At NatCon, a Populist–Libertarian Clash on ESG Investment

‘Do any of you guys consider the United States to be anything but a vehicle for making money?’

It’s no surprise that the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment movement was a topic at the third National Conservatism Conference in greater Miami.

Experts on a Sept. 11 ESG panel wondered aloud whether the letters actually stand for “evil, stupidity, and grift.”

“It’s probably all three, by the way,” said Justin Danhof of Strive Asset Management, an ESG alternative led by Vivek Ramaswamy.

Yet, a more surprising question from a well-known audience member drew out real tensions in the room between national populists and more libertarian voices.

“Do any of you guys consider the United States to be anything but a vehicle for making money?” asked audience member Amanda Milius, director of “The Plot Against the President.”

Amanda Milius, director of “The Plot Against the President” and former State Department official. (Courtesy of Amanda Milius)

She questioned whether the United States actually has a free market, saying that conservative movies like her own face an uphill battle to secure funding despite the large audience for them.

One of Milius’s apparent targets, businessman Andy Puzder, said he was “certainly supportive” of more patriotic and moral movies.

Yet, he argued that voters could change things by electing politicians who will alter the legal landscape—for example, by passing more aggressive disclosure requirements aimed at revealing when products or components are made in China.

“When you get to what American companies should be doing or shouldn’t be doing, you vote with every dollar that you spend,” he said.

Theo Wold, a former staffer in the Trump administration’s Office of Innovation, argued that corporate America undercuts efforts to force transparency through their influence over the political process.

“The idea that consumers demand—consumers don’t even know. They

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