“There are certain laws that govern the natural world,” [Charles Koch] said recently. He started to wonder “if the same isn’t true for societal world. Were there also laws that determine to what extent people can achieve their ends? That will determine the extent to which people are more prosperous? That they are better off. There’s more civility. That there’s peace. Progress. And so I became very passionate.”
He read Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman — economists deeply committed to keeping government out of private enterprise. The key ingredient in a prosperous society is private enterprise, because private enterprise is all voluntary — people are doing things they want to do, rather than things they have to do to fulfill some government-imposed obligation.
In all those books, the guy with three degrees from MIT saw what happens, as he believed, when freedom is curtailed, whether by dictators using guns or liberals using laws to redistribute wealth....
In recent months he has likened himself to the revolutionary who defied the Catholic Church and changed history to this day:McClatchy
“The best way to describe it, which may be ridiculous, but is in a way similar to what Martin Luther must have thought when he said, ‘here I stand, I can do no other,’ ” Charles said. “I mean, if you believe these ideas are right, and they’re going to benefit the overwhelming majority of people, and you have some capability to advance them, how can you not?”
Charles Koch relentless in pursuing his goals
Roy Wenzl and Bill Wilson | Wichita Eagle
“Liz reminded me the other day that when she married me, she knew it would be an exciting life.
“But she didn’t know it would be one of sheer terror.”Read the whole story. This person has serious problems with himself and reality.
14 comments:
"“The best way to describe it, which may be ridiculous, but is in a way similar to what Martin Luther must have thought when he said, ‘here I stand, I can do no other,’"
I believe him here... he CANNOT do any other.
This gets to Luther's debunking "free will" (FD I, like Luther, do not believe in "free will" either).
Koch is "caught up" in all of these falsehoods and he cannot get out of it imo. He has no "free will" to do this imo.
Just as we do not have any "free will" to start advocating for 'trickle down' tomorrow... none of us could do that either.
If you could sit him down in a room and started to explain MMT to him I guaranty his eyes would start to glaze over immediately, he would zone out like he was in a trance or zombie like state.... no ability to understand it imo.... rsp,
Here's a beauty:
"Seriously, do they think all this stuff just comes out of thin air? People love their Internet, their cellphones … somebody came up with the ideas. … Nobody thinks about where these things come from, they just think, ‘Oh, greedy, greedy, greedy.’"
Uh... no... I think 'moron, moron, moron' as in the design and basic technology of these systems were all created by the US DoD via Federal appropriations you dummy....
If you could sit him down in a room and started to explain MMT to him I guaranty his eyes would start to glaze over immediately, he would zone out like he was in a trance or zombie like state.... no ability to understand it imo.... rsp,
I got into a discussion (friendly) this AM with some friends and acquaintences about the economy (no, I didn't start it for once).
It inevitably led to government spending at which point a young college student, nice kid majoring in Finance, said something about government debt and how we have to quit borrowing and pay off the debt.
I asked him where he thought money came from and where the money to pay off the debt would come from.
Rinse and repeat for many iterations as he tried to reason out why we can't keep borrowing, it's just BAD.
The point that every dollar he has ever held was created by the government, that the National Debt was the liability side of those dollars seemed to have zero traction with him.
Even my friends that tend to agree with many of the things I say about money tend to think it's just too obtuse and the mainstream characterization is easier to digest.
We may just have to sit back and watch as the world economy falls apart and people start blaming everything in sight.
Wonder what kind of Grand Bargain that will usher in?
Yes, it is incredible that people don't get that all, as in ALL, money is either from the govt or bank credit. There is no other where. And when it comes to final settlement after netting, ALL money comes from govt, i.e., cash for spot transactions and rb for delayed.
La-la land.
Well a couple of things Paul...
#1 take some pride in the "closed system" references that you see in and around the MMT sites these days as I think you are at least greatly responsible for that term showing up as much as it does now and that WILL have some power with the math types that come across this (I've seen this firsthand)...
2. We dont have gold anymore so that is a current positive vs history over the last centuries... at least we have state currency (although our morons dont seem to actually realize this...)
3. And the truth seems to be working as in your case today, it shut the kid up at least for a while and maybe now he is thinking... the simple truth seems to be a powerful weapon in this...
rsp,
Paul,
Also I would assume that your young college age friend there is not as caught up in it as the Kochs are here... he may be up to his ankles but the Kochs are up to their necks... I believe this whole thing is a "matter of degree" also... rsp,
If you chose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
It is because they cannot enjoy life as it is.
"Also I would assume that your young college age friend there is not as caught up in it as the Kochs are here"
Matt, I've learned the hard way that as soon as politics enters the discussion brains turn off.
I tend to take a "both sides do it" tack on money and economics because it's pretty much true - both sides are incompetent.
As Mike said in another thread, the Dems are more susceptible to the Grand Bargain than the Republicans.
We get screwed coming and going.
"Just look at Charles Koch's treatment of his wife and his children."
good point Tom, nothing to be proud of there imo... rsp
Not only not proud of Matt. It's the deranged behavior of a person trying to clone his mind in others must as his father did to him. Instead of rebelling, which many do, he went the other way and did all he could to gain paternal approval. He is still following the programming and is doing his best to subject others to it in the quest to change the world by "improving" people.
This is a classic psychological profile. Some people exhibiting it just get themselves into positons of power and get to express it socially as an archetype in a historically significant way. Some only get to terrorize their families.
"because private enterprise is all voluntary — people are doing things they want to do"
It's all so simple to the privileged, they will never understand why necessitous men are not free men. I remember someone posting this little clip about freedom to choose, a Scottish socialist called Jimmy Reid put it simply enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=071FuD5CVag&feature=watch_response
"22 Now he who is being sown in the thorns, this is he who is hearing the word, and the worry of this eon and the seduction of riches are stifling the word, and it is becoming unfruitful." Mat 13:22
Looks like he may be in a "thorny" situation similar to one the Lord identified to Israel here ... rsp,
@James Reid's quote does not contradict what Koch is saying. Private enterprise *is* all voluntary.
Now it's possible that there are *other reasons* to object to it (e.g. bad starting configurations, bad patterns, not everyone who wants a Rolls gets one etc). But Koch's point is still true for everyone, not just the privileged.
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