Few moments have made me pause like reading Wendell Berry’s latest essay…
Wendell’s latest essay just came out in Christian Century: https://www.christiancentury.org/features/against-killing-children
One of his lines got me thinking:
war is the business of business
He awakens us to the reality that 60,000 nuclear bombs have been built.
A huge percentage of each tax dollar I pay goes to the companies that make these bombs.
Bombs that kill an innocent child.
These bombs that we give to other countries to kill their enemies — and that in fact end up killing an innocent child.
Grief
I have a neighbor who I see at Mass each week who lost their child at 7 years old. He was the same age as my child. I remember him. I allow myself to feel the grief each time I see and greet this family.
As I read Wendell’s latest, I also remembered the heart break I felt when my own daughter asked me
Why do we have to all bunch our whole class into the bathroom for 10 minutes?
Imagine twenty-five 5 and 6 year olds and their teacher…. It was yet another active shooter drill in her kindergarten classroom.
This is the world we’ve allowed to persist—not just through policy, but through the financial systems we participate in without a second thought.
Can I bring that same grief, that heartbreak to my review of the companies that are “my investments”.
What are these companies you might ask?
The Companies Behind Our Retirement Plans
Too many of us (myself included up until recently), have investments tied up in companies like Raytheon, Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. These are the companies that make the bombs, the drones, and the weapons that tear apart lives across the world.
Another Way is Possible: Faith-First Finance
Fortunately, there is a growing movement of leaders bridging faith & financial markets.
It might sound daunting, but transitioning your retirement savings and other investments to truly impact first options is easier than it seems. Here’s how you can start…”
The good news is that social justice finance leaders have built funds like Adasina Social Capital.
Search for Ticker symbol JSTC – and you’ll find Adasina’s Social Justice All Cap ETF.
No companies that make bombs – that kill our children.
Here are some additional options for moving your money:
- JustFutures: You can shift your retirement plan (401k, 403b, or IRA) to JustFutures, a platform that offers responsible, socially-just investments.
- Clean Energy Credit Union: Open an account here (CDs currently yield ~4%) to support loans for solar panels, electric vehicles, and e-bikes, instead of weapons.
- CNote: Earn ~2.5% returns by investing in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which help build local communities.
- RSF Social Finance: Offers 1-4% returns, and you can invest in companies working for positive social and environmental impact.
- Kachuwa Impact Fund: Join this investor co-op targeting 5-8% returns, focusing on social justice and impact investing.
If you’re interested in shifting your existing 401k or IRA, consider opening a Self-Directed IRA through platforms like Next Egg or AltoIRA. Once your Self-Directed IRA is set up, you can invest directly in impactful opportunities like those mentioned above.
Peace-Building 2.0: Moving Our Money
When I was young, my parents took me to protests outside our local Air Force base. We stood with signs that read “Swords into plowshares.” Every year, we traveled to the School of the Americas protest in Georgia, now known as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice. I grew up attending peace marches organized by Nebraskans for Peace.
These protests were powerful forms of peace-building 1.0, but today we have a new way of building peace: moving our money. By pulling our dollars out of companies that profit from war and placing them in businesses that heal, build, and uplift, we are taking a stand. This is peace-building 2.0.
I hope you’ll consider reading Wendell Berry’s latest:
https://www.christiancentury.org/features/against-killing-children
Too many of us allow the conventional options afforded by our retirement plan, our financial advisor, be what we directly profit from. We’ve been seduced into thinking we should expect 8%+ returns… and when compounded over years… we will be safe and cared for. Our children will have what they need for education. This story… the one we question for a moment, but then realize it’s what everyone else is doing… this is what is killing our children. We think we are doing the prudent, virtuous thing: “saving for retirement”. Choosing to forgo consumption today to put a little away in my kids 529 college savings.
If we are to stop this cycle of violence—whether through bombs or classroom drills—the journey is going to need to take us through the act of moving our money.
It begins with us.