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Comment by blep_ | Hacker News Reader

Let's rephrase then: why does owning stock imply financially supporting the company? After IPO, you're not buying anything from the company, you're buying from other investors.

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Stocks are also called shares, the name is a bit of a give away. It’s a share of a company you are a partial owner of it with some rights.

I think you do endorse the company whose shares you hold, in particular if it’s public knowledge.

Not only that, but your goal as a shareholder is to benefit financially from the company. If a company is a bad actor and you know it, you are expressly financing and benefitting from bad acts. I’m not sure why other commenters are trying to abstract this fact out of existence. It is not rocket science!

> you are expressly financing

This is the part I don't understand. You generally buy stock from other stock holders. The company doesn't get the proceeds.

So if you buy stolen goods from someone who bought the stolen goods from the thief, and you knew the goods were stolen, you are doing nothing unethical. That’s all you’re saying, which is a position you can have, but it is a sad one. And you are, in fact, contributing to bad acts. The initial buyer may not have bought the investment if they knew there wasn’t a rube down the line that would take it off their hands.

Ok, this kind of makes sense. By holding a stock, you're increasing demand. Future fund raising for the company will benefit. I think.

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