It is good to see that the creepy Ed Crane is being ousted from the Cato Institute. (D.C bar hopping ladies, watch your drinks!)
But it is not clear if the move will result in just the head of Cato being removed or if there will be a full clearing of the place.
While it is doubtful any women have brought sexual harassment charges against Cato executive vice-president David Boaz, this Murray Rothbard-hater should be shown the door right behind Crane, along with most of the others who signed the recent anti-Koch letter, swearing to leave upon a Koch takeover of Cato.
But will the billionaire brothers start acting like billionaires and clear the place? It is not entirely clear.
Most of us would consider f' you money somewhere around the $5 million to $10 million range, the brothers have billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions.....
This is pretty much rule the f'ing planet money.
I have written before that the original structure of the Cato Institute was not impressive. The original structure did not imply keen thinking on the part of the brothers. Perhaps they have grown since then.
They should realize that the Koch-haters at Cato go well beyond Crane. What's billions for, if you can't clear such bastards out and put them on the unemployment payouts they claim to detest?
Now, the Kochs may fear that the earlier Crane attack claiming that the Kochs want to turn Cato into a tool for their own personal gain has somehow neutralized them in their ability to outwardly control Cato. I say f' that. Hell, if I only had a measly one billion dollars, I would tell Crane, the damn socialist mainstream media, left wing crazies, Robert Reich, and anyone else beneath me in terms of billions that objects to my activities: "Go start your own damn billion dollar institute. It's still partly a free country."
If the Koch brothers start acting like billionaires, they can do something that Crane, the damn socialist mainstream media, left wing crazies, and Robert Reich, would really object to: turn Cato into a complete advocate of freedom. I mean a no holds barred libertarian organization. Stick a statue of Murray Rothbard in the lobby. Bring David Gordon and Walter Block in to run the research staff. Let it rip.
The Koch brothers were once friends of Rothbard, in a much more innocent period, before the manipulative Ed Crane started doing his manipulative tricks. They have to know what the awesomeness of the journey to advance raw, unlimited freedom must feel like. If you hung around Murray, you would have to know.
Some wealthy men in their later years buy younger women, some get face lifts. It's all about trying to buy youth. The billionaire brothers have a chance to bring back the innocence and intellectual thought of their younger years by doing the right thing with Cato. Damn what everyone else says. The brothers have plenty of other front organizations through which they can buy politicians to ensure tax breaks (Something I, btw, do not object to), they can make Cato pure.
They should do it for Murray, who was also stomped on by Crane. They should do it for liberty, but most of all they should do it for themselves.
I'm not very savvy on the Crane-Koch-Rothbard split, but I am under the impression that it was a Crane-Koch vs. Rothbard fight, and Rothbard was ousted.
ReplyDeleteDo correct me. I WANT to be wrong. Are the Koch's not anti-Rothbardian Cronyists?
That was kind of my take as well, that the Kochs as much as Crane had turned on Rothbard.
DeleteThey had originally been pro-Rothbard, then for some reason became anti-Rothbard (and seemingly anti-Austrian School).
they became anti-rothbard when the dollar signs from government raised their pulse a bit!
DeleteLet's make that 3.
DeleteI thought the Koch's were a big part of the problem.
Robert, did you really write this?
ReplyDelete"This is pretty much rule the f'ing planet money." "I say f' that."
or are you f'd up? or did someone hack your site? or was this just written by someone you didn't mention?
If tabloid libertarianism ever becomes trendy, this piece will stand as its template.
ReplyDeleteHey Bob, Check out the comment above.The Craniacs must be getting nervous that the Kochs might actually start acting like billionaires.
DeleteScrew the Koch boys.
ReplyDeleteAnyone that has given as many millions of dollars to Republican politicians as the Kochs is no friend of liberty and anyone that buys politicians to get tax breaks is initiating force against everyone else by proxy. In the real world, there is no such thing as a tax cut unless there is a spending cut.