June 2012-present, Koch Associate Program
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APRIL 2012-PRESENT, DIGITAL PUBLISHING SPECIALIST, REASON MAGAZINE
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The K brothers are notorious haters of Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises and Lew Rockwell. Does this help explain the absurd Reisenwitz tweets? Is she looking for a full time position in the belly of the Kochtopus?
(ht Gerry Galloway)
Might her comparative advantages in the marketplace relate to her favorite topic, which she gives priority of place in her blog title?
ReplyDeleteCharles Koch wrote a book in which an entire chapter is dedicated to Ludwig Von Mises and he attributes Mises' insights as responsible for a core tenet of the managerial approach that Koch Industries used, and still uses, in all aspects of their business.
ReplyDeleteHis students, teachers, employees of Koch Industries, the KAP, and other Koch-funded programs that I have met are all familiar with this system and glowingly speak of Ludwig Von Mises.
Kindly provide some evidence to support your claim that the Koch brothers are "haters of Ludwig Von Mises."
The Kochs obviously have no issue with von Mises, it is with Rothbard, and by association the Mises Institute, that they have been at war (for what reasons, who knows).
DeleteTom Woods gave a talk on this very subject last year: http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/06/thomas-woods/the-anti-rothbard-cult/
are there any direct examples of why specifically the Koch brothers are evil, outside of conjecture/rumoured things (ie your elevator story)?
ReplyDeleteI personally want to 'side' with the Mises Institute because I feel more philisophically similar to Rothbard, Mises, Hoppe, etc. But why is there such animosity? I've never heard anything substantial from the Koch camp that insults the Mises camp. I read David Gordon's articles on the history between Rothbard and the Kochs, but if the Koch bros wish to advocate libertarianism outside of the Misesian stream, why is that so evil?
My elevator story is far from rumor or conjecture: http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/08/david-boaz-elevator-talk.html. I consider that experience quite insightful.
DeleteHave you been in the offices of the Koch-funded Cato Institute? I have. There's a huge painting of Hayek, but none of Rothbard. And it should be remembered the Kochs donated to Mitt Romney' campaign not that of Ron Paul. I expect more details to be coming out on Koch versus Murray Rothbard, soon.
Perhaps to you its not conjecture, but should I ever get in an argument about this with a Koch supporter, I would feel somewhat foolish to have my primary talking point being a Bob Wenzel story about hearing things in an elevator; not that I doubt it actually happened, of course.
DeleteAs for the painting, I don't understand why that is a problem. Rothbard, perhaps to me and you, is a great intellectual, but obviously is not everyone's cup of tea.
And for the Mitt Romney over Ron Paul thing, I agree that this is a fairly disgusting fact, but there were also other libertarians that said they would support Romney versus Ron Paul as they didn't believe Ron Paul had a legitimate shot. Peter Schiff, hardly a Koch disciple, comes to mind.
My main point is that, while followers of the Mises Institute may disagree with the Koch brothers' favourite intellectuals, why must we deride them for it? If our main argument for disliking the "Kochtopus" is that they spend money supporting libertarianism via intellectuals outside of the Misesian branch, I don't see how that garners hate and insults.
Although they give lip service to ending cronyism, Koch Industires benefits significantly from it. The brothers have no problem accepting federal subsidies for their solar and wind businesse. And despite having spent over $50M in the last decade on federal lobbying, they have never once advocated for the repeal of the generous annual oil industry subsidies which are so beneficial to their bottom line.
DeleteBeyond their business interests, the advocacy groups they fund have no problem with foreign intervention or maintenance of American global hegemony. It is only reasonable to presume that if the brothers took issue with this, those groups' advocacy positions would change. And as the Mises and Randolph Bourne Insitutes have conclusively demonstrated, it is impossible for a society based external domination to simultaneously develop a culture of liberty.
Rather than eliminating government, the Kochs want to reform it. Thus their advocacy groups are all located in the district. Contrast this with the Rothbard/Rockwell view of government, and Lew's courageous decision to avoid the DC swamp.
By examining their business practices, one can resonably conclude that the Kochs seek to remake government into something even more favorable to them. The same cannot be said of the Mises Institute, which seeks instead to unmake government. These are two clearly contrasting views of liberty which are by and large mutually exclusive.