What is ESG?
Could it be an Elvish Spirit Guide?
Actually, there is evidence of cult indoctrination.
What about an Everyday Street Gangsta?
Well, there does appear to be a mob presence.
So, what then is ESG?
From Dr. James Lindsay’s
“ESG is an acronym that stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance and refers to a scoring metric primarily within investment finance.
Large investment firms such as BlackRock and Vanguard use ESG to manipulate the allocation of capital within markets. Various Western governments, including the United States through its SEC rules, are joining in on the ESG program now as well, partly or largely due to the influence of large multinational companies but also the influence of large NGOs like the United Nations and World Economic Forum. There are strong reasons to believe these organizations, public, private, and NGO, are colluding under conspiracy to mandate ESG policy upon corporations of every size via different mechanisms.”
Here is a brief video about Blackrock.
“ESG scoring is, for example, intrinsically woven into the foundations of the UN “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs), which are “17 Goals to Transform Our World” as a part of their Agenda 2030, which puts a target date on achieving certain benchmarks with regard to that transformation. ESG is intended to drive the Marxist “transformation” of the world (Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts – 1844, Karl Marx).
The ESG program arose specifically from within the context of early 2000s environmental activism movement as it connected to the broader UN “sustainability” agenda, which, among other things, believes that anthropogenic climate change is a catastrophic and existential risk for all of humanity and life on Earth unless several trillion dollars a year are directed specifically to mitigating it through radical environmental policies, especially the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The ESG investing scheme was begun in 2003 by a young United Nations staffer named James Gifford. His goal was to figure out how to get fund managers to ‘view sustainability as central to their entire mandate.'”
ESG might just be a way for global elites to enforce their power over everyone for the sake of shaping the world as they would. Do they actually care about the environment, people and businesses of are they just using ESG to accrue wealth and power?
Blackrock CEO Larry Fink exerts enormous power over the global investment community.
Fink writes ESG-based directives to the heads of global multinational companies.
These directives are then forced down to subsidiary companies through a series of financial carrots and sticks.
Here is an hour-long documentary that details how every company in the world is ulitmately controlled by Blackrock, Vanguard and State Street.
This brief undercover video by James O’Keefe’s OMG exposes how Blackrock pays off politicians to achieve their objectives.
Elon Musk decided to ask the Twitterverse (X-verse?) what they thought about all of this.
Elon – a good way to figure out how many bot accounts are still active.
Blackrock is not just trying to shape the business landscape. It’s also attempting to control the Information Milieu. As significant owner of “conservative” Fox News, Blackrock is working to silence dissident voices like Trump and Tucker.
The Epoch Times produced a great documentary entitled “The Shadow State.”
This documentary attempts to provide a balanced treatment of the pros and cons of ESG.
A free trial of the Epoch Times can be extended for several months.
The video was also placed on Rumble to provide free access to viewing. Key quotes and some screen grabs are provided in case you don’t watch it.
(0:00:05) In America, politics and business are two separate worlds. Politicians make laws; CEOs make profits. But now, that’s all changing.
(0:00:22) “Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed.” Klaus Schwab – WEF.
(0:02:20) A movement has been growing to unite corporations, governments and global institutions. Its purpose is to deal with issues like climate change, racism, inequality and gun control. It is called ESG.
(0:04:10) “You have to force behaviours and at Blackrock, we are forcing behaviours.”
Larry Fink, CEO Blackrock.
(0:04:15) Will this movement succeed in turning corporations into agents of morality [who’s morals?] and social change? Are we bending Wall St to our will or are we the ones who will be manipulated?
(0:05:12) Will governments and corporations decide what we can say? [watch out for this later].
(0:06:29) Have corporations become an enforcement arm of government, doing what the government cannot really do?
(0:07:10) “We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin.”
Joe Biden
(0:08:20) “It’s complete fraud.” Chamath Palihapitiya – Social Capital founder and CEO.
(0:08:30) “It’s a fraud because it’s not better for shareholders.” Hal Lambert – Point Bridge Capital CEO.
(0:09:30) In addition to major investment houses, major banks and the WEF, ESG includes a host of activist finance clubs such as:
Companies who join these clubs pledge to reduce their fossil fuel usage or production in favour of wind and solar.
Musk has opened Twitter up to free speech again, allowing criticism of entities such as the UN and WEF and topics like vaccine adverse effects, climate alarmism and ESG scores.
I’m far from being an electric car fan, but how does Big Oil score higher on ESG that Tesla?
(0:10:00) Corporations who join the ESG movement pledge to reduce fossil fuel production in favour of wind and solar energy and electric cars.
(0:11:00) Describes how third party auditors force company boards to comply with ESG.
(0:11:50) The goals of ESG include disinvestment in fossil fuels, cutting pollution from farming, reducing the use of gas / petrol-powered cars, subsidising wind, solar and electric cars, fighting for social justice, racial and gender equity, DEI training, diversifying corporate boards by race and gender, taking a stand on abortion, gun control, voting laws and transgender rights.
(0:12:20) The WEF is perhaps the most prominent global group that backs the ESG movement. 100 of the world’s largest corporations have signed on to the WEF as Strategic Partners. Also George Soros’ Open Societies Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation.
(0:14:43) Stakeholder Capitalism: In 2019, the business roundtable, which includes most of the USA’s largest corporations declared that their role would no longer be just serving the owners of the company. From now on, CEOs would take on a moral role and a political role as well.
ESG ratings agencies have emerged to help companies know how well they are doing with their ESG goals. And not only companies, but also to countries and US states. ESG ratings help investors know who is ESG compliant and who isn’t. Consultants then help lagging companies get their ESG scores up – for a fee.
So this is the plan, get companies on board, get them in line with the agenda and together, we solve the problems of climate change, inequality, racism and gun violence.
How do we know ESG is the way to go? Simple, because we’re all going there.
And yet despite all the efforts of the ESG industry, there are dissident voices that say they’re concerned.
All of the ESG goals are in line with the UN Sustainable Development goals. The WEF and UN signed a strategic partnership in 2019 to advance the UN SDG’s.
Blackrock, State Street and Vanguard control about 21 Trillion in assets. Those who control the flow of capital, control the flow of values in the marketplace of ideas in corporate America.
(0:20:58) Larry Fink sends an annual letter to organisations letting them know what his priorities are.
It sets the agenda for the current year and lets them know the issues they should focus on.
(0:21:26) “I don’t remember voting for Larry Fink to transform the entire economy.” Andrew Puzder, former CEO CKE Restaurants.
(0:25:00) The Biden administration is heavily staffed by Blackrock alum. No wonder the Biden administration is a big proponent of ESG. They have systematically altered the direction of every agency toward the pursuit of ESG goals. As an example, the US Federal Reserve with an official position of fighting inflation and keeping unemployment low, have now declared climate change and racial justice to be among its top priorities. The DOJ announced that it would now focus on climate justice (including environmental crime, pollution and climate change).
(0:27:25) The social credit system in China ranks citizens and punished them for “wrong” behaviours.
Could we have social credit scores here in the West? It seems fantastical to even contemplate that.
(0:28:00) And yet, the technology is almost there. (Individual Carbon Footprint tracker).
(0:29:00) ESG scores will soon be a part of personal credit scores.
(0:29:30) An Australian back recently announced it would cancel loan programs for petrol and diesel-powered cars.
(0:30:00) After failing through Congress, Obama put covert pressure on banks to stop financing gun shops through “Operation Choke Point.” Trump put an end to this unconstitutional practice. Banks continue to discriminate against the gun industry today through ESG.
(0:31:00) The worst example of banks being the enforcement arm of a government came in early 2022 when Canadian banks froze the assets of Truckers protesting COVID mandates.
(0:33:40) European leaders are once again talking about passing laws to “flatten the curve.” This time, it’s about electricity and food.
(0:35:50) “ESG is not an investment strategy; it’s a disinvestment strategy.” Will Hild, Executive Director of Consumers’ Research.
(0:37:10) USA’s investment in fossil fuel industry continues to decline, despite supply issues and record high prices.
(0:38:00) Oil and gas producers know they are being phased out, despite the growing demand around the world. Can wind and solar energy fill the gap?
(0:40:00) California bans the sale of gas-powered cars while telling consumers there is not electricity to charge electric vehicles.
(0:40:30) One goal of ESG is to push farmers towards “Regenerative Agriculture.”
(0:43:40) Insect protein will be an 8 B market by 2030.
(0:45:00) Bans on synthetic fertilizers (derived from natural gas) is sending small and medium-sized farmers in Sri Lanka, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand to the brink of bankruptcy. This and ESG reporting requirements are forcing many out of the business.
(0:48:15) US farmland is becoming consolidated into the hands of a few ultra-wealthy businessmen.
(0:49:30) “Do you really want Larry Fink (Blackrock) and Jamie Dimond (JP Morgan Chase) deciding what’s good and bad for the world? That’s what you’ve done. You’ve outsourced what should be your responsibility as a voter, as a citizen, to CEOs of companies. Nothing good has ever come out of doing that.” Aswath Damodaran, Finance Professor, New York University.
(0:50:00) “We’re going through an incredible transition.” Joe Biden
(0:51:00) There is 300 times more waste from solar panels than from nuclear generation.
(0:52:00) Electric vehicles will have to be driven for nine years just to overcome the CO2 used in building the EV (paying the Carbon debt versus building a gas-powered car). Also, battery production causes more environmental damage than carbon emissions alone.
(0:52:45) Rare-earth mining is causing severe pollution.
(0:52:50) The use of wind, solar and electric cars reduces emissions in places where we use them, but increasing these emissions in countries like China that manufacture them. Are we doing nothing more than exporting CO2 emissions to China?
(0:52:15) Is ESG good for investors planning to retire? A study from Boston College found that ESG investments reduce annual returns by 80-90 basis points. Some CEOs are finding that far from benefiting their company or their stock price, their political activism is not welcomed either by employees or customers.
(0:56:30) Hiring based on gender or race exposes companies to discrimination law-suits.
(0:58:15) “There is no evidence that any ESG ETF [Exchange Traded Fund] had any positive social impact that I’ve seen.” Tariq Fancy, former Blackrock CIO of Sustainable Investing.
(0:58:30) If ESG is not succeeding in creating a cleaner more prosperous world for all – if it is leading to shortages and crises – why do our leaders continue to push it?
(0:59:00) Imagine if what happened in Venezuela happened on a global scale, then you’d really get a sense of the vision that these predators want to implement….Dependent people are much easier to control than the independent.
(1:01:30) “We’re becoming much more proactive [in manipulating Google search results]. We own the science and we think that the world should know it.”
Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General of the UN
(1:02:00) Big Tech censorship goes beyond climate change to include social and political views.
(1:09:10) Federal agencies put pressure on Facebook [Twitter etc.] to censor particular viewpoints. “Those companies that reflect and reiterate state narratives will be rewarded and those that don’t will be punished.” Michael Rectenwald
The video continues from the (1:09:35) mark with Chapter Six – The Pushback. I will leave this commentary for a future article.
I’ll now finish this article with a few ESG-related news stories you probably didn’t hear about. Please review this data and make up your own mind about whether ESG is a good thing or not.
In March 2022, Mark Brnovich from the Wall Street Journal wrote:
ESG May Be an Antitrust Violation. The biggest antitrust violation in history may be in plain sight.
In late 2022, Breitbart writes:
Vanguard Quits Net-Zero Alliance in Blow to Climate Change Group, ESG
In late 2022, the Financial Review wrote:
BlackRock urged to sack Larry Fink over ESG ‘failures’
In late 2022, Forbes wrote:
FTX And ESG: A Panorama Of Failed Governance
“ESG ratings company Truvalue Labs even gave FTX a higher score on ‘leadership and governance’ than Exxon/Mobil though the crypto exchange had only three directors on its board. The directors were Mr. Bankman-Fried, another FTX executive and an outside attorney.” – WSJ, Nov 18, 2022
“ESG has been perverted beyond recognition…[It’s a] dumb, contentless, ‘good actor’ framework.”
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO
US Presidential Nominee, Vivek Ramaswamy Tweeted:
“Interesting proclamation from Silicon Valley Bank just over 1 year ago.”
Tucker Carslon discussed the failures of SVB and FTX in a March 2023 episode.
Watch the first five minutes. Instead of concentrating on matters of financial risk, SVB were more interested in ESG-related topics.
4:35 “You want a bank that cares about Carbon emissions.” Tucker Carlson
Is any of this having an impact on the average investor?
In July 2023, The Australian newspaper wrote an article:
It’s the end of ESG investing as we know it.
More than half a billion dollars was pulled from ESG in the three months to June.
“Green” investing has hit a crisis.
Insurers are also getting nervous about ESG. Here’s a Reuters article from June 2023:
Analysis: U.S. regulation fears drive insurers’ climate alliance break-up
Even liberal voices are speaking out on ESG. Here is Joe Rogan:
(2:40) “People are going Enough! Enough! Stop shovin’ this down everybody’s throat.”
(8:20) I dare you. I dare you to run a campaign, targeting my children with inappropriate activist propaganda. I dare you …”
“… ESG SME-SG. You can shove it …. We don’t care.”
Here’s some interesting news from Germany – the nation that aimed to be the EU’s leader in renewables. However, in 2021 we read about:
Germany’s ‘Green’ Energy Failure: Germany turns back to coal and natural gas as millions of its solar panels are blanketed in snow and ice
It is no wonder that a
Whopping 82% of Berlin’s Voters Refuse to Support Net Zero 2030 as Referendum Fails
Here’s a final comment on ESG from Dr. James Lindsay (5:45 min mark):
“This is a massive national security risk. This is the most ridiculous thing. ESG is nothing short of the West committing suicide.”
Dr. James Lindsay
Global elites and complicit governments are hoping that people remain oblivious to all of this and that they can quietly carry on with their ESG-driven Net-Zero and child indoctrination programs.
Have they overplayed their hand? Will the general public stand up to the woke Marxist ESG goliath?
It took decades for the woke Marxists to accrue sufficient power to foist ESG upon capital markets and businesses.
Cartoon by ahunter@washingtontimes.com 8/1/23
We must be sober-minded. It’s now going to take many battles to remove ESG and the schemers who embedded it. They will not easily relinquish their power. This is Fifth-Generation warfare and there will be casualties.
At the (0:05:12) mark of The Shadow State documentary, the question was asked: Will governments and corporations decide what we can say? At the (1:09:00) mark, Michael Rectenwald stated “Those companies that reflect and reiterate state narratives will be rewarded and those that don’t will be punished.”
I have a highly credible source who was recently fired for writing opinions on a private web-site. The source, a successful business owner, recently awarded for excellent services to a group of customers, was abruptly dismissed for holding views inconsistent with some of those same customers. An examination of the events surrounding the dismissal reveals that some CEOs feared association with the source due to differing views on ESG inputs, in particular Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Sustainability. The views expressed by the source were very similar to those found in articles such as DEI and Sustainable. The head-scratching actions of fearful and complicit CEOs displays all the hallmarks of a mob shakedown.
This confirms what both the source and this author have been writing:
ESG is a tool of woke Marxism.
The crushing of free speech was common in Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China (and now coming soon to a place near you).
Yo dogg, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck …
Punishing a person for their speech is a direct violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Australia is a party.
“The right to freedom of opinion is the right to hold opinions without interference, and cannot be subject to any exception or restriction.
The right to freedom of expression extends to any medium, including written and oral communications, the media, public protest, broadcasting, artistic works and commercial advertising.”
Article 19 ICCPR
It must be noted that in my source’s case, a dismissal based on opinions written on a private web-site (not a social media site) is actually worse than a violation of free speech. The act “cannot be subject to any exception or restriction” and is tantamount to punishing someone for an Orwellian thoughtcrime.
We are indeed already living in a woke Marxist Bizarro World of
Evil
Systematic
Grift
This ESG story is dark, but I’d like to end on a brighter note.
2000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth claimed he was the Son of God and predicted that he would be crucified and raised from the dead on the third day. Jewish leaders did indeed call for the Nazarene’s crucifixion for supposed heresy. The Nazarene carpenter was crucified on a hill between two common thieves. That Friday was a very dark day. Satan thought that he’d achieved his greatest victory by having the Son of God murdered. However …
