> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Check Your 401(k) Before Casting Stones
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/check-your-401-k-before-casting-stones/
- Published: 2026-10-09T10:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-09T10:00:00.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica

Susan Sheu asks whether voters should judge Doug Trussler by the companies he invested in. Fair enough. But the standard has to apply to everyone, including those who criticize him.

If you own a standard S&P 500 index fund, as tens of millions of Americans do, you co-own these companies:

Palantir builds the data and targeting software behind immigration enforcement. Sheu objects to ICE-linked work, yet index investors own it directly.

Lockheed Martin makes the F-35s and missiles at the center of the world's wars, and its dividends depend on the next one.

ExxonMobil modeled climate change accurately decades ago while funding public doubt about it. Santa Monica sits on a rising Pacific.

Meta built a fortune on harvesting personal data. Internal documents show it knew its products harmed teenagers. Sheu warns of big-tech surveillance, but she'd own it too.

Tesla faces a California civil-rights suit over alleged racial harassment at its Fremont factory, and its CEO spent 2025 helping gut the federal workforce.

Owning an index fund isn't a moral crime. But it shows that "you profited from something controversial" is a test no one with a retirement account passes.

The better test is what someone did with real control. By Trussler's account, Bison inherited Sentinel's problems, then eliminated most participant-paid monitoring, settled litigation and strengthened compliance. Passive holders of Palantir and Exxon reform nothing. They collect checks. Voters can ask which record shows more accountability.

Santa Monica deserves a campaign about housing, homelessness and public safety. If we litigate portfolios, let's do it consistently, for every candidate and every pension.

Dylan Nugent

Santa Monica