The Secret Life of Money
• Illustration by Maeve Baker
Words by Taran Anders
Illustrations by Maeve Baker
This article was brought to you by our partner Bank Australia
We’re starting to vote more with our dollars, but how is the money in our bank accounts used to prop up harmful industries like tobacco and fossil fuels? For those concerned about the climate and social issues, choosing to invest money in banks that boycott these industries is a form of activism.
For almost as long as we’ve had societies, human beings have had some form of currency – something to exchange for goods and services and used as a measure of value.
From shells and salt, to coins and paper, to digitally stored complex investments, money, as a concept, has taken many forms. Whatever its form, however, currency still does act as something of a mirror to society. As our communities have grown more complex, so too have our demands of money and our ways of making, storing, and keeping track of it. Banks. The stock market. Superannuation. And once it’s stored, it’s not just a static thing – it has power beyond what we choose to spend it on in our day-to day-lives.
Joel Solomon is the Chairman of Renewal Funds and author of The Clean Money Revolution. One of the driving tenets of his work is that we need to be aware of the power our money has to do good or bad, and then take control – making sure it’s used in a way that is ethical and reflects our values.
Asked about the biggest misconceptions of what happens when money is invested in banks and funds, he says, “Some people still think that their money goes into a big vault in the bank. However, the truth is our money goes into the bank, and then around the world, seeking either easiest, quickest, or highest return by investing in things we may find personally an anathema.”
When you have cash in your hand or savings stuffed in a mattress, you are in charge of what it does, good or bad.
Feelings about animal rights impact whether you choose to spend money on animal products; your stance on environmental issues shapes the kind of transport you pay for. When a brand takes a stance on a topic – like when Gillette made an ad tackling toxic masculinity – it impacts sales. We want our spending to reflect our values, not to financially prop up a brand or industry that’s contrary to our beliefs.
This is a way of voting with our dollars. And it doesn’t only work with the money directly in front of us, which is often just the tip of the iceberg. Most of us also keep money in banks or have our retirement savings invested in superannuation funds. This money, as Solomon points out, doesn’t just sit idle, waiting to be withdrawn. It’s being used or invested in all manner of projects. And this time, it’s the bank who decides where it is spent.
• Illustration by Maeve Baker
The clean money movement is pretty much what you would expect – as Solomon explains, “clean money does more good and less harm”. Essentially, the movement focuses on making money work in a way that doesn’t adversely affect the environment, animals or society.
In 2018, a report by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) demonstrated just how big an impact some of the largest banks around the world are making, having financed fossil fuels with $1.9 trillion since 2016. So there is the potential here for consumers to have a big impact on the future.
Banks and superannuation funds make profits by lending out to businesses and industries. This can have a negative impact when it includes lending to the tobacco industry, nuclear weapons companies, the fossil fuel industry and live animal exports. Or it can have a positive impact, when the industries being supported are those involved in renewable energy development, social housing projects and not-for profit-organisations.
While there is a degree of remove, choosing to keep or invest your money in a bank or fund that lends to industries with more negative impact means your money is being used to prop them up. At the simplest level, if you don’t give them your money, they have less money to lend to these industries.
For those concerned about the growing climate emergency, animal rights, nuclear weapon development, choosing to invest money in banks that deliberately steer clear of lending in these areas is a form of activism.
• Illustration by Maeve Baker
Over the last few years the clean money movement has gained momentum, and to Solomon this speaks to the urgency of our environmental and social concerns.
“These times demand we better understand the limits to ecological systems, and the brutality under which nearly half the world's population lives under, be it poverty level incomes, or abominable working conditions. We face crises on many fronts now. For example, I was born when there were less than 3 billion people on the planet. Most readers will live to see at least 8 billion, and soon. Social injustice is a ticking time bomb that puts all we hold dear, at risk.”
The clean money movement is the natural extension of being selective about how you spend money in your day to day life, and has been spearheaded by those who want all their money going only towards causes they agree with. This doesn’t mean withdrawing all your money and turning to a cash-only existence. It just means finding banks and super funds who prioritise the same things.
It isn’t just about stopping your money from doing bad – it can also be about maximising the good it can do. Asked how big an impact he thinks an individual can really have, Solomon responds, “The influence of serious, focused intentions, can influence millions over our lifetimes.”
One thing he suggests we can do straight away is “ask questions about products and services, when transacting with money.” There are many resources available to help people be better informed about how their money is being spent, including specific-issues-related sites like Don’t Bank on the Bomb, or Market Forces which gives a more broad overview, including this look at how banks fit in with climate emergency goals.
Solomon’s last piece of advice is about being aware of the impact that can come from our choices.
“Remember that our name is on our money. It represents our values, how we lived our lives, and what mattered most to us. Use that power wisely!”