There is a certain investment firm that has assets under management valued at nearly half the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States. If you placed it on a list of the largest economies in the world, it would be number three, behind China and ahead of Japan. A significant portion of the funds managed by the firm belong to pension funds and other retirement plans. If you have a 401K, there is a big chance it has some of your money.
The firm is called BlackRock, and every pay period when your monthly contribution goes into your retirement plan, some of it probably supports the vision of one man, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. One group, Consumers’ Research, wants Americans to know what Fink and his company are doing with their money. According to Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, Fink’s firm puts Americans’ retirement funds at risk to consolidate power and drive profit. It sets up investment standards that advantage China and hurt the United States.
Consumers’ Research found that many Americans are not aware of BlackRock. To build awareness and emphasize the firm’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party, the organization is launching a multi-million-dollar ad campaign. The first ad will air nationally on cable news and business networks.
“No amount of woke posturing can hide what BlackRock is really up to,” Hild asserted. “The idea that an American company is taking billions of dollars and using it to bet on China’s success is extremely concerning. We can’t allow this to continue. Funneling Americans’ hard-earned retirement savings to China is unsafe from both a national security and financial perspective.”
There will also be billboards throughout New York City and a targeted digital component. Accompanying the ad rollout is a new website, BlackRockLovesChina.com, which features billboard art, the ad itself, and many articles highlighting BlackRock’s close ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As the ad notes, concern about BlackRock is a non-partisan issue. People as divergent as billionaire left-wing donor George Soros and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) believe the company is behaving in ways that hurt the United States.
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Along with the World Economic Forum, Fink is a primary driver of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores. In letters to CEOs in 2020 and 2021, Fink has demanded they create long-term sustainability plans and adopt policies that embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion. BlackRock can withhold investments in companies that don’t get in line with Fink’s woke priorities. This pressure could be one reason why journalist Chris Rufo gets so many whistleblowers inside organizations that deploy training based on critical race theory.
However, Fink only applies these standards to companies in the U.S. and other western democracies. China gets a complete pass because BlackRock classifies it as a “developing nation.” China has the second-largest economy in the world, so this is an absurd designation. However, it allows China to remain free from any pressure to act like the other developed countries and play by the same rules applied to global financial markets.
There is no realistic expectation that China will reduce emissions at any time in the future. Earlier this month, Beijing’s National Energy Commission decided that it is essential to build advanced coal-fired power plants and intensify domestic oil and gas exploration after the country experienced blackouts. The CCP intends to tear up its 2030 environmental commitments and decided 2060 was a better goal for reducing carbon emissions. Meanwhile, Fink is pressuring U.S. companies to commit to a net-zero world by 2030.
“We cannot let executives like Larry Fink try and tell Americans how to live while simultaneously cozying up to one of the world’s leading human rights abusers,” Hild said. The Biden administration has basically conceded the CCP is committing genocide against the Uyghur Muslims.
“By putting BlackRock’s shady dealings out in the open for all to see, we’re sending a message that companies won’t get away with taking advantage of hard-working Americans. Any company trying to use woke politics to mask their misdeeds should see this campaign and know they could be next,” Hild warned. Previous ads have hit Coca-Cola, United Airlines, and Major League Baseball.
Another way BlackRock influences companies is by placing activists on the board of directors. Most recently, the activist investor targeted Exxon Mobile. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Exxon Mobil Corp.’s remade board of directors is debating whether to continue with several major oil and gas projects as the company reconsiders its investment strategy in a fast-changing energy landscape, according to people familiar with the matter.
Members of the board—which includes three directors successfully nominated by an activist investor in May and two other new members—have expressed concerns about certain projects, including a $30 billion liquefied natural gas development in Mozambique and another multibillion-dollar gas project in Vietnam, the people said.
Fink and BlackRock will contribute to making the lives of the same Americans who hand over their retirement savings to the firm worse. The country is already suffering from skyrocketing energy costs, and continued increases will cause additional increases in the prices of food and other consumer goods. Meanwhile, BlackRock is one of the largest buyers of bonds in the flailing Chinese Evergrande Group. Many financial analysts expect the company to fail, and according to Hild, the CCP has indicated Chinese investors will be first in line to recoup any losses. Just another way Fink and BlackRock put America last.
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