this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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United States | News & Politics
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Pretty much, that's how "contractual obligations" work.
In my state, we've been trying to get the state Public Employees Retirement System to divest from oil investments for a few decades now. The big problem is PERS is tied up with contractual obligations to provide a specific return on investment, a return which can't be made if they dump fossil fuels:
https://www.opb.org/article/2024/02/07/oregon-retirement-fund-carbon-neutrality/
The folks supporting divestment think it's like a light switch. "Well, just STOP!" and it doesn't work that way.
It literally does just work that way. A piece of paper is a piece of paper. "But we won't make as much money" is the part that holds it together. Contracts and laws in general are no more or less than a pretext to exercise class power. They're broken at will in other contexts. The US was literally founded on it.
Tell me you don't understand how a contract works without telling me you don't understand how a contract works.
There are legal liabilities for breaking a contract. It's not that simple.
Tell me you don't interact with people without a keyboard without telling me [useless repetition]. Fucking weirdo.
Yes it is that simple. The law is, and only is, a mechanism for people with power to exercise that power under the veil of legitimacy. Ask any Indian tribe. Ask anyone with x amount of money attempting to litigate a contract with someone with 1000x amount of money.
The reality of the system cannot be disputed without looking like a fucking joke.