How Do We Stop ESG, DEI From Destroying Capitalism?

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Commentary

In America, if environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mandates are accepted in their current form, capitalism will most likely be destroyed.

The widespread acceptance of ESG and DEI by U.S. business giants is as concerning as it is eye-rolling. Large corporations routinely play games to attract stock buyers’ interest, but this is different. This isn’t a game. Many aspects of ESG and DEI eschew business and economic fundamentals and challenge rational thinking by replacing fundamentals with dogmatic doctrines.

To make matters worse, the cult thinkers who monitor ESG and DEI scores want as much power as the credit-rating firms, such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

These obsessed “change makers” have passed off ESG and DEI as liberal progress, but, in reality, it’s something far more sinister.

In America at least, ESG and DEI aren’t liberal or centrist political initiatives. Rather, they’re well-capitalized leftist experiments.

What Are ESG and DEI?

While ESG and DEI began as separate components, since 2020, they’ve become more and more interrelated.

If you’re wondering what ESG and DEI are, the “E” in ESG stands for the environment and environmental welfare. Carbon emissions are the biggest target, but there are far more obvious solutions to combat environmental welfare than picking and choosing where carbon is to be reduced.

Habitat restoration is one of them, as is protecting the ocean and fisheries. On the contrary, however, Norway is considering opening up its waters to deep-sea mining, all in the name of independence from fossil fuels.

What about wind turbines? The rush for wind turbines has led to shoddy workmanship, including instances in which 700-foot turbines have literally fallen over. Wind farms have also been placed in the middle of bird migratory flight paths, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of birds.

Yet, the ESG change makers rarely discuss such anomalies. When they do, it’s hidden in discussions about the “rapid innovation” green technology is experiencing.

It seems innovation is so rapid, they’re unable to avoid destruction and crucial mistakes.

The “S” in ESG stands for social. The social aspect in ESG is literally double dipping when you factor in DEI. More on that soon.

The “G” is for governance, and this is one category the change makers have the most trouble with. When you take a closer look at governance policies, let’s look at the simple metric of how many boards can a director sit on.

According to the asset management firm BlackRock, that number is a maximum of four boards, but BlackRock breaks its own rules. It has an Ivy League dean on 69 boards, while another of BlackRock’s directors sits on 71 boards.

What About Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

On the surface, it seems harmless to incentivize corporations and markets to hire people from diverse backgrounds and to employ people with disabilities. However, much like ESG, the mandates and guidance behind DEI are far different than it suggests.

DEI is really just an extension of critical race theory (CRT), and because of DEI, CRT is now being taught in K–12 schools through a program known as social and emotional learning (SEL).

Proponents of SEL will disagree with my statement, but SEL is no longer as “neutral” as it used to be. In recent years, SEL has become more and more a tool of the left.

To better explain, think of CRT as the ideology, DEI as the marketing gimmick, and SEL as the vehicle in which it’s delivered. Teaching this at the K–12 level is a dangerous development that must be overturned.

The ‘E” in DEI means equity—not equality—which means equal outcome. In other words, tearing down the free market and forcing a redistribution of wealth. However, there’s no such thing as equality of outcome in the free market.

The “I” means inclusion. I’m at a loss for words with inclusion because I question what “social” and “diversity” mean if they don’t already check the box of “inclusion.”

How Can America Stop the ESG–DEI Industrial Complex?

How can America stop this? Citizens can lobby their representatives to pass laws to prevent money managers from influencing theories that usurp our nation’s economic system. They can pass laws that prevent collusion.

Remember separation of church and state? Now we need the separation of ideological cult thinking from business and education.

Congress and state legislators can put forth legislation to break up the asset management quasi-monopolies that exist (Vanguard and BlackRock, for example, control just shy of $20 trillion in assets). There should be a law preventing money managers from choosing ideological theories and aligning themselves with certain ideologies unless the client expressively demands so.

Congress and state legislators can also continue to push laws that limit ESG and DEI interference in that state.

America has plenty of intelligent adults. We need more of them to speak against totalitarian agendas.

All Americans need to see that these top-down instructions from unelected theorists aren’t doing anything for the environment, for society, or for diversity, apart from creating a larger cultural divide.