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The Kochs are widely misunderstood. They are typically seen as effectively a free-money-pit for generic Republican views that promote Capitalist exploitation, l
by quadrangle 9y ago
The Kochs are widely misunderstood. They are typically seen as effectively a free-money-pit for generic Republican views that promote Capitalist exploitation, laying waste to the environment, and destroying any real grassroots movement to bring democratic power to the people.
From my understanding, the reality is more like: The Kochs are typical dogmatic Libertarians who aren't anti-environment but have this simplistic economic model in their heads that insists that regulations are nearly always counterproductive. They don't support just any conservative view. They have good intentions and aren't about pursuing their own selfish power. They want to empower others. It's just that they are misled by their simplistic dogma (which certainly has a lot of actually fine ideas, but it's the holding them as a dogmatic set in the stereotypical Libertarian way that they go wrong). So, their opposition to mass incarceration and to regressive Nationalism… those things all fit their particular dogma that is simply not a plain polar opposite of progressive ideas but is more orthogonal in many ways.
- kbenson 9y agoSure. And similar, if in opposition, arguments could be made (and likely are), with regard to Soros. Some on the right probably view Soros as a socialist/capitalist that wants to control through party power or the manipulation of causes to his own end. The reality is likely much more similar to how you outlined the Koch motivations above.
- rndmize 9y agoGood intentions? Any time I read something like this: https://www.thenation.com/article/big-brothers-thought-control-koch/ https://www.thenation.com/article/big-brothers-thought-contr... my doubts about them increase.
- grasshopperpurp 9y agoI think they're true believers, which does not justify the evil they do, but I expect they would view this as a situation where the ends justify the means - or a situation where they are educating the uneducated.
- Fins 9y agoBut did anyone ever point at any actual evil that they do? They seem to be rather liberal/progressive on social issues, and quite moderately conservative on economic ones, which doesn't seem too bad.
- grasshopperpurp 9y agoUsing their power to acquire more power in a system that is not designed to deal with this level of corruption is evil in itself. Why do they think they're god's mouthpiece? Why do their economic ideas seem to benefit them so greatly at the expense of others? They've also paid over $733 mil in fines for environmental violations, and they're putting money into lobbying for stripping regulations. Whether you want to call this evil, I don't really care, but it's terrible for humanity and the world, and they should be stopped.
- slavik81 9y agoThe whole complaint in that article seems to be that Koch Industries endorsed a candidate in a letter to their employees. Reading the article, there were a few points where I felt like I was reading a propoganda piece, which made the complaints about the Koch's newsletter being right-wing propoganda feel superficial and politically motivated, if not outright hypocritical. Frankly, it's a great example of the sort of thing kbenson and spinchange were talking about above [1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16341358 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16341358
- reaperducer 9y agoHalf of the science-heave PBS shows that are such a favorite of the SV crowd wouldn't be possible without Koch donations. So even if the Kochs really do end up killing all of the polar bears, it'll be well documented on TV.
- elipsey 9y agoUp vote for "science-heave", did you say that on purpose? "What happens when one scientist goes head to head with EXTREME SHARK ATTACKS!!!11???" heave Am I the only one who thinks pop-science shows have gone down hill a bit since reality tv came in to fashion? When I was younger Nova seemed like a dignified scholarly affair, but these days it seems like something always has to be exploding or attacking. Maybe it's just nostalgia...
- tootie 9y agoThe Kochs also exert editorial control over PBS content when they don't like what's reported.
- reaperducer 9y ago[citation needed]
- elipsey 9y agoI highly recommend the two part Freakonomics episode "Why Hate the Koch Brothers?" which includes lengthy interviews with Charles Koch. He seemed to me a well meaning but somewhat naive libertarian.