BigOil is evil. That’s something everybody knows. BigOil
co-operates with all kinds of corrupt regimes around the world. When conflicts
escalate towards war, energy prices rice, and BigOil make more money.
I work for BigOil, doing technical work. The scientists and
engineers are good guys. The evil part is taken care of by the corporate-strategy
department.
However, I also own some shares in BigOil. I’ve been
thinking about selling some of my shares for some time (we need the money to
pay for the refurbishing of our house). This week I sold my shares, and the
price was quite good.
The recent increase in the share price is of course due to
the escalating conflict in Ukraine, and on the Crimean peninsula. This means I've
become a war profiteer. That’s no good. What should I do with the added value
of my shares? Donate the excess money to the Salvation Army, or just keep it?
What would you have done?
(The cartoon is from The Moscow Times, which is a very good
and interesting newspaper. I used to get it on the door of my hotel room when I
travelled frequently to Russia. The Moscow Times is published in English.
Therefore it has few readers in Russia, and is basically a newspaper operating
under the radar of Putin’s regime.)
