What Should We Invest In? Guns, Gold, and Spam?

During the past months, as my retirement fund has evaporated like summer rain on a hot pavement, I managed to get on someone's list for stock-picking in difficult times. Today their email suggested that growth areas in the stock market included armaments, bullion, and canned pork; literally, that odd food concoction called Spam. These financial wizards may be right. These may be good things to invest in. Yet I cannot help feeling a sense of repulsion at the products involved. I'm tempted to say that if this is what one has to do in order to 'prosper' then I'm not sure I want that kind of prosperity that badly. More guns and more processed meats with preservatives added do not make the sort of civilization I envision. And no, I'm not a vegetarian, neither am I a rabid anti-gun demonstrator. I am aware, though, that gun factories make profits by selling more guns in bulk, which tends to be a sure recipe for warfare, rather than simply more on-street violence (although it means that too). Commercial hog raising and processing lays waste to huge areas of land and resources in a way that is not sustainable. And gold attracts some of its own problems. Investing in these three products represents the ascendancy of fear over hope; it mirrors the mindset that says I want my money and I really don't care what sort of damage the rest of the world suffers as long as I get my share. Now, when all the rules of money are changing, might be a time to re-think how we invest and why. If we choose wisely we may lose a little in the short run, but the returns on our investments in the long term might not be money at all. They might include being able to live more peacefully on a planet that can sustain itself. That would be a good return on my hard-earned dollars.