Few People Would Mourn the Disappearance of Koch Industries

Someone asked me recently to name some of the things I would miss most and miss least during my time here on Earth if I were to be hit by a bus this afternoon.  Here’s an excerpt from what I wrote him back:

Given the state of the world today, I have to say that the things I wouldn’t miss are too numerous to list, but I should mention, half in jest, the Koch Brothers.  People often remark that God must have a sense of humor.  I have to admit that it’s borderline amusing to think that you and I are all part of the same species as these people, freaks of nature, both tragically born without consciences.  They’re worth $40 billion apiece, and their life’s work is further enriching themselves by poisoning and choking everyone on the planet.  The tool at their disposal: buying up our government, quite rapidly in fact, as a means to achieving their evil ends.

As I reread this now, I’m not sure exactly why I found it funny at the time; obviously, it would be a great deal funnier if it weren’t so tragic.  On a positive note, however, Koch Industries is starting to take a terrible drubbing in the press.  If you Google these guys and look through a few of the 7.7 million results, you’ll see that almost all of this is extremely critical.

There are 340,000 results alone for the 2012 documentary “Koch Brothers Exposed” film, which highlighted alleged wrongdoing including many things far beyond energy per se:

• Efforts to gut Social Security. Spending more than $28 million, the Kochs have funded hundreds of reports, commentaries and books which popularized the fiction that Social Security is on the brink of collapse.

• Attempts at re-segregation. The film reports on Koch-funded efforts to remake a North Carolina school district’s diversity policy, in effect re-segregating the schools.

• Voter Suppression. Koch money has supported voter ID laws in 38 states. These laws are billed as a way to avoid voter fraud, but the film argues that they are actually intended to make it more difficult for Democrats to vote.

• Keystone XL. The Kochs use their influence to sway legislation regarding the Keystone XL pipeline. Koch Industries has a significant financial interest in this oil and gas project.

• Cancer in Crosset. A Koch paper plant pollutes the air and water of a community in Arkansas. The film explores a link with a cancer cluster in the small African-American community.

• Higher Education. The Kochs give millions of dollars to universities, with the stipulation that the schools must hire Koch-sympathetic professors.

It sure would be a win for everyone if the sensibilities of the common American elevate themselves to the point that we demand our democracy back from these so-called “people.”