The advancement of humanity requires abandoning failed ideas.
And ESG has proven itself to be one of the most anti-human, and anti-advancement ideas we’ve seen in a long-time. [bold, links added]
Fascism. Communism. At one time, those ideas were seen as being as legitimate as free markets and democracy.
It took a horrific world war, and half a century mired in a cold war for those ideas to be largely consigned to the ash-heap of history in much of the world.
And even now, despite the obvious failure of both ideas, we are dealing with those who want to see those failed ideologies make a resurgence.
They push those ideas under different names and guises of course, and the fact that they must do so is itself a testament to how spectacularly those ideas failed.
‘Failed’ doesn’t even do it justice.
Fascism and Communism have proven to be profoundly anti-human ideas, and they resulted in a horrific amount of death in a very short period of time.
And if there was any doubt, for decades people have been voting with their feet, fleeing – when they could – the remaining fascist and communist countries so they could live in countries that are capitalist democracies.
In nearly all cases, the capitalist democracies have more freedom, higher rates of per capita GDP, and better standards of living than countries that have remained imprisoned in fascist or communist ideology.
Even the few fascist and communist countries attempt to hide what they stand for, often claiming they are some ‘different form’ of democracy, despite all the evidence.
And in the case of China – a mix of both fascist and communist ideology where the government claims freedom and individual rights are ‘incompatible’ with the people they control, there is a counter-example just across the Taiwan Strait.
Similar to how the government of Russia fears the example of a Ukraine that could be free, democratic, and prosperous, the government of China fears a Taiwan that shows the Chinese People can embrace democracy and free markets and achieve a tremendous amount of success. After all, Taiwan’s per capita GDP is roughly three times higher than China’s.
What am I getting at here?
What does this have to do with ESG – Environmental, Social, and Governance – the ideology that has swept through many of our institutions and governments?
Well, ESG is proving itself to be yet another profoundly anti-human idea that we must reject if civilization is to move forward.
That is a point effectively made by Kyle Bass on CNBC, in clips you can watch below:
“.@JKyleBass on ESG: “There are scientific realities and then there are certain narratives that are pushed by NGOs and teenagers and I think we’ve been taking policy queues from NGOs and teenagers for a long time…”
Editor’s note: There follows another nine Twitter links
Bass makes incredibly important points.
And as we consider those points, we can see how – from an objective perspective – the oil & gas sector has been a truly pro-human industry.
It has enabled immense population growth, per-capita wealth growth, and human flourishing around the world.
To try and crush that sector – deliberately – is to push an anti-human agenda.
Judge ideas by their results, not their moral claims
Every utopian idea or scheme sounds great in theory.
And this is why capitalist democracy – despite being the most successful system – is constantly challenged by failed ideas. It is a tougher sell, since it is grounded in reality.
Fascists promise a certain race or nation dominance at the expense of others, which can be appealing to those who want to violently subjugate those they view as beneath them.
Communists promise to punish the ‘rich’ and make all outcomes ‘equal,’ which can be appealing to those who feel they won’t be able to succeed without taking from others.
Capitalist Democracy promises only that you will largely be left alone, free to compete – and possibly lose that competition, and that you’ll have to live with your opponents often being in power.
And now, ESG promises to ‘save the planet’, far more inspiring than the oil & gas sector promising ‘mundane’ things like keeping the lights on.
But, as we saw above, the actual results of ESG will be to cause immense suffering, societal chaos, and even death on a large scale.
Regardless of the moral claims, ESG gets deeply immoral results.
It is an idea that has failed, and the consequences of that failure are all around us. It is time to consign ESG to the ash-heap of history, and reembrace the pro-growth, pro-human ideas that are necessary for keeping civilization alive.
h/t RO
Read rest Spencerfernando
With Gorbachev’s passing, it’s time to reflect on what followed the collapse of the USSR, the European Union. It was out in the open, Europe thought that Uncle Sam, unchallenged, was a threat. They decided to unite against unbridled capitalism! Now Russia is back, fighting dirty again. It’s the only way the Kremlin knows.
I read your articles every day, and I think you do Great Work! … Now, I know this might be a worn-out argument to some, yet I am distressed that the author of this article keeps mentioning capitalist democracy. … In my view, part of The Problem today is too many (probably MOST) people do not emphasize that America was created as a Free-Mind, Free-Enterprise, Free-Market REPUBLIC that included free-enterprise capitalism. … Democracy, as in, majority rule, is a DISASTER on all accounts. … I know of college professors who say the difference between a democracy and a republic is irrelevant and relegated to the dustbin of history. But those who do not know the differences, and do not work to regain & maintain that knowledge, are a Part Of The Problem. … It is true, a part of our original government structure included representative democracy to insulate the Republic & The People from knee-jerk, emotional panic on the part of The People who might excessively react to the latest “Emergency of the Day.” Yet significant limits were placed on how far those representatives could go, especially with the Bill of Rights. Yet those limits are now VERY close to being obliterated. … Personally, I believe not keeping that Primary Principle Front & Center, as a Top Priority of informing The People, significantly contributes to the undoing & dissolving of the American Constitutional Republic under Common Law. … Thank You For Reading!