting ideological   
   agendas that their shareholders, management, employees, and consumers   
   oppose.   
      
   The wokeness of asset management companies and proxy advisors raises   
   ethical issues ranging from conflicts of interest to breaches of fiduciary   
   responsibility. Shareholders and beneficiaries of stocks or pension funds   
   should have more control over their valued assets. Are you a public-school   
   teacher? Did you take a job in "public service" because you wanted to help   
   your state or community? Whether you like it or not, BlackRock or other   
   money managers and proxy advisory firms could be mismanaging or   
   speculating with your much-deserved retirement.   
      
   Even if you’re not a government employee, you’re likely to invest your   
   earnings and retirement savings in interest-bearing index funds. In so   
   doing, you may be supporting political causes unawares.   
      
   The backlash against rampant corporate wokeism is underway. Nate Fischer   
   and Matthew Peterson have launched New Founding to combat wokeism through   
   journalism, networks of likeminded businesses, investment strategies, and   
   innovative tech platforms. Vivek Ramaswamy, author of Woke, Inc., created   
   Strive Asset Management to depoliticize asset management. The company   
   refuses to mix business and politics in its investment strategies.   
      
   The Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University has   
   launched a Free Enterprise Scholars program for undergraduates to study   
   how wokeism affects businesses. We want students to read about wokeness   
   and its damaging role in corporate America. We present an alternative   
   narrative to the one students learn from the legacy media, most   
   universities and big corporations, and Big Tech.   
      
   America once thrived on commerce and industry and celebrated ethical and   
   honest business as a vehicle to success and prosperity—to life, liberty,   
   and the pursuit of happiness. That message is for anyone, and everyone is   
   better off when it is pursued.   
      
   Allen Mendenhall is associate dean and Grady Rosier Professor in the   
   Sorrell College of Business at Troy University, where he directs the   
   Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy. Visit his website at   
   AllenMendenhall.com.   
      
   https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/corporations-going-woke-backlash-   
   underway   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)