11-20-2011, 09:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-20-2011, 09:09 PM by Director Michael.)
The article you referenced brings attention to these issues in the finance industry:
1.- Usurious practices.
2.- Speculative banking.
3.- Financing arms manufacturing and trade.
4.- Financing and supporting totalitarian regimes.
5.- Financing of companies with little or no commitment to social responsibility.
6.- Ecological Impact.
7.- Financing, donations, and sponsorships contrary to the good of the family.
8.- Involvement in social enterprise.
The author of the article claims that his company is watching out for those issues and exercising selectivity of investment, rather than just blindly treating money as any other commodity. But many other commodities have the same issues! Addressing any of those issues based on a system of trendy "ethics", if it is coming from an anti-Torah perspective, could be just as bad or worse than ignoring the ethical questions altogether.
If you are looking for a career in the finance industry and these issues concern you, you should first learn the moral principles and the do's and don'ts of the Torah-based Noahide Code. Many things that are prohibited in the Noahide Code will also be illegal under the system of secular laws, so you should make clear to your employer that you are not going to participate in illegal financial investment activities.
Beyond that, you could look for employment at a company that specifically limits itself to follow the proper system of ethics (this might apply for some Orthodox Jewish investment companies in Israel), or that offers its clients a distinct line of investment strategies in which a team of trained advisers gathers information about the potential investors and investments, and operates selectively based on principles that are consisted with Torah-based ethics and the Noahide Code. As a Noahide, maybe you could be the one who will trailblaze a line of investments that have no problems or concerns from a Torah perspective, and that could even be used to finance developments in the world that are truly positive (in G-d's eyes).
1.- Usurious practices.
2.- Speculative banking.
3.- Financing arms manufacturing and trade.
4.- Financing and supporting totalitarian regimes.
5.- Financing of companies with little or no commitment to social responsibility.
6.- Ecological Impact.
7.- Financing, donations, and sponsorships contrary to the good of the family.
8.- Involvement in social enterprise.
The author of the article claims that his company is watching out for those issues and exercising selectivity of investment, rather than just blindly treating money as any other commodity. But many other commodities have the same issues! Addressing any of those issues based on a system of trendy "ethics", if it is coming from an anti-Torah perspective, could be just as bad or worse than ignoring the ethical questions altogether.
If you are looking for a career in the finance industry and these issues concern you, you should first learn the moral principles and the do's and don'ts of the Torah-based Noahide Code. Many things that are prohibited in the Noahide Code will also be illegal under the system of secular laws, so you should make clear to your employer that you are not going to participate in illegal financial investment activities.
Beyond that, you could look for employment at a company that specifically limits itself to follow the proper system of ethics (this might apply for some Orthodox Jewish investment companies in Israel), or that offers its clients a distinct line of investment strategies in which a team of trained advisers gathers information about the potential investors and investments, and operates selectively based on principles that are consisted with Torah-based ethics and the Noahide Code. As a Noahide, maybe you could be the one who will trailblaze a line of investments that have no problems or concerns from a Torah perspective, and that could even be used to finance developments in the world that are truly positive (in G-d's eyes).