The Koch Bros. purposely try to maintain a low profile, and don’t volunteer much information to outsiders about their operations, but one thing they do want people to know about them is their libertarian philosophy, and how they genuinely believe and religiously follow their non-religious beliefs.
I don’t find it remarkable in any way that David And Charles would truly believe their bogus self-serving libertarian ideology, which asserts that their bottomless greed actually benefits society in some mysterious and undefined way. However, to cite one small example from the real world, their contempt for government regulation ties them directly to the deaths of 2 unlucky Texas teenagers who got too close to a Koch pipeline at the wrong time. If the total sum of lives destroyed by Koch malfeasance could somehow be calculated, I would bet the number, just from environmental damage alone, would easily expose the nonsense of any supposed societal benefit.
Interestingly enough, pipelines expose the circular logic at the heart of the Koch brand of Reason, in a very straightforward manner. I learned about the concept of eminent domain in school, while growing up in a conservative Republican household, and I also got to see it in action. Construction of the Interstate Highway System started around the time I entered grade school, and the program continued long after my college years. I don’t remember any fellow conservatives speaking against eminent domain or interstate highways back in my younger days, so I guess back then, it wasn’t a political issue, and among the few people I met over the years who had to sell property to accommodate one of those four-lane roads, I’ve heard only good things regarding the government compensation, so while exceptions may exist, it seems to have worked out all right for most of the people affected by the situation. I feel like I personally have benefited greatly from those interstate highways, and I believe the majority of my fellow citizens have too.
But what does a libertarian have to say about eminent domain? If you don’t believe in the concept of public benefit from government, then you certainly could not favor granting any government agency the power to take away individual landowner rights, could you? David and Charles, then, surely must oppose eminent domain, right?
Well, actually, they’re in the pipeline business, among other things, aren’t they! Without eminent domain, you can’t build highways, and you also can’t build pipelines, can you? In the libertarian paradise of David’s and Charles’s dreams, a couple of landowners should be able to hold out for $1 million apiece, just to grant 2 acres worth of Right of Way (ROW), right? According to the libertarian philosophy, the landowner should be able to ask, and receive, whatever price he/she wants, and the buyer should either prepare to pay the price or give up on trying to get the land. So, to be true to their libertarian ideals, the Kochs must have instructed the executives at their pipeline subsidiaries to forego the option of eminent domain whenever the need for new ROWs arises, and to simply negotiate on price alone without the additional governmental leverage, right? Right?
I’ll freely admit that I’ve never attended any Koch executive sessions or business discussions, and yet, somehow, I feel like I know the answer to that question: “Screw the landowner, use eminent domain, get your hands on the ROW ASAP, ACAP (as cheaply as possible).” Even though I’ve never met them in person, I would bet that if any circumstance in their lives presents a conflict between their supposed libertarian ideals and the possibility of more money, I already know which choice David and Charles will make, and it’s not the ideal one.