If I had a billion dollars

Learning from the Koch Brothers

David Koch was born 85 years ago today. The following is an excerpt of a blog post I wrote shortly after he passed away in August 2019. I’ll note that Sheldon Adelson, mentioned below, passed away in 2021. His widow Miriam, however, has continued the lavish spending on Republican politicians.

Another day, something else to boycott. On Saturday, August 24, #BoycottJimmyJohns was trending on Twitter. Apparently, its owner or CEO had killed an elephant (presumably on vacation, unless ivory is his side hustle) and posed with his dead victim for a picture celebrating his triumph.

The next day, #BoycottOliveGarden was trending. This time, its owner or CEO is a Donald Trump supporter and major donor. Twitter, of course, erupted in Olive Garden jokes, as it's the Nickelback of chain restaurants.

I find big game hunting repulsive, and I wouldn't support Trump. But here's what I'm guessing: both targets of rage have f-you money. I doubt that they're any longer dependent on profits from their companies to sustain their nefarious deeds. So, if you've enjoyed the food from either restaurant and no longer wish to go, the ones you're boycotting are the owners/managers and employees of your local franchises. They're the ones who have a vested interest in keeping you as a customer; the man at the top is already set. I don't know if either is a billionaire, but they're rich enough.

Speaking of billionaires, one of the more famous ones passed away last week: David Koch of Koch Industries. Philanthropist (credited on PBS's Nova by name), anti-war civil libertarian, criminal justice reformer, and activist: he was the 1980 vice-Presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party. More notably, however, he with his brother Charles were major financiers of libertarian think-tanks and Republican PACs, presumably hoping the latter could be swayed by the former.

That's why some rejoiced. For instance TV personality Bill Maher said "I hope the end was painful."

But a lot of it backfired. Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson is far worse than the Kochs ever were at their worst, and disagreed with them when they were good, and it's his money that sways the GOP.

Decades of throwing money at the GOP and all the Kochs got was Trump, whom they found loathsome, and criticism or hatred from all sides.

Their example makes me realize that if I had their kind of wealth, I'd emulate their donations to non-political causes but stay out of politics as much as possible.

Some cases the ACLU brings to court, I'd support. Many Institute for Justice cases, I'd support. Probably several Innocence Project cases. And I'd support several other organizations defending us in court. They do specific work on behalf of specific people, whereas politicians may be intellectually persuaded by your think-thank study but will do what will get them elected regardless: "We'll get this done after the next election."

Not worth the time or money, even if I had money to burn.

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James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase (subscribe) and JL Cells (subscribe). Thank you for your subscriptions and support! You can contact James for writing, editing, research, and other work at jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.