Update: Today’s follow-up appointment went very well. I’ll write a new post about it this afternoon.

After a very long bank appointment, I feel like the little boy at the end of Mary Poppins who just wanted his tuppence, but his well-meaning father and bank manager wouldn’t give it back to him. It was an insignificant amount to the bank, but they wouldn’t let him take it back. He wasn’t withdrawing it for a serious moral or ethical reason; he just wanted to go fly a kite. But the refusal of that simple withdrawal led to a run that collapsed the bank. 

I wasn’t even trying to remove my money from the bank. I simply want to change how my RRSP is invested: want to eliminate US investments. And I’m doing it for a significant reason. The CEOs of some of the largest American companies applauded Elon Musk’s Nazi salute. They have invested heavily in Project 2025. They have supported the election of a fascist regime that really is Nazi Germany all over again. 

The advisor cautioned me about how I was limiting the markets I had access to. I countered by indicating that I physically do not have access to that country, or any other country that would require crossing US airspace to visit. 

I left my appointment with my investments unchanged. I’m going back on Wednesday to talk to someone at a higher level, who will most likely tell me I’m being rash, and making a financially unsound decision. 

I know that divesting from the US will limit my investment returns, but I will not support a regime that will kill people like me for a few more dollars. 

I wish I could have more fine-grained control over my investments, such as they are. If I could, I  would blacklist any company or fund that has donated to the Republican party or any of its PACs in the 21st century—the companies that knowingly supported the rise of the current anti-human system of government and commerce. The entities that would rather pile more cash on their bloated hoards than save the lives of the people they’re stepping on. 

There have been various attempts at “ethical funds” over the last couple of decades, but their ethics always seem to be very muddy. That’s why I’m taking a stand. I don’t expect others to stand with me, but as Martin Luther said, “Here I stand. I can do no other.”