Does the Objectivist invest with a conscience?

Posted by Abaco 10 years, 1 month ago to Business
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This is an ethics philosophy question that has been in my craw for a while. Let's say an Objectivist invests in equities to make money - of course. We'll call this investor, "Joe". Joe sees a company whose profits are growing, a manufacturer. He learns that the company makes a product, on government contract, that flies in the face of Objectivism. For the sake of argument let's say they make rail cars with shackles in them to transport citizens around. The government has a contract with this company to produce a few hundred of these cars and profits are way up. Joe knows that, eventually, these cars will probably be used to force people into situations they normally wouldn't go along with without the use of force. Should Joe invest in this company while the profits are growing and share prices are rising? What are your thoughts?


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  • Posted by $ CBJ 10 years, 1 month ago
    If the rail cars are being manufactured to transport violent criminals, invest away. If they are being made to transport political prisoners and intimidate ordinary citizens, stay away. It's a judgment call that depends heavily on context and on how much the investor knows regarding the government's intentions.
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  • Posted by walkabout 10 years, 1 month ago in reply to this comment.
    Stalin (I think, maybe Lenin) noted that the soviet union would buy the rope they would use to hang the West from the West. That iteration did not work out, though we still had anti-communists in leadership positions then. We can not say that now.
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  • Posted by PaxInSky 10 years, 1 month ago
    Keep the stock but go to stockholder meetings and object to their unpardonable product lines. If you sell the stock you will put it into the hands of those who approve of the objectionable behavior.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 10 years, 1 month ago in reply to this comment.
    Since your question has gone unanswered for 14 hours, ISIS comes to dino's mind.
    This stock spikes with every decapitation.
    To dump this stock for a profit, you have to sell really fast when the share price bounces up like a dribbled basketball several times a day.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 10 years, 1 month ago
    You aren't an objectivist in that case. You are a left wing socialist fascist extremist. The excuse is a Nuremberg Defense. It both admit's guilt with prior knowledge and simultanously begs forgiveness and leniency or clemency. You will have to lay out why an objectivist would do such a thing? The false premise is in the question itself.
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  • Posted by $ blarman 10 years, 1 month ago
    If one does not, one may actually be fueling one's own oppression.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 1 month ago
    I think you should keep the shares only if there is a movement of shareholders voting for an initiative to get the company out of this controversial and immoral business.

    There are so many worthwhile businesses to invest in. There's no need to invest in businesses you don't believe in.
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