- David Koch of Koch Industries
I had a high school English teacher who was a big influence on me. He talked about judging people’s actions on the motivations behind them, taking into account not only the what but the why behind every action. The same action done by two different people with two differing reasons should not be judged as the same action. For instance, the person who stole to feed their hungry children should be viewed through a different lens than the person who stole simply out of feelings of greed and envy.
For a naive high schooler this was a revelation. Everything, every action, to that point was judged as being simply right or wrong, regardless of the reasoning behind the action. It changed how everything must be viewed and judged for me.
.
Which brings me to the subject of today’s post, an article published in the most recent New Yorker magazine by Jane Mayer titled Covert Operations. The article is about the life and actions of Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists who own the second largest privately owned corporation in the country (and 16th largest out of all corporations, private and public.) Their combined wealth is only eclipsed by that of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates here in the states. They and their company, Koch Industries, are probably fairly anonymous to most people. I have to admit that they were well off my radar.
.
Koch Industries is involved with many things, primarily in the production and delivery of many of the critical raw materials used in industry. They have refineries and pipelines in the petroleum industry. They produce chemicals, polymers, fertilizers for industry and have extensive pulp and paper operations. All operations which remain relatively low profile in the public eye yet have a big impact on many aspects of our lives.
.
The company was started by their father, Fred Koch. I’m not going to go into any detail here except to point out that he handed down an immense congolmerate to his sons and he was one of the founders of the John Birch Society, the radical right-wing organization. The Koch brothers claim no affiliation with the society but over the past several decades have used their immense wealth in support of libertarian and conservative causes. Well, causes that fall under the libertarian flag but meet the needs of their agenda.
.
And what is their agenda? Is it truly a stance for personal liberty or is it something else? What is their motivation?
.
Well, they are the primary movers and funders of the movement to deny climate change. They’ve spent over 48 million dollars in the past decade to create doubt in the public’s eye that there is really climate change taking place.
.
They also are the one of the prime movers, although staying deep in the shadows, of the recent Tea Party movement. The Koch brothers had been stong supporters of the Libertarian Party until the early 1980’s when they realized it had no future as a populist movement. Which is to say, they recognized they were not going to be able to pull in enough foot soldiers to create cover for their agenda, which is a corruption of the concept of liberty that most of us hold near and dear.
.
They want to be free of all constraints, all taxes, all government intervention and regulation of any sort. As a theory, this is appealing to many Americans until you understand their motivations, which is that they crave the freedom to run their environmentally dangerous operations with no societal obligations. They are the very reason we need regulation and intervention.
.
Okay, I feel a rant coming on so I’m going to wrap it up. I’m tired of people like the Tea Partiers being exploited by people like the Kochs, Larouches, Armeys, Becks and Limbaughs of this world for their own agendas. Read the article for a more coherent outline of the Koch brothers’ activities.
Redtree Times 
I could write pages on this, the Chicago School of Economics as personified by Milton Friedman, the Ayn Rand accolyte Alan Greenspan, and the GOP desire for power as a source for our current plight, but it’s late.
But I often wonder about the many of those on the right, both in punditry, politics and power, are people of inherited wealth and influence. From the well-known Bill Kristol and George W. Bush to the unknown Richard Melon Scaife and Koch brothers. They are people who have earned their positions because of accidents of birth and rarely through great efforts of their own.
I believe it shows in their overall character.
You’re right. The frustrating part is how they try to throw the term “elitist” at others who oppose their greedy agendas. They try to pose as populists but they don’t give a damn about the people who’ve bought into their tripe. They’re merely pawns to push across the board.
I’m looking forward to reading the article. Thanks for pointing it out.
One thing that intrigues me is that photo of Koch – particularly the painting behind him. About a year ago I bumped up against a fellow who was adamant about the importance of the Art Renewal Center and its Chairman, Fred Ross.
From what I could tell, ARC’s endorsement and promotion of artists like Bouguereau is rooted in a sentimental longing for the “good old days”. It seems a nice fit with Ayn Rand philosophy and a Captains of Industry mentality from a few decades back.
I really don’t know much about all this, but when I saw that painting behind Koch my first thought of was of ARC – not something that would come to mind under normal circumstances. The hagiographic lighting in the photo makes its own point, I suppose.
Thanks for the link to the article. I take the New Yorker, but sometimes issues get set aside and I might not have seen it.
Given what you’ve said, the photo of Koch is fascinating. When I saw the painting behind him, the first thing that came to mind was the Art Renewal Center, Fred Ross’ bastion of all things Bouguereau and traditional/reactionary in art.
I haven’t thought about it in months, but a couple of years ago I was introduced to the site by a fellow who was almost morbidly conservative. It occurs to me now that the artists they promote fit in ever-so-nicely with writers like Rand and the world view of people like Koch. You know – grand. Idealized. Pretty much free of “little people”.
That photo’s a hoot for another reason. Who in the world would allow an image of themselves with such hagiographic lighting to be published? Tells you a good bit about his self-image, I should say.
In the Credit-where-credit-is-due Dept., the photo is by Richard Schulman, known for his portraits of artists such as Warhol, de Kooning, and Miro, and architects such as Phillip Johnson and Frank Gehry.
http://schulmanphotography.com/