What's In Your 401(k), Glass House Dweller

Salon.com Politics | Inside Nader's stock portfolio: Does it really make sense to slam Nader for owning shares of Magellan? For one, mutual funds change positions all the time. Magellan may own Occidental Petroleum one day and not the next. For another, I'm not entirely convinced it's hypocritical to own stock in a company you criticize. People who own stock in a company get to vote at shareholder meetings and can influence the direction of a company. Plus, by accepting dividends, an opponent of a company's strategy can argue they are using the company's profits against them. (Yeah, so these are somewhat specious arguments, still ... c'mon, is anyone seriously arguing that Gore or Bush are less beholden to corporate interests?)