The largest shareholders in nearly nine of the 10 companies listed on the S&P 500 Stock Exchange are among the “Big 3” investment firms of BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street. Controlling more money than most small nations, these corporations have an invisible foothold in virtually every sector of American society. But how did these capitalist paradigms turn into Marxist Trojan horses?
Two trends emerged in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. One is new type An investment that concentrates capital in a few companies. The other is Occupy Wall Street style left-wing activism. By combining these trends, the three companies were able to drive the corporate awakening that has become so common today. (Related article: ‘Embarrassed’: BlackRock CEO says he’ll ditch left-wing favorite buzzwords for smart investments)
The financial crisis prompted a shift from active to passive investing. Active investing is what we generally think of as investing: buying risky stocks to beat the market in the short term. Passive investing, on the other hand, requires less effort. According to Investopedia, it is long term strategy Investors typically seek to “reproduce market performance by constructing well-diversified portfolios” based on “representative benchmarks” like the S&P 500 index (such as mutual funds). In other words, bet on the market, not against it.
After the financial crisis, passive investing began as investors realized that it was futile to beat the market. You don’t have to pay a broker a 1-2% annual fee to actively manage your assets. Why pay a brokerage fee, especially when it becomes clear that a recession will often result in below-normal market returns? selected.
According to one study, 2008 and 2015, active funds lost $800 billion and passive funds gained more than $1 trillion in new investments.the current 2019Currently, more funds are invested in passive funds than in active funds.
This has enabled the rise of the Big 3 companies specializing in passive asset management. Combining the three companies, $22 trillion Many of the assets under management are from large institutional investors, such as: pension fund.
These companies invest in passive index funds on behalf of their clients, and their sheer volume makes them major shareholders in nearly every U.S. public company. This gives them a great deal of voting power on corporate boards.
“We need to force action. Regardless of gender, race, or team composition, if we don’t force action, we’re going to be affected.”
— Larry Fink, CEO, BlackRock pic.twitter.com/Q2XxhMH24m
— Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) June 11, 2023
At the same time that passive investing was in full swing, the social left was escaping from college campuses into the real world.
“Occupy Wall Street” expressed justifiable anger at the mismanagement of Wall Street finance. But what began ostensibly as class-based protest quickly devolved into dysfunctional identity politics.
As a former Occupy Demonstrator reflectedthe movement “collapsed largely due to the endless dichotomy of its members’ agenda. As soon as a commission is proposed, there are calls for a women’s special committee, so what about a black women’s special committee? Thirty-seven contentious proposals were eventually put forward as to what should be done, and nothing came to fruition.”
Occupation provided its own foil for the elite to replicate. The best way to neutralize class-based revolution is to divide the middle and working classes into factions and force them to fight each other rather than unite against the financial and political elites. Identity politics, or indeed American Marxism, has become a sure way to cut off elite power.
Like Marxism, identity politics pits victims and oppressors against each other, except in America, on the basis of racial categories rather than economic class. Armed with a Marxist paradigm, the Big Three continue to occupy the lower class without actually giving up power or wealth. (Related: Bud Light refuses to say if he regrets partnership with Dylan Mulvaney)
It is therefore not surprising that the Big Three used shareholder power to impose environmental and social governance. (ESG) Agenda About American corporations forcing corporations to submit to identity politics. “E” focuses on climate issues and supposed externalities. The “S” stands for elements of identity such as diversity and inclusion. “G” calls for building corporate leadership to reflect her two previous elements. If a company wants to be included in his vaunted ESG fund, it must meet often arbitrary benchmarks.
One of many terrible examples shows how this plan works in practice.
After the death of George Floyd, BlackRock decided to reinforce diversity and inclusion efforts at all of the companies in which it invests.They forced American companies to Disclosure “Racial, Ethnic and Gender Composition of Employees”.This was then used as a benchmark to force companies to remake their boards by becoming “The composition of the board reflects . . . the diversity of the company’s key stakeholders.”
at about the same time Vanguard and state street It imposes similar diversity mandates across portfolios, making it nearly impossible for companies to circumvent.Number of companies that currently publish diversity data tripled The year after new requirements were imposed.
This system has been replicated by many leftists. Priority. Moreover, as industry leaders, the Big 3 serve as admirable actors to emulate, even if they are small and medium enterprises without direct enforcement power.
BlackRock CEO Fink ’embarrassed’ to join ESG debate #OMG https://t.co/BvUtJdmSna
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) June 26, 2023
Elites like BlackRock CEO Larry Fink have recently distanced themselves from the name ESG and its “awakened” connotations. But don’t be fooled. ESG goes by other names as well.
