Why campus protests against Israel probably won’t be effective

An alien who landed on our planet during the current news cycle could be forgiven for concluding that the biggest foreign policy issue facing America today is what the U.S. government should do about Columbia University’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. Otherwise, why would throngs of protesters be crowding the campus to protest actions more than 5,000 miles away?

The short answer is that they are advocating for a cease-fire in Gaza, for an academic boycott of Israeli universities, and for the administration to “divest all of Columbia’s finances, including the endowment, from companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine,” as one of the organizing groups put it. The longer answer is that American progressive activism, including Gaza activism, has become quite centered around college campuses.

While this its influence it often wider cause.

Divestment has become a popular idea on campus, meant to wound companies that offend protesters in various ways, from running private prisons to manufacturing firearms to producing fossil fuels. Many of these activists appear to have been inspired by the late 20th-century global campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against South Africa, which is often credited with helping end apartheid in that country.

More recent campus efforts have had some successes. For example, under pressure from student activists in 2015, the Columbia endowment divested from private prison firms. However, it’s not clear what effect this has had on anything other than the returns of the endowments.

It’s true that U.S. university endowments represent a vast accumulation of capital, at least $839 billion at last count. And it seems as though that much money must be able to change the world, if it could all work together. But not all of that money is invested in stocks or corporate bonds; according to Columbia’s annual trustee report, at the end of last year, only a quarter of its investments, about $3.7 billion, were in global equities. (Another $3.6 billion is in private equity, and the rest is in cash, fixed income and various alternative assets.) This is tiny compared with the roughly $100 trillion global stock market.

Of course, if a university holds an unusually large share of some stock, then selling it might drive its price down, at least temporarily, particularly for smaller firms and markets where trading is less frequent. But as long as there are buyers with fewer ethical scruples – and there always are – the stock’s long-term price will mostly be set by market fundamentals, things such as expected returns, rather than ethical concerns. Even those temporary price changes will affect only the current owners, not the company that sold them stock long ago.

Stock prices can still influence company management decisions through indirect effects, but only to a point. If a company urgently needs to raise money for investment, a sell-off could make that harder. It also might make the now-poorer shareholders angry with management. But there are limits to the power of shareholder anger: Investors might demand that ExxonMobil do something to boost returns, but they are unlikely to demand that the company get out of the oil business altogether, because doing so would incinerate a lot more shareholder money. Similarly, shareholders are unlikely to demand that Boeing stop selling fighter planes to Israel.

It’s harder still to translate divestment’s small effect on companies into a change in the policies of the countries where those companies are headquartered. Countries such as Russia and Iran have persisted for years in the face of sanctions far more punishing than anything that the Columbia endowment, or all university endowments, could possibly impose.

This brings us back to our bewildered alien: Why Columbia? Why divestment? The answer is that Columbia is simply where activists are, and the endowment is something the Columbia administration can control, unlike the foreign policy of the United States – or Israel.

By now, this pattern is familiar; on the left, issue after issue has been filtered through the prism of the campuses where so many activists are concentrated. Concerns about sexual assault frequently ended up centered on the campaign against campus rape; concerns about economic insecurity became demands for student loan forgiveness; concerns over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza have become arguments about elite university endowments.

To some extent, this is natural. Universities have concentrated populations of progressive students whose flexible schedules that can be organized around political action, and of progressive administrators who can be expected to smile on these efforts. But it’s also costly, because 20-yearolds don’t necessarily make the best ambassadors for a cause. The most passionate, possibly, but not the most strategic.

The best hope that activists have of changing Israel’s behavior isn’t fiddling with university endowments; it’s changing U.S. government policy on weapons sales to Israel. The best hope of doing that lies in convincing ordinary American voters that policy should change. And as political writer Matt Yglesias keeps pointing out, “The median voter is a 50-something White person who didn’t go to college.” Is this protest going to change that person’s mind?

Hardly. It’s difficult to imagine anything less likely to appeal to that voter than an unsanctioned tent city full of belligerent elite college students whose chants have at least once bordered on the antisemitic.

There’s only one real customer for that sort of performance: the participants themselves.

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Getting out of a money rut, whether it relates to overspending or struggling to pay off debt, can be challenging. But money experts say it’s possible, especially if you start with a mindset shift. Repeating empowering affirmations and forgiving yourself for money mistakes can be helpful. Then, setting an exciting money goal, such as saving for a big trip or buying a first home, can help you stay motivated. Breaking big goals into smaller ones can also make them easier to digest, especially for overwhelming tasks such as paying off a large chunk of debt. Finally, examining recent spending patterns, finding a support network and celebrating successes are beneficial.

Sometimes, climbing out of a money rut starts with a pep talk — to yourself.

“I like affirmations and speaking out loud,” says Giovanna Gonzalez, a financial educator and author of “Cultura & Cash.” Her favorite affirmations are statements like, “I am not a reflection of my money mistakes,” “I can improve my financial situation,” and “My finances are within my control.”

If you find yourself repeating frustrating money patterns, such as overspending or struggling to pay off debt, that kind of attitude shift can help get you on a different path, Gonzalez says. “Mindset is so important, and sometimes we end up being very hard on ourselves for making bad money choices. If we don’t forgive ourselves, it can be a barrier to doing better.”

Financial experts also recommend using the following methods to climb out of a money rut:

PICK AN EXCITING GOAL

Sometimes, our money goals can inspire us to think bigger and more creatively about our financial lives. Elaine King, a certified financial planner and founder of the firm Family and Money Matters in Miami, says she finds people often need a “money motivation” or an exciting goal to inspire them to adopt better financial habits.

“It has to be something you really want, like traveling. Maybe you really want to go to Europe or get a car or a graduate degree or start a business,” King says. Give yourself a dollar amount and a goal date, and then you can start working toward it by setting aside small amounts of money from each paycheck.

Gonzalez recommends making the objectives visible in your home. When she was planning for a trip abroad, she put a large map on her wall to keep the goal front and center. She says changing the background on your phone to represent the target, such as a screenshot of a debt payoff sign or a dream home, can also work well.

BREAK DOWN BIG TASKS

If your goal is overwhelming, divide it into smaller pieces, suggests Don Grant, CFP and partner at Sabre Wealth in Wichita, Kansas. If you have $30,000 in high-interest consumer debt, for example, then break it into smaller wins of paying off $5,000 at a time by different dates, for example.

“If you’re wondering, ‘How am I ever going to pay it off?’ that would be the definition of being caught in a rut,” Grant says. “It helps tremendously to break it into small chunks and celebrate the small wins that you have.”

UNLOAD DEBT

With some progress under your belt, you can settle on a sustainable approach to knock out the debt, says Sharon Lechter, author of “How Money Works for Women.” She suggests selecting either the snowball method, where you first pay off the smallest debts and work up the momentum to tackle the bigger ones, or the avalanche method, where you pay off the debt with the highest interest first.

“You will feel empowered because you took the first step,” Lechter adds.

LOOK AT SPENDING PATTERNS

Examining your current spending habits can inspire some small tweaks that lead to increased savings, Lechter says. She suggests categorizing how you spend your money over the last 12 months and then comparing those averages with ballpark recommendations. For example, the 50/30/20 budget suggests spending 50% of your after-tax income on needs, including minimum payments on debts; 30% on wants; and 20% on savings and debt payments beyond those minimums.

If you notice habits that lead to overspending, such as going to a weekly happy hour that turns into a multihour expensive meal, then Grant suggests starting a new routine instead. Taking yourself out of pricey situations and replacing them with other activities makes it easier to spend less, he says.

King recommends trying “a couple months of detox and just buy the things you need. Subscriptions, gym membership, extra clothes, shoes, restaurants — you don’t need them.” Severely restricting your spending for a short period can help you reset going forward, she adds.