FAQs

These questions about democracry refer to the branches – executive, legislative, judicial – of government responsible for the maintenance, modification, improvement… of a citizens’ constitution. Are any of the current answers to the following FAQs in the best interests of the electorate, the citizens of the democracy, the citizens of the planet?

1. Is democracy possible without peace, dignity, equality, justice, safety, security… for all on a healthy planet?
   1. Do the consequences of a democracy’s actions extend beyond the physical, political, social… boundaries to the rest of humanity, humanity’s planet & ecosystem…?
2. Are ethics, sustainability… essential foundational principles of a fair, just, inclusive… democracy?
3. Is free speech or unobstructed communication of ideas, opinions… one of the most precious rights of man that is essential to democracy?
   1. Is it essential to free speech and democracy that every citizen may, accordingly, speak, think, write, print… with freedom, but must be personally responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law?
   2. Is a free, independent, educated, informed, qualified… press essential to democracy?
   3. How important is data based science and technology reporting; how is data based reporting different from advocacy reporting used almost exclusively by the press? 
4. Is democracy possible in the presence of an unqualified, uneducated, uninformed… electorate that is ignorant of the issues?
   1. Does the answer to this question alone justify universal public education?
5. Is democracy possible in the presence of unqualified, uneducated, uninformed… elected representatives that are ignorant of the issues?
   1. Does the answer to this question alone justify universal public education?
6. Is democracy possible if the elected representatives have little or no qualifications for the job, and no form of at least minimal professional certification; this includes the lack of knowledge and experience necessary to secure the required expertise to govern in the best interests of their electorate?
7. Is democracy possible if rich, powerful… lobbies are permitted that operate only out of self-interest with severely limited knowledge of humanity, humanity’s biosphere, humanity’s ecosystem, humanity’s challenges…, and whose sole metric of success is how much money they can personally accumulate with no regard for any or all of the negative consequences?
8. Is democracy possible if campaign contributions from rich, powerful… lobbies are permitted that operate only out of self-interest with severely limited knowledge of humanity, humanity’s biosphere, humanity’s ecosystem, humanity’s challenges…, and and whose sole metric of success is how much money they can personally accumulate with no regard for any or all of the negative consequences?
9. Is democracy possible without true proportional representation in all branches of government?
10. Is democracy possible if any citizen representatives, like the judiciary or senate, are based on political appointments?
11. Is democracy possible if citizen representatives, like the judiciary or senate, are based on lifetime appointments?
12. Given the complexity of the earth and of each field of human activity, enterprise, study… can democracy, justice… be served by an advocacy system where the judges have difficulty being current in the law and even more difficulty being current with the qualifications necessary to judge all of the many fields of human expertise that come before the courts?
13. Can justice be served by judges with lifetime appointments?
    1. Does age make it more and more difficult to be current in all fields of expertise including the law that appear before the courts?
14. Is taxation accessible, just, equitable, simple, transparent for all citizens and all taxable entities like corporations?
    1. Or do rich powerful lobbies completely support, distort, convolute… an enormous, unrully, complex… tax code in favor of the lobbies’ employers | beneficiaries who can afford the specialized, expensive expertise necessary to benefit from all the loopholes that the lobbies paid for?
    2. If the Fossils don’t pay their fair share of taxes, who pays their share?
15. Is democracy possible without expert, independent… oversight of government accountability, performance, benefits, compensation…?

The FAQs are at the end of this section after the presentation of the necessary common background material to both ask and answer the questions.

There are many definitions of Accountable, Ethical, Responsible, Social, Sustainable… Earth Citizenship as applied to Enterprise, Governance, Investment, Lifestyle, Stewardship of Humanity and Humanity’s Habitat. A preferred definition is based on the global goals or principles of this report:

The Sustainable Development Goals 2022
(United Nations, 2022)

What is UNSDGI (UN SDG Investing)?

UNSDGI is based on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform Humanity’s Lifestyle including Habitat:

• GOAL 1 – No Poverty:
End Poverty in all its forms everywhere.
• GOAL 2 – Zero Hunger:
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
• GOAL 3 – Good Health and Well-being:
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
• GOAL 4 – Quality Education:
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
• GOAL 5 – Gender Equality:
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
• GOAL 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation:
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
• GOAL 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy:
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
• GOAL 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth:
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
• GOAL 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure:
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
• GOAL 10 – Reduced Inequality:
Reduce inequality within and among countries.
• GOAL 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities:
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
• GOAL 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production:
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
• GOAL 13 – Climate Action:
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
• GOAL 14 – Life Below Water:
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
• GOAL 15 – Life on Land:
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
• GOAL 16 – Peace and Justice Strong Institutions:
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
• GOAL 17 – Partnerships to achieve the Goals:
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

There are another couple of important sets of goals used to guide and assess the quality of businesses and business investments based on their adherence to these goals. Both are more widely used than the UN SDG principles, but decidedly less comprehensive and less global. Both invoke some of the UN SDG principles in their definitions.

What is SRI (Socially Responsible Investing)?

SRI is guided by the following ethical and other humanitarian principles for business relationships and investments:

What is ESGI (Environmental Social Governance Investing)?

Is ESG just a form of Fossil greenwashing to:

• Deceive, deny, divert, ignore… the true costs to humanity of their businesses
• Externalize or abandon as many as possible of their actual business expenses to the fair share taxpayers
• Make their definition of responsibility as opaque and nebulous as possible
• Ignore the current best performance metrics of business practices, the UNSDG Goals?

Should ESG business goals, principles, standards…:

• Include the irrefutable past, present, future damage costs of Fossil businesses to humanity’s economy, ecosystem, wellbeing… future
• Stop claiming that there is a green premium to green energy when there is absolutely no expert peer reviewed data to support that claim
• Stop claiming that the Fossils are experts on ethics; humanity’s energy, ecology, ecosystems, economy, welfare… sustainable future just because some are billionaires who have read a few non-expert, non-peer reviewed, non-professional books on the subjects and who consult with the ether for their self-serving opinions on the relevant subjects 
• Prioritize optimal ESG, SR or best of all UNSDG outcomes now called UNSDG|SR|ESG for emphasis and clarity with the hope that the latter 2 will be eventually dropped in a global world 
• Recognize that ESG performance is not defined by dependents, such as family, friends, personnel, investors, politicians, pseudo-experts…, and their claims to success, but rather by independent expert peer reviewed metrics of success
• Recognize the importance of demanding independent expert oversight in everything we do; the importance of using all the expertise humanity has to make this planet a better home for everyone including the preservation and enhancement of humanity’s priceless ecosystem, a gift four billion years in the making, still evolving, supporting, teaching…?  

What are some useful improvements to the UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs (Goals, Principles, Values)?

• Does each of the more specific GPVs relate to one or more of the more general categories: humanity’s, planet, survival, sustainability, welfare, …?
  • Is this generalization of categories helpful to clarify and understand the Myth of the Fossils’ Scorecards and Metrics of Success?
• Must the GPVs be global?
• Must each and every metric of success in all of humanity’s activities, enterprises… include these GPVs for all to survive, thrive, prosper… on a healthy, sustainable… planet?
• What are some of the more important metrics of success? 
  • Corporate, financial… metrics of success
  • Investment metrics of success including value investing
  • Employment metrics of success
  • Consumer products, services… metrics of success
  • Proactive wellness including healthcare metrics of success
• Are the GPVs critical in everything humanity does, not how greedy, deceptive, dishonest, ignorant… Fossils decimate humanity’s ecosystem, welfare… to personally accumulate more money?
• Is it an important lesson for humanity to universally achieve these GVPs: vote with your time and your money to help achieve them?
• Must UNSDG|SR|ESG business practices be fundamental to making money: have businesses actually made money if they have decimated assets like humanity’s health and habitat that do not belong to them?
• Is independent expert oversight critical for the implementation of the GPVs for: humanity’s planet, survival, sustainability, welfare… in business, courts, government, trade…?
• Is specific GPV due diligence in the best interests of: consumers, employees, shareholders, humanity?

Do Fossils’ Business Plans, Schemes, Strategies, Tactics… include any of the UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs outlined here?

Is the answer an emphatic no?

In a later Section of this Website Accordion titled “Are the Fossils’ Scorecards and Metrics of Success Myths?”, the GPVs of the Fossils’ Business Plans, Schemes…  are presented in some detail.

The major obstacle to the implementation of UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs is the Fossils misrepresentation of the truth. The Fossils advocate for their unverifiable anecdotes, beliefs, deceptions, diversions, lies, opinions… extracted from a mythical ether versus independently verifiable data, facts, observations, truths…

Some examples of Fossil myths are:

• There is a Green premium on Green Energy. In fact the Green Premium is an inclusive Green Benefit to Humanity that costs less than the Fossils agenda that addresses none of the GPVs. The Fossils’ destructive, inefficient, irresponsible, unethical, unsustainable… agenda costs their shareholders and Humanity much more if one analyses the actual unabridged financial statements of both options.
• Fossils don’t believe in climate change, a myth that is totally unsupported by expert scientific data, facts, truth…
• Fossils have propagated their myths for more than 50 years that their actions, businesses, enterprises… have not decimated humanity’s ecosystem, health, welfare… by all possible deceptions in their arsenal of lies.
• Fossils claim that democracy guarantees their right to free speech that guarantees their right to lie without accountability, consequences, responsibility…
• Publicly, Fossils state that they should pay more taxes. Privately, when challenged as to how, they deflect to their accountants, lawyers, tax specialists… who claim to pay taxes according to the tax laws. The Fossils neglect to mention that the tax laws are almost exclusively a direct result of Fossil lobbies. Privately, the Fossils continue to lobby for even less taxes, consigning an even greater % of tax dollars to the FSTs.
• Fossils like to claim that the only scorecard of success in human activities, business, investment, professions… is money. Their scorecard almost exclusively includes the income of the Income Statement and the assets of the Balance Sheet. The expenses of the Income Statement and the liabilities of the Balance Sheet are ignored, neglected… consigned as much as possible to the FSTs using very powerful democracy defying Lobbies.
• Fossils like to claim that they can do whatever they want as long as what they do benefits their shareholders even at the expense of humanity’s existence and the UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs that guarantee that existence. The tragic truth is that the Fossils, their family, their friends, the rest of humanity, humanity’s habitat, all that the Fossils claim to love is inseparable from that existence.

Does the data support the Fossil myths that UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs are bad for business, the bottom line, shareholders… or that there is a premium on these GPVs?

In a word NO! An analysis by Morgan Stanley of 10,723 mutual funds from 2004 to 2018 shows that there is no trade-off between sustainable funds compared to traditional funds. The numbers speak for themselves, UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs are good for business and humanity; there is no premium, only additional priceless benefits. The following is the reference:

Sustainable Reality: Analyzing Risk and Returns of Sustainable Funds
(Morgan Stanley, 2019)

The conclusions of this report are based on independent expert data. The conclusions are not extracted from the ether, anecdotes, non-professional literature written or reviewed by self-declared experts… and presented as the truth by some self-interested, self-absorbed, greedy, ignorant… Fossils.

The study compares the performance data of  UNSDG|SR|ESG funds with traditional funds from 2004 to 2018 using exchange-traded and open-ended mutual funds active in any given year of this period. The total performance of 10,723 funds were analyzed for their total returns net-of-fees, and downside deviation, a metric of risk.

The UNSDG|SR|ESG funds provided returns in line with comparable traditional funds while reducing downside risk and deviation. During a period of extreme volatility, there was statistical evidence that UNSDG|SR|ESG funds were more stable. It would appear that incorporating UNSDG|SR|ESG ethics, goals, principles… into investment portfolios may help to limit market risk in addition to being far superior for humanity and humanity’s planet.

Despite the data of this report, 53% of individual investors still believe that UNSDG|SR|ESG investing requires a financial trade-off. The data of this report shows that this perceived trade-off is a myth. Contrary to what many investors believe, UNSDG|SR|ESG fund returns do not differ from traditional funds. Further, UNSDG|SR|ESG funds may offer a risk reduction that results in more attractive risk-adjusted returns. This should help mobilize the 75% of investors who are interested in UNSDG|SR|ESG investing to act on those interests.

The analysis in the Morgan Stanley report is based on the traditional metrics of business performance evaluation and securities investment. Clearly new metrics are needed that include performance metrics for the UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs. In 2006, the UN launched the PRI website for the purpose of introducing new metrics and principles for responsible investment:

UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)

This website includes an excellent comprehensive suite of resources, ranging from introductory materials to in-depth technical and policy guides for PRI. The PRIs presented here are focused on the implementation of the UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs to investment practices and industries to contribute to the development of a sustainable global financial system that is a critical component of a sustainable planet. The principles presented here have been modified to expand their domain of influence and applicability:

Some of the Benefits of UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs

• Weed out unsustainable companies with outdated practices and harmful side effects.
• Minimize investor risk by selecting more responsible companies with a greater likelihood of success in the long run.
• Are not bolt-ons or a new investment strategy; they are core values that represent a new definition of the bottom line.
• Are a means to develop ethical value, sustainable profit… Money for a company’s owners and shareholders at the expense of humanity’s habitat, welfare, FSTs… is not profit.
• Funds grew 144% from 2004-2018.
• Additional growth in the renewable energy sector is predicted to be at least US$13 trillion by the financial services industry.
• Are data based unlike owner board meetings where board policies are irresponsible, illiterate, ignorant, greedy proclamations pulled from the incestuous board’s ether that ignore the externalities of their financial statements.
• Not a cost, rather investments in: responsible businesses, sustainable companies, ethical enterprises… that practice transparency, the application of acceptable standards & policies, support data based truth…

Summary of Actual Fossil GPVs

In a later section of this accordion titled “Are the Fossils’ Scorecards and Metrics of Success Myths?”, the GPVs of the Fossils’ Business Plans, Schemes…  are presented in greater detail. The Fossil GPVs can be summarized under the following categories:

• Campaign contributions, gifts, lobbies
• Externalities: attempts to have someone else pay, usually the FSTs, for income sudsidies, expenses, losses, liabilities, assets including RD&D & infrastructure
• Greenwashing: total denial, disregard, distortion… of UNSDG/SR/ESG GPVs often using their obscure euphemism ESG
• Mantra: our only responsibility is to our shareholders, not to our theater of operations, humanity & humanity’s ecosystem
• Misinformation: is claimed by the Fossils to be a guaranteed right of free speech

Some excellent examples of environmental externalities are provided in the PDF document:

Universal Ownership: Why environmental externalities matter to institutional investors
(UNEP Finance Initiative, PRI Association, 2011)

and in the Comments attached to this document.

Corporate UNSDG/SR/ESG GPV Rankings in Humanity’s Theater

In the past decade, measuring and managing corporate UNSDG/SR/ESG GPV rankings has become and is growing as a central part of doing business for companies around the world, regardless of the industry. UNSDG/SR/ESG ranking systems, which assess the core factors involved in measuring a company’s socially responsible, sustainability performance, are becoming increasingly valued as key decision-making indicators by consumers, employees, investors, other stakeholders… This demand has driven companies worldwide to take a proactive approach to compliance, disclosure… These companies do so for a wide variety of reasons: to answer investor, consumer… requests, improve brand reputation, assess risks and opportunities, or simply comply with regulations.

Some of the Better-Known UNSDG/SR/ESG GPV Indices

There are hundreds of existing rankings and reporting standards currently in operation. Some of the better-known indices include:

UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs Implementation Solutions

Are the solutions very simple: responding as individuals and groups, boycott, censure, expose… with your time, money, services, other resources… any entities that fail to comply with the UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs that sustainably preserve and protect Humanity and Humanity’s Global Ecosystem?

Where should Humanity’s boycotts, censures, reports… begin: investments, employment, products, services… for companies, governments, jurisdictions… that are globally recognized as not fully compliant with UNSDG|SR|ESG performance goals, metrics, principles… that belong to the following industries; some non-compliant for more than 50 years?

• Fossil Fuels
• Gambling
• Junk Food:
  • Carbonated sugar water
  • Fast food
  • Highly processed food
• Military Weapons:
  • Global trade
  • Privately owned
• Nuclear Energy
• Pharmaceutics
• Pornography
• Tobacco

Should Humanity boycott, censure, report… entities including companies, governments, jurisdictions… that promote, protect, trade… with non-compliant industries like?

• Accounting Services
• Ad Agencies
• Banks
• Investment Services
• Legal Services
• Political Parties

Should Humanity boycott, censure, report… individuals that actively endorse, promote, support… non-compliant companies, products, services… publicly for personal gain?

Why do Fossils claim that investment funds should not have the right as shareholder groups to force companies to comply with UNSDG|SR|ESG GPVs; is that not a main responsibility of shareholders? 

Why do those same Fossils support their right to Lobbies that buy government policies that overwhelmingly support Fossil agendas including corporate socialism, deregulation, taxation…? 

The Fossils (Businesses, Politicians, Citizens…) like to pretend and have everyone else believe that it is not about the money. It is just about the game they claim. Money, not comprehensive financial statements, is their scorecard. The Fossils claim to obey all the laws, neglecting to mention that their Lobbies paid for those laws including preferential: elections, justice, oversight, Fossil Socialism, taxation…

Examples of Fossil Lobbies:

1. Election Lobbies: gifts, campaign contributions…
2. Lobbies for government bailouts, grants, subsidies… for:
   1. Business losses including: bankruptcies; unethical, unsustainable, incompetent, illegal, immoral… practices
   2. Reduced legitimate business expenses
   3. Business infrastructure
   4. Resource exploration
   5. R&D, RD&D, IP
3. Lobbies for tax: credits, exemptions, loopholes
4. Lobbies against independent oversight for:
   1. Citizen rights including:
      1. Education
      2. Healthcare
      3. Justice
      4. Safety
      5. Social security
   2. Consumer protection
   3. Ecosystem protection
   4. Fair, ethical, sustainable… business practices including:
      1. Reasonable executive compensation, equity, severance packages…
      2. Reasonable employee living wages, benefits, working conditions…

The Fossils claim that a democratic constitution guarantees their right to free speech. The Fossils also claim that free speech guarantees their right to misinformation including lies without accountability or consequences. Explicit examples of these claims:

1. Abusive use of the media like:
   1. Internet: Facebook, Twitter
   2. Print news
   3. Broadcast news
2. Abusive use of internal research, reports… on:
   1. Products
   2. All business practices

Does a Democratic Constitution guarantee the right to free speech without accountability, without responsibility for what one says and how one says it, without responsibility for the truth…? 

Let’s look at the real versus the cheater scorecards. Let’s follow the money or equivalently the Fossils’ financial statements to help to determine the truth. An immediate obvious observation of the Fossils’ scorecards of financial success: all the negative consequences of their actions to the rest of humanity are ignored; someone else, usually the Fair Share Taxpayers, pay for those consequences.  

• Who loves humanity? Can you love your family and friends without loving humanity and where humanity lives?
• Who pays their fair share of taxes?
• Who supports independent oversight in everything they do?
• Who supports ethics in whatever they do?
• Who supports sustainability in whatever they do?
• Who supports a healthy ecosystem in whatever they do?
• Who supports a healthy humanity in whatever they do?

Humanity: Financial Statements

Is Humanity and Humanity’s Ecosystem, more than 4 Billion Years in the Making, being Decimated in Less than 100 Years by the Fossils? 

Business Fossils: Financial Statements

Do They Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes?

Political Fossils: Financial Statements

Do They Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes?

Do they actually represent the best interests, values… of the citizens of their democracy, their electorate or do they, in fact, represents their own best interests, values…? 

Citizen Fossils: Financial Statements

Do They Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes?

Does their net worth benefit from all the Lobbies many of which they fund? 

Fair Share Taxpayers: Financial Statements

Who Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes 

* Comming soon…

What is the source of Philanthropic money?

Does it actually belong to the FSTs?

* Comming soon…