The BloodMoneyProject first set out to be a tool that would track every product to its source, and tell you who made it, and who profits from its sale. It was born out of a need to know where the money we spend actually goes, what kind of politics it helps fund, and what kind of other business activities it supports along the line.

- Know where your money goes

Be it a multinational bank that lobbies congress to pave the way for legislation that would de-regulate restrictions and allow it to speculate on food prices, an oil company that props up a murderous regime to land lucrative oil concessions, defense contractors pushing for war, or a chemical company that kills or maims half a city`s population and refuses to clean up the mess for 25 years, todays financial world is increasingly interconnected, and innocent purchases we make on a day-to-day basis more often than not tend to flow up the business ranks and make a profit for someone we know nothing about.

Brand names are designed to hide their owners and conjure a character and reputation that are entirely independent of the companies that manage them. These companies are in turn involved in other practices which they can separate from each other in a reputation-damage-control system, and are often publicly traded or owned by other companies, or jointly own business ventures with other companies. This way, it is much harder for the consumer community to acquire its target for criticism, and to know when it`s time to take their money elsewhere. It is hard to know how to approach a company that makes an honest product, while at the same time it is partially owned by a bank that funds a genocide elsewhere in the world; Another fairly innocent - though publicly traded - manufacturer might be owned at any given time by several investment bodies who also own considerable stock in the world`s worst polluters, arms manufacturers, and corrupt-to-the-bone oil companies, and any sale it makes directly profits those investors. Financial instruments work to disassociate product from profit-maker, and the concept of ownership becomes intangible and dissolves in the realm of the stock market, of investment funds and banks. 

The BloodMoney Project promotes the argument and fact that ownership is identity, and that ownership is accountability. By taking on this massive project of building a database that would eventually keep tabs on the shifting structure of ownership in the corporate business world, we suggest an idea, and constitute a conceptual place where right and wrong are disentangled, a clear demarcation line that allows one to take a side and identify those elements that are still degraded and degrading to human society.

 - Consumer Society, Consumer Choice

The argument that we are progressively becoming a consumer society, simply means that our main means of influence on the major powers that are shaping our lives, lie in our capacity as consumers.

The only sure means of embodying the old notion of citizenship in todays world, is through financial decisions. As subjects of financial institutions - it is through our buying power. Recognizing this tenet, which should be made central to the activist community, all our arguments against the politics of global economy are left meaningless, as long as we fail to fully exercise our political right through clear, informed and collaborative consumer strategies.

In a consumer society, if we lack the conviction to deny funds from the activities we oppose, we are in effect voting to defeat our proclaimed agenda. If we lack the financial knowledge to inform us when casting our daily votes at the supermarket aisle, our investment portfolio, or our online cart, we are left vulnerable to the most ridiculous political propaganda - marketing.

 - The BMP Database

The BMP database stores articles that are critical towards at least one stated business element. These articles are then linked to all the companies directly criticized in them, and through them - linked to all the other companies which are financialy linked to them through direct ownership - be it as subsidiaries, parent companies, or shareholders. These articles will then appear whenever a user searches for a company that is on the same direct financial structure as the company crticized.  

We call our users and the community to participate by feeding material into our growing database - news items or updated financial information. By using the site, you could contribute by suggesting companies we did not yet cover, or alerting us to financial information that needs to be updated. Like most web 2 Internet initiatives that rely on user input, we can only approach accuracy of information and full functionality after we reach a critical mass of activity. Until then, BMP in its Beta version remains a showcase of what it can be, and should be taken as such.