Third-party political activist Peter Camejo, a perennial candidate for state and national office who helped pioneer the financial market niche of socially responsible investments, died Saturday. He was 68.
Mr. Camejo, who had been battling a recurrence of lymphoma, died at home in Folsom (Sacramento County).
He helped found the California Green Party in 1991 and ran three times for governor of California. He also ran as independent Ralph Nader's vice presidential running mate in the 2004 presidential election in which President Bush won a second term. In 1976 he ran for president as the Socialist Workers Party candidate.
Mr. Camejo described himself as a watermelon - red on the inside, green on the outside.
"Peter used his eloquence, sharp wit and barnstorming bravado to blaze a trail for 21st century third-party politics in the U.S.," Nader said in a prepared statement, which described Mr. Camejo as a "politically courageous champion of the downtrodden and mistreated of the entire Western Hemisphere."
Active in the Free Speech Movement and in protests against the Vietnam War as a student at UC Berkeley in the late 1960s, Mr. Camejo landed on then-Gov. Ronald Reagan's list of the 10 most dangerous people in California. School officials eventually expelled him, two quarters shy of a degree.
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Peter Camejo was a great pioneer in many ways. One of the things I share with him was his interest in ethical investing.
ReplyDeleteI got interested in ethical investing some forty years ago as I believed that when we invest in a company we share in the responsibility for the activities of the company as well as participate in the outcomes of the company's activities. Therefore anyone valuing their personal or spiritual growth has to take these things into account when investing.
I also believe that if everyone does invest according to their personal values, then, since so many of core values are alike -- and are supportive of higher ideals -- that in the long run, only companies employing these higher values will truly prosper.
For anyone interested I have a site that covers the latest global news and research on ethical investing. It's at www.investingforthesoul.com
Best wishes, Ron Robins