ESG Investing— A Concentric Circle
Skepticism and Math — Together is Your Superpower
The reason why the applied intelligence | ai thinking system is based on math is because math explains nature (the universe,) which includes human nature. It’s the best way to understand reality and to see through the haze of how the world really works. My high school gym teacher Mr. King used to tell us to do as I say not as I do. This has always stuck with me, mainly because I did not truly understand the message Mr. King was sending. Was it just listen you blockheads (as he warmly referred to his students) or was there a deeper message there?
Over the years as I continue to learn more about the universe. I’ve come to apply math in helping me to navigate and problem-solve towards a better understanding of how this world really works. Math cuts through the noise and allows you to break things down into smaller parts to help solve the overriding problem. Via math, you don’t get caught up in ideology or become a sucker for manipulative narratives or nice-sounding stories, told to you by others whose interests don’t align with yours. Skepticism is a superpower.
So I’ve come to understand Mr. King’s words relative to how I’ve come to understand the universe, a place of self-interest in the pursuit of power. I don’t ever listen to what people say but I watch and measure what they actually do instead — math is extremely helpful in that regard.
Therefore, when it comes to examining new constructs like ESG I take a mathematical approach, to cut through the noise and lies and to get to the objective truth. ESG is essentially a power play by power players that uses morality as integral functions and derivatives to complete plays and have all the power.
ESG: the policies, sustainable finance, DEI etc., are just part of a concentric circle useful to global power players in weaponizing ESG financial instruments to make more money under the disingenuous cloak of morality.
In geometry, two or more objects are said to be concentric when they share the same centre. Any pair of objects with well-defined centres can be concentric. Therefore, with ESG, everything leads back to the centre of global finance and big consulting — formalized schemes to make one side richer while measurable impacts on real people’s lives remain elusive. And no matter the radius of any ESG topic or activity it always leads back to the same power centre.
As Harvard Business Review (HBR) put it in its revealing March 31st, 2022 article, An Inconvenient Truth About ESG Investing:
Investing in sustainable funds that prioritize ESG goals is supposed to help improve the environmental and social sustainability of business practices. Unfortunately, close analysis suggests that it’s not only not making much difference to companies’ actual ESG performance, it may actually be directing capital into poor business performers.
This HBR article concluded that the evidence is pretty clear, the ESG investment schemes and systems produce absolutely nothing in the actual interests of ESG.
In another article from HBR, August 01, 2022, titled, ESG Investing Isn’t Designed to Save the Planet, the authors sum it up this way:
Most people assume that ESG Investing is designed to reward companies that are helping the planet. In fact, ESG ratings which underlie ESG fund selection are based on “single materiality” — the impact of the changing world on a company P&L, not the reverse. Asset management firms have been happy to let the confusion go uncorrected — ESG funds are highly popular and come with higher management fees. The danger with ESG investing is that it might convince policymakers that the market can solve major societal challenges such as climate change — when in fact only government intervention can help the planet avoid a climate catastrophe.
Therefore, ESG is a concentric construct — all ESG activities lead to the same point — more riches for those who run the schemes — money managers and big consultants…the usual suspects, and zero impact on humanity. So always do the math first by applying your ai.
