Jan. 7, 2020
Rule Comments, I have an IRA and my husband a 401k. It is important to us that we be able to speak out about how corporations are using those funds, especially if they are actively destroying the planet with those funds, or funding its destruction. If money is free speech for corporations, then my money should also count as speech. If I'm invested in something that I get no say in, my money isn't speech after all, is it? Money should never have been considered speech in the first place; there's nothing free about money. Even so, when we often don't get a choice in what kind of fund our 401k even is (those decisions are made by our employers), it is important we get some kind of say. The SEC should keep and even strengthen rules that allow shareholders to bring concerns before corporations and their CEOs. It is important to me that CEOs and corporations are not granted even more power over my everyday existence. It is important to me that I be able to demand, on the basis of my investment, that a company do better or act more equitably. The idea that a corporation will do those things on its own is bogus. The only thing a corporation can be trusted to do is make as much money as possible in the cheapest way possible. That usually spells disaster for everyone else. While I want my IRA or 401k to make money, I also want a healthy, vibrant planet to live on and an actual retirement I can enjoy. Rebecca Brooks [redacted]