Koch brothers can buy everything, especially Utne Reader poor journalist. Similarly to the recent bio of Rupert Murdoch, this opus portrays them simultaneously as
- More powerful than anyone can imagine and
- More benign than everyone thinks of them.
The hack writer gives credence, in particular, to the sincere libertarianism of the Koch brothers. Paraphrasing Schopenhauer, completely consistent libertarian can be found only in a mental asylum (he spoke of solipsism). Indeed, one only has to buy ticket to Somalia or Northern Waziristan to enjoy libertarian utopia.
In fact, Koch brothers continue the deed of their father. During 1940-50s when, because of changed economy and demographics, KKK became uninteresting for anyone but the Southern poor, racist tycoons had to invent other ideology attractive for the new professional middle and upper middle classes. It emerged in form of extreme anti-Communism (Red under the bed), equalizing all forms of social support with Marxism and Socialism and the John Birch society.
When steam has gone from old-style conservatism (segregation under guise of states rights, anti-Soviet hysteria, etc.) of Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond, Koch brothers latched on to libertarianism as an ideology attractive to young and educated. In reality, as do many of the top 0.0001%, they subscribe to the idea of the rigid class society controlled by the compact of the ultra-rich, military and the clergy. To assess how well it works in the long run, one has to look at Latin America between 1800s and 1960s. This thinking was epitomized in Mitt Romney's candidacy--only Harvard, Yale and Princeton educated top bankers, industrialists and politicos are people--but he was not genuine enough to convince many people of the vitality of his agendas.
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