Representatives from 81 different nations met in Antwerp, Belgium last month to discuss the diamond industry. Since they started these meetings in 2003, conflict trade of diamonds has reportedly dropped from 15% to 1%.1
Climate change has improved viticulture and wine production in Belgium. Production is up approximately 5-fold, and there has been a distinct improvement in the persistent taste and quality of the wine.2
Bottles of wine can cost as much as $40,000.00 a bottle and it’s estimated by Sotheby’s that approximately 50% of the wine purchased is consumed.3
When the US announced it was entering WWII, the US stock market skyrocketed up to its best day in three years. War profiteering, investing in lumber because of looming, evident hurricanes, benefiting from climate change, private security firms. There is a delicate, ethical balance involved in these financial decisions. Most mutual funds will inevitably indirectly have unavoidable holdings in some stocks that one may not be in complete agreement with, and people have every right to make an honest living in their fields of expertise despite certain unintended ramifications. 4
However, overtly, directly trying to gouge or capitalize on suffering and exploitation outside of someone’s regular livelihood, is a different line to cross that should not be left to AI and robo-algorithm advisors. Financial Planning based on Finances-only can make someone’s life very wealthy in currency and very poor in Quality of Life. I’ve worked directly with thousands of clients and the happiest clients are those with a high Quality of Life.
Belgians formed some of the boldest resistance to Nazis in WWII. Thousands did whatever it took to defend their nation in very organized, strategic ways. They were both covert and overt, ranging from intelligence gathering and newspapers to physical resistance.5
+ These expansive points of reference are intended to enhance neuroplasticity, positive thinking, empathy and situational awareness – to supplement the mainstream with some upstream.
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