3 ms·

I've never seen people claim the Koch's literally aided and abetted the Nazis (this is something that's actually claimed about Soros in spite of fleeing Europe

I've never seen people claim the Koch's literally aided and abetted the Nazis (this is something that's actually claimed about Soros in spite of fleeing Europe with his parents as an adolescent). There's a hatred and fear of Soros that surpasses his political activities. He's pretty active with bonafide "do gooder" stuff and it's equated with Pizzagate-style conspiracies and worse that you don't see on the opposite side of the fence. What I'm saying is, it isn't strictly political and it's certainly not equivocal.

tclancy 9y ago
It's anti-Semitism. The one thing you can say for the ignorant throughout history is that they are both consistent and enthusiastic about their awful beliefs.
jerf 9y ago
"stuff and it's equated with Pizzagate-style conspiracies and worse that you don't see on the opposite side of the fence." "Koch brothers". There is nothing one side's fever swamp does that the other can't match, which is why wise people attempting to discern truths ignore both, but most especially, ignore the one on the "other side".
- xenadu02 9y ago
  Except the left/liberal side (as defined in US terms) mostly rejects the extremes. The right/conservatives have turned a blind eye toward (and in some cases wholly embraced) their "fever swamp". The truth is not in the middle.
  - Fins 9y ago
    The whole "Koch brothers are teh devil!" seems to be quite an extreme position, if one bothers to read what Koch brothers actually promote.
  - lopmotr 9y ago
    That's not true. I see moderate right wingers like Jordan Peterson criticising highly fevered left wingers who are clearly extremists. The right that I see is reasonable and the left they talk about is extreme. I suspect it's the same for you but in reverse. You can't judge the whole side by what their enemies mock them for. I'm a right winger but I still believe in evolution and I don't have a portrait of Hitler on my wall.
briandear 9y ago
This is where that aiding the Nazis claim originated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Id0-Lsyr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Id0-Lsyr0
dredmorbius 9y ago
The Kochs did literally aid and abet the Nazis: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/politics/father-of-koch-brothers-helped-build-nazi-oil-refinery-book-says.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/politics/father-of-koc... Along with a significant portion of other U.S. industry, including IBM, AT&T, Coca Cola, Ford, GM, and more. This isn't the quality of reference I'd generally provide, but it's a quick find and seems generally accurate in the basics: http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/uen_nastybiz.html http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/uen_nastybiz.html And: https://listverse.com/2013/10/24/10-big-business-nazi-profiteers/ https://listverse.com/2013/10/24/10-big-business-nazi-profit... (Several of the listed companies are in fact German, which isn't surprising. There are several American firms as well, including Kodak and Standard Oil.) Washington Post on Ford and GM: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/nazicars30.htm https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/n... The IBM case is exceedingly well documented: http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/black-ibm.html http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/black-ibm.html Getting back to the Kochs and various Nazi, anti-semitic, and Holocaust-denial elements: Reason Magazine, almost wholly backed by the Koch Brothers, ran a Holocaust-denial special issue, and doubled down on it when called out: https://pando.com/2014/07/24/as-reasons-editor-defends-its-racist-history-heres-a-copy-of-its-holocaust-denial-special-issue/ https://pando.com/2014/07/24/as-reasons-editor-defends-its-r... Regnery Press, strongly associated with Chicago School economists (it published Milton Friedman, George Stigler, F.A. Hayek, and others), and long a standard of the conservative Right and Libertarian movements, is strongly associated with the alt-right: Regnery has become major figure in the white nationalist movement, having founded the National Policy Institute, a white supremacist “think tank,” and the Charles Martel Society, which publishes The Occidental Quarterly, a racist, anti-Semitic and pseudo-scholarly “journal.” https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/william-h-regnery-ii https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/indi...

tclancy 9y ago

It's anti-Semitism. The one thing you can say for the ignorant throughout history is that they are both consistent and enthusiastic about their awful beliefs.

jerf 9y ago

"stuff and it's equated with Pizzagate-style conspiracies and worse that you don't see on the opposite side of the fence." "Koch brothers". There is nothing one side's fever swamp does that the other can't match, which is why wise people attempting to discern truths ignore both, but most especially, ignore the one on the "other side".

xenadu02 9y ago
Except the left/liberal side (as defined in US terms) mostly rejects the extremes. The right/conservatives have turned a blind eye toward (and in some cases wholly embraced) their "fever swamp". The truth is not in the middle.
- Fins 9y ago
  The whole "Koch brothers are teh devil!" seems to be quite an extreme position, if one bothers to read what Koch brothers actually promote.
- lopmotr 9y ago
  That's not true. I see moderate right wingers like Jordan Peterson criticising highly fevered left wingers who are clearly extremists. The right that I see is reasonable and the left they talk about is extreme. I suspect it's the same for you but in reverse. You can't judge the whole side by what their enemies mock them for. I'm a right winger but I still believe in evolution and I don't have a portrait of Hitler on my wall.

briandear 9y ago

This is where that aiding the Nazis claim originated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Id0-Lsyr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Id0-Lsyr0

dredmorbius 9y ago

The Kochs did literally aid and abet the Nazis: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/politics/father-of-koch-brothers-helped-build-nazi-oil-refinery-book-says.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/politics/father-of-koc... Along with a significant portion of other U.S. industry, including IBM, AT&T, Coca Cola, Ford, GM, and more. This isn't the quality of reference I'd generally provide, but it's a quick find and seems generally accurate in the basics: http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/uen_nastybiz.html http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/uen_nastybiz.html And: https://listverse.com/2013/10/24/10-big-business-nazi-profiteers/ https://listverse.com/2013/10/24/10-big-business-nazi-profit... (Several of the listed companies are in fact German, which isn't surprising. There are several American firms as well, including Kodak and Standard Oil.) Washington Post on Ford and GM: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/nazicars30.htm https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/n... The IBM case is exceedingly well documented: http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/black-ibm.html http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/black-ibm.html Getting back to the Kochs and various Nazi, anti-semitic, and Holocaust-denial elements: Reason Magazine, almost wholly backed by the Koch Brothers, ran a Holocaust-denial special issue, and doubled down on it when called out: https://pando.com/2014/07/24/as-reasons-editor-defends-its-racist-history-heres-a-copy-of-its-holocaust-denial-special-issue/ https://pando.com/2014/07/24/as-reasons-editor-defends-its-r... Regnery Press, strongly associated with Chicago School economists (it published Milton Friedman, George Stigler, F.A. Hayek, and others), and long a standard of the conservative Right and Libertarian movements, is strongly associated with the alt-right: Regnery has become major figure in the white nationalist movement, having founded the National Policy Institute, a white supremacist “think tank,” and the Charles Martel Society, which publishes The Occidental Quarterly, a racist, anti-Semitic and pseudo-scholarly “journal.” https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/william-h-regnery-ii https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/indi...