And thanks for the advice but I wouldn’t do that… I don’t believe investing is ethical.
The company you invest in has to turn your money into more money somehow, and more often than not that ‘somehow’ is by fucking over workers, nature, or customers.
I know you only meant to help and I could be wrong, but I do believe we should try to prevent people from ‘enjoying the fruits of capitalism’ as you put it.
Or atleast let them know that capitalism doesn’t grow fruits and all you can do is enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labor.
There’s no such thing as free money, and 90% of the world population would be a lot better off if people would quit trying to get some.
Investing is simply loaning capital to someone so they can build and pay for things which generate production.
It’s like if your town wanted a park, but you didn’t have the money, you’d borrow it from someone and pay interest. You’re borrowing from investors, who lend to you with expectation of yielding extra for them assuming the financial risk. That scenario is more like a municipal bond, but similar scenario for the stock market.
If you want to start a farm, or buy a house, or build an apartment building for your town, you’d need investors to pull together capital to pay for it. In most small business scenarios, the investor is a bank. But for some small businesses starting up, who need large amounts of capital and are high risk, they raise money through others in exchange for a piece (shares) of the business. Over time, the business if successful would go public - which means opening up those shares for the general public to trade.
I understand the “people shouldn’t make money” argument, but it’s a proven effective way to grow. Its flaws seem centered around when politicians are in bed with the investors. Then crooked shit happens. We have systems in place to protect and prevent, but they simply aren’t working in the United States anymore due to widespread corruption of our government.
I do understand the principle of investing and agree on some level that it can be a good thing for starting a business.
You’ll surely agree though, that his is not how most see investments, and not what you were describing either;
Netflix does not need more help getting started.
People who invest in that type of business do I purely with speculative intentions.
Sure they see the retail investor side of it, business do good, number go up.
not what you were describing either;
Netflix does not need more help getting started
Netflix isn’t raising money anymore. They are in publicly traded growth mode. If you want to own a slice of Netflix, you can buy it. No different than buying an interest in the ice cream shop up the road from you (if the current owner wants to part with a portion of the company in exchange for cash). You buy an interest in a company because you think the people that work for it do well and the opportunity for growth exists.
When a publicly traded company is finished growing and instead changes its strategy to simply making income - it starts paying dividends. For instance, General Mills, Pfizer, and Verizon are some examples. All of them are paying dividends equal to about 5-6% of their value. So if you think they’re good companies, you can make more interest on your money by purchasing shares of those companies whom pay nearly double what a high interest bank account does (with added risk!)
People who invest in that type of business do I purely with speculative intentions.
I mean, in my income based stock example - sure they’re speculating that the company won’t die, but they aren’t speculating on massive growth. Just steady income.
I would argue that many speculate buy simply holding USD vs Gold - you assume the United States won’t default on debt or make money printer go crazy, devaluing your investment in the “good faith” of the us govt.
By investing some extra money with them, you’re owning a piece of the company.
If/when the company goes up in value, your shares in the company are worth more. The inverse is true as well.
If you’re in the US, check out brokers like Charles Schwab or robinhood. You don’t have to have thousands of dollars to get started.
Thank you for the explanation, I get it now!
And thanks for the advice but I wouldn’t do that… I don’t believe investing is ethical.
The company you invest in has to turn your money into more money somehow, and more often than not that ‘somehow’ is by fucking over workers, nature, or customers.
I know you only meant to help and I could be wrong, but I do believe we should try to prevent people from ‘enjoying the fruits of capitalism’ as you put it.
Or atleast let them know that capitalism doesn’t grow fruits and all you can do is enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labor.
There’s no such thing as free money, and 90% of the world population would be a lot better off if people would quit trying to get some.
Investing is simply loaning capital to someone so they can build and pay for things which generate production.
It’s like if your town wanted a park, but you didn’t have the money, you’d borrow it from someone and pay interest. You’re borrowing from investors, who lend to you with expectation of yielding extra for them assuming the financial risk. That scenario is more like a municipal bond, but similar scenario for the stock market.
If you want to start a farm, or buy a house, or build an apartment building for your town, you’d need investors to pull together capital to pay for it. In most small business scenarios, the investor is a bank. But for some small businesses starting up, who need large amounts of capital and are high risk, they raise money through others in exchange for a piece (shares) of the business. Over time, the business if successful would go public - which means opening up those shares for the general public to trade.
I understand the “people shouldn’t make money” argument, but it’s a proven effective way to grow. Its flaws seem centered around when politicians are in bed with the investors. Then crooked shit happens. We have systems in place to protect and prevent, but they simply aren’t working in the United States anymore due to widespread corruption of our government.
Thanks for taking the time.
I do understand the principle of investing and agree on some level that it can be a good thing for starting a business.
You’ll surely agree though, that his is not how most see investments, and not what you were describing either;
Netflix does not need more help getting started.
People who invest in that type of business do I purely with speculative intentions.
Sure they see the retail investor side of it, business do good, number go up.
Netflix isn’t raising money anymore. They are in publicly traded growth mode. If you want to own a slice of Netflix, you can buy it. No different than buying an interest in the ice cream shop up the road from you (if the current owner wants to part with a portion of the company in exchange for cash). You buy an interest in a company because you think the people that work for it do well and the opportunity for growth exists.
When a publicly traded company is finished growing and instead changes its strategy to simply making income - it starts paying dividends. For instance, General Mills, Pfizer, and Verizon are some examples. All of them are paying dividends equal to about 5-6% of their value. So if you think they’re good companies, you can make more interest on your money by purchasing shares of those companies whom pay nearly double what a high interest bank account does (with added risk!)
I mean, in my income based stock example - sure they’re speculating that the company won’t die, but they aren’t speculating on massive growth. Just steady income.
I would argue that many speculate buy simply holding USD vs Gold - you assume the United States won’t default on debt or make money printer go crazy, devaluing your investment in the “good faith” of the us govt.