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Billionaire David Koch Dies at 79

posted by martyb on Saturday August 24 2019, @12:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the R.I.P. dept.

Quickkeen writes:

Billionaire industrialist David H. Koch, who with his older brother Charles was both celebrated and demonized for transforming American politics by pouring their riches into conservative causes, died Friday at 79.

The cause of death was not disclosed, but Koch Industries said Koch, who lived in New York City, had contended for years with various illnesses, including prostate cancer.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/08/23/ap-source-billionaire-david-koch-has-died-at-age-79/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/us/david-koch-dead.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/david-koch-died-conservative-donor-and-philanthropist-dead-age-79-2019-08-23/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/23/david-koch-dies-billionaire-leader-koch-industries-79/2094016001/

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @04:02PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @04:02PM (#884794)

    "So... protection of the First Amendment, getting grotesquely incompetent governments out of schooling, and boosting the US economy"

    Since you aren't the only person with such short sighted beliefs, allow me to elaborate some more.

    First Amendment applying to corporations has all sorts of problems for all sorts of reasons, and would take up a whole textbook which I'm sure exists, but one implication is a foreign government (say the Russians) can meddle in US elections, in ways you can't imagine, ... legally. It's already happening, but I'm talking about something far more sinister than direct contributions into crony politicians pockets. I'm talking a corporate shell game for propaganda.

    The incompetent government trope is getting old. Move to Somalia if you want to live in a place with effectively no government. Ironic how people pushing this trope want more government when it comes to enforcing contracts and protecting their wealth from the disgruntled masses.

    Boosting the US economy by poisoning the wells is insane. The economic boost is temporary, the poisoned wells are long term. You can't live without water, it's projected to be a scarce resource. In many parts of the world it already is. Nestle is investing a fortune in attempts to buy up this resource. You're saying lets just destroy it to boost the economy, a fictitious construct which only benefits a tiny minority.

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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday August 24 2019, @06:55PM

    by Gaaark (41) on Saturday August 24 2019, @06:55PM (#884863) Journal

    But why think long term survival when you can have short-term "I got MINE!"

    THAT is the way the rich and corporate/political leaders in America think.

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday August 25 2019, @01:36AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 25 2019, @01:36AM (#885013) Journal

    First Amendment applying to corporations has all sorts of problems for all sorts of reasons, and would take up a whole textbook which I'm sure exists, but one implication is a foreign government (say the Russians) can meddle in US elections, in ways you can't imagine, ... legally.

    Which really doesn't matter much. There's a lot of woo attributed to "meddling", but it's really good for relieving someone of their money.

    It's already happening, but I'm talking about something far more sinister than direct contributions into crony politicians pockets. I'm talking a corporate shell game for propaganda.

    Apathy solves that non problem.

    Boosting the US economy by poisoning the wells is insane. The economic boost is temporary, the poisoned wells are long term. You can't live without water, it's projected to be a scarce resource.

    Air is a scarce resource too. But we're not running out of it either.

    Nestle is investing a fortune in attempts to buy up this resource. You're saying lets just destroy it to boost the economy, a fictitious construct which only benefits a tiny minority.

    Buy from who?