A Request to Corporations in Our Portfolio Regarding the Attack on the Capitol
Chicory Wealth is committed to using our position in the financial industry to help create a more just and sustainable world. As part of that advocacy, we have sent the following letter to the management of some of the companies in which we invest.
Dear (REPRESENTATIVES OF CORPORATION),
We write to you as investors in (CORPORATION’S NAME) in reference to the attack on the Capitol on January 6th.
The motive of the attack is very clear: the mob that stormed the Capitol sought to prevent the certification of the next president of the United States. They used the threat of violence to attempt to override the legal proceedings of our constitutional democracy. Their specific objective was animated by one particular lie: that the results of the 2020 presidential election were fraudulent.
This lie has been thoroughly disproven. Election officials in all of the states where irregularities are alleged to have occurred have thoroughly debunked those allegations. Election security experts are unanimous in their conclusion that no fraudulent activity happened on nearly wide enough a scale to overturn the election result. None of the dozens of judges who have heard the lawsuits contesting the election have found any credible evidence of such widespread fraud. These officials, experts, and judges come from every part of the political spectrum; they are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. Responsible leaders of all stripes have publicly acknowledged the validity of the 2020 election results.
However, a key group of lawmakers have perpetuated the lie that the results of the 2020 election are illegitimate. That lie directly led to the assault on our democracy that occurred on January 6th. The lawmakers who witnessed this attack and then nevertheless voted to object to the certification of the next president have gone beyond the pale. Their votes do not represent the normal, if sometimes highly contentious, disagreements of partisan politics. They do not represent the stretching of truth or biased framing that politicians in both parties sometimes engage in. Instead, they constitute the denial of an objective fact in order to support those who would overturn the United States Constitution and substitute our centuries-long tradition of democracy with mob rule.
It need not be said how serious a threat anti-democratic violence poses to our society. Strong institutions and the rule of law don’t just provide the foundation for the thriving investment environment that allows companies like (CORPORATION’S NAME) to prosper: they safeguard our fundamental human rights. As investors committed to operating in a socially responsible manner, we cannot stand idly by and let those who seek to destroy our system of government escape accountability. We are calling on you to join a growing number of leading corporations and publicly announce that you will no longer make campaign contributions to the representatives and senators who voted to object to the certification of the 2020 election.
Our nation finds itself in a precarious moment. Business leaders have the opportunity to lead us away from the path of misinformation and violence and onto the path of shared truths and peaceful self-governance. The first step down that path is ceasing to financially support those who sell lies at the price of our democracy. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Chicory Wealth
Photo by Christopher Ryan of Unsplash