No Limit To Damage Associated with Koch Brothers' Business Practices

Frequent commenter MarcoPolo writes:

You may argue that the Koch brothers are “pathologically selfish.” They may respond, with equal justification, that it’s you who are selfish, and bound up in self-righteous moralizing.

The Kochs can point to the employment they provide for 150,000 families directly, and millions more indirectly. They could point out that most of their “wealth” is tied up in the enterprises that produce the wealth and prosperity the nation depends upon. What you call, “pathologically selfish”, they would call “responsibility.”

They would argue, that their political philosophy, may seem harsh to some, it’s at least based on the dignity of individual rights. The Kochs would argue that at least they protect and encourage the right of their critics to free speech.  ….While I may not agree with the views espoused by Charles and David Koch, if that’s the most extreme of the “Climate Skeptics,” then there is little to fear!

Ideologues should pursue their agendas with their own money, not the taxpayers.

As always, you make some excellent points here.   Some things to consider:

It’s unclear why you say that “there is little to fear,” though that would have been true if we were having this conversation a century ago.   The very worst that the mega-wealthy of the early 20th Century, e.g., John D. Rockefeller, could do with all that power and amoral self-interest was the construction of a monopoly.  He used illegal business practices, e.g., price-fixing, to drive the wildcatters out of business. A few heads would get busted among those trying to unionize the industries in which he participated. It was overtly criminal behavior, but its damage was limited, and has since largely been forgotten.

Fast-forward 90 years.  Now the consequences of destructive business practices no longer have limits; they include the irreparable devastation of the environment in which all seven billion people and 8.7 million other species of plants and animals live.

Regardless of how rich and powerful they are, people don’t have an unlimited right to engage in activities that are causing the annihilation of our planet’s ability to support life.  It’s just that simple.  I’m reminded of the post I wrote the other day about the piece of pond scum (the trophy hunter) in the photo on the right.  In my book, he just doesn’t have the right to do that.