9Mon·

We need to talk!!!

Open discussion.

A report in the last Weltspiegel made me think.

It was about child labor in the cocoa harvest.

Children were shown who had never attended school and lived in catastrophic conditions on the plantations. Who were doing the pest control without protective clothing.


The product chocolate was completely unknown to the children.


Unfortunately, there was no statement from the major confectionery manufacturers and reference was only made to a protection organization. This simply outsources all responsibility and promotes the organization.


How do you proceed with your investments and what role does it play for you?

And shouldn't there be more pressure from the shareholders, because I personally think that such working conditions will be impossible in 2024.


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https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/heil-lieferkettengesetz-100.html

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The problem is: if you dig deep enough, you will find problematic issues in almost every (!) major company. Environmental protection, good employment conditions, etc., are all written on the flag. I can say from various companies that the statements to the public were completely different from those made internally.

If I could be sure that everything was right with a company, I would focus more on that. But this way: no chance, because every company has the "potential" to be a monster or "slave driver" - even if it is their sub-sub-sub-suppliers or service providers.

I don't invest in armaments because I don't want to profit from war. I find everything else extremely difficult to evaluate unless you take an extremely close look at it.

In my view, consumers are the ones who have the biggest impact. But even they only ever know what it looks like outside the clean door of the headquarters and not where and how the primary materials and raw materials are procured in detail.
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Unfortunately, you have allowed yourself to be manipulated by the German media, who think they have to broadcast their imperialism to the world. In short, every country has the right to pursue its own policies and organize its own society. If the children there were not working in the cocoa harvest, they might become child soldiers - this kind of secondary effect is not considered at all. Everything that comes from the public is "Muuuuh third world bad, Germany good". Ultimately, that doesn't help anyone at all. But it is useful to nudge the viewers into thinking that it would actually be quite cool to have a world government and a decent leader who is able to solve all the world's ills from his ivory palace in Berlin.

A few centuries ago, there was also child labor in Europe and our kings, when they thought it was possible and sensible, eliminated this situation on their own. Why don't we trust the states in Africa to do the same? Why do we think that we have to march to Nigeria in white uniforms to explain to the people there how to live the RIGHT way?
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This attitude is so blatantly wrong! We could easily do something about it if we were prepared to pay a few cents more for chocolate. But no, we want cheap chocolate, screw it, then children pick the cocoa, can't go to school for it, can't move up and their children have to do the same. So that we in Europe can still eat cheap chocolate in the future.

I'm shocked by so much naivety...
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I don't think such problems should and cannot be solved by the EU alone and, as has been written several times in the discussion, would damage our economy.
That is why the UN should be strengthened much more in order to solve the major problems and thus ensure a level playing field.
This is a problem that should and must be solved globally.
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So we have less than 1000 employees, but we are still bound by the Supply Chain Act because our customers simply demand proof from us. That's also what the big players do, simply delegate responsibility... Shit falls from the top down. From this point of view, the FDP's blockade is incomprehensible. They should have shown Heil the edge on a few of his other issues.
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The job of journalists is simply to point out grievances. And when it comes to children, I find it very difficult to discuss it away in a succinct way.
Children simply belong in school, even in developing countries, and do not have to feed their families.

And in such an interconnected and global world, I don't think it's in keeping with the times to let countries solve the problem themselves, as the kings did in the Middle Ages.

Fortunately, unlike in the Middle Ages, there are media that uncover grievances and draw attention to them.
And I think that this report will make some consumers rethink their purchasing behavior and perhaps automatically force the industry to rethink.
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I have no ethical principles.
Since I own broadly diversified ETFs, I have companies of every color.

Clear point PRO diversification...Or was that diversity! 🤪
Joking aside.

However, I have no principles when it comes to investing. I'm completely honest about that. I don't ACTIVELY exclude stocks from ETFs! How could I?
What I do: When I buy certain companies as individual shares, I buy likeable companies. This includes their image, company policy/company philosophy. Headlines would definitely stop me here.
If you like it that way, I PASSIVELY exclude certain companies. Logical. I only want to invest in the best and strongest companies in my opinion. Everyone has to play by the rules. Otherwise terrible things happen.
--> See Bayer $BAYN and $NACON
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I think the ESG and SRI certificates are even causing banks to waver, as they also want to comply with them. See reports on why Rheinmetall has to pay much higher interest rates than usual on the market, as many (normal) banks do not allow trading in armaments. As an example. I think ESG and SRI are useful and if I were to reorient myself, I would probably switch to an ESG or SRI.... Incidentally, they perform better than normal ETFs but are less diversified. I think the pressure is increasing thanks to ESG and SRI.
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European prosperity problem!!!

Just change your perspective!

Would you rather eat or be educated?!!! In case of need rather the food.

My father, for example, had to work from the age of 13 after the war. Otherwise his plate would have remained empty.
He died at the age of almost 70, working almost every day!!!
There was no prosperity then, let alone, as there is now, wealth to be distributed to the lazy!!!
...Yes, different times, different customs...
If the plate remains empty, that will change again. And very quickly!
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In politically stable systems, such as in Europe, definitely yes, plus waiver through working hours (no longer wanted here)

But your report was about child labor on cocoa plantations!
Child labor is forbidden here and there are no cocoa plantations in Germany! So there was no report about German luxury problems.

There is usually no democracy in these countries! Completely unstable political conditions.
There are other daily problems for families, e.g. eating and drinking, than any spelling mistakes in English work.
Ergo, the people must first muster the will for political change and then they can build prosperity through education in peace.
(All my opinion, I'm just here to pass the time😆)
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