ranOutOfUsernamesUgh

Hi, I'm not sure if this is considered off topic, it's not about the Panama Papers, but it's about investing ethically.

I've just started earning enough to consider investing to grow my wealth, but I have always wanted to do so ethically. Needless to say, I will be staying away from sinful stocks, and also read up on past ethical breaches/scandals that have happened to the companies.

However, what I've seen so far has almost always been unethical practices on a widespread scale.

E.g. Widespread abuse of garment workers in the fashion industry, disregard for factory workers in the tech industry, price gouging of drugs by pharma companies, unfair and unethical practices in underwriting by insurance companies, oil companies covering up the fact that they knew about the harmful effects their activities have on the environment, etc I can go on but you get the gist.

It seems like the more I read up on these, the more it feels like companies have 'no choice' but to cut costs (at all other 'intangible' costs), increase their revenue by jacking up prices to unfair levels or market things in ways that make people overconsume more than what they really need, if they want to stay profitable.

Is cost cutting and overconsumption a must for a company to survive/stay competitive? Is the entire stock market run on unethical consumerism?

How do I know that a company I invest in is truly ethical if it's so easy to cover up for unethical practices?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.