The assumption that any particular person's beliefs and actions are motivated purely by self-interest is a lazy stereotype, and one (in my limited experience) unmoored from reality.
Demonizing The Enemy is indeed part of the game—a part we need to grow out of if we're ever going to escape the traps that political tribalism sets for us.
"This episode will no doubt surprise people, and my guest came to me through channels I wouldn’t have expected."
have a listen if possible (the comments are pretty nutty)
SHOW NOTES
What is Charles’s history with digging dandelions? [13:30]
Charles talks about the letter from his father that hangs framed on his wall and why it’s important to him. [17:59]
On being talked into returning to Wichita after graduating from MIT to run one of his father’s businesses, and how Charles switched from a mindset focused on instant gratification to one of long-term value. [19:49]
The authors who have had the largest impact on Charles’s thinking. [24:40]
How does Charles utilize scientific or engineering principles that he learned at MIT for business? Where do Karl Popper and Michael Polanyi figure into the process? [28:26]
Specifically, how has Charles applied concepts from Polanyi’s “The Republic of Science” to his work? [31:41]
Virtuous cycles of mutual benefit, creating value for others, and the two components of finding opportunities in this value. [35:15]
Now that we know what good profit is, what is bad profit — and how does it reduce value and diminish opportunity? [41:17]
Do Koch companies participate in bad profit? [44:23]
What are the major market distortions that Charles opposes? [48:39]
Within the company, how are disagreements hashed out? Is there a framework of principles in place to guide consensus? [49:43]
Driving principles: personal knowledge versus conceptual knowledge, three-dimensional learning, comparative advantage, synergy, creative destruction, free speech, property rights, decision rights, market-based management, and the human action model. [53:51]
If these principles seem so obvious, why are they so often ignored by countries, organizations, and companies? [1:02:15]
What Charles has found to be the three requirements of a good, successful partnership. [1:04:08]
How has Charles’s approach to policy coalitions changed over time, and what ground has been gained by finding common cause with former adversaries? [1:05:32]
What is Stand Together, and what does it aim to accomplish? [1:13:18]
How does Stand Together incorporate market-based solutions that have proven successful for Charles’s other endeavors? [1:16:22]
A hopeful look forward at Stand Together capturing the national imagination with the same intensity and bipartisan support as prison reform is enjoying today. [1:22:19]
Is Stand Together still accepting applications from social entrepreneurs? [1:25:37]
Charles weighs in on capitalism, the ideal role of a business in society, environmental priorities, and politicized corruption. [1:29:33]
The effect of higher taxes on GDP, the failure of trickle-down economics, and what Charles sees as the best course toward the pursuit of happiness. [1:35:10]
Does Koch Industries fund propaganda to confuse people about climate change? [1:39:20]
What does Charles consider to be the most legitimate existential threats to humankind? [1:44:20]
The cause that unites the seemingly unlikely pairing of Koch Industries and George Soros. [1:46:32]
For what would Charles be willing to bet his entire personal fortune? [1:48:37]
What would Charles’s billboard say? [1:49:43]
After whom was Charles named, and why? [1:50:54]
Where did the nonintuitive (to most Americans) pronunciation of “Koch” originate? [1:54:15]
Most of us are more complex than the caricatures created by our foes. I've known a little about the Koch brothers and have been surprised and a bit befuddled by the range of their actions. But overall, I see them like most billionaires - simply self interested. Most big donors/influential persons will be unfairly (probably) demonized by their opposition. It's all part of the game.
How many billionaires do you know?
The assumption that any particular person's beliefs and actions are motivated purely by self-interest is a lazy stereotype, and one (in my limited experience) unmoored from reality.
Demonizing The Enemy is indeed part of the game—a part we need to grow out of if we're ever going to escape the traps that political tribalism sets for us.
David Koch has died. And if you only know him thru the caricature the left created of him you know less than nothing about him.
Most of us are more complex than the caricatures created by our foes. I've known a little about the Koch brothers and have been surprised and a bit befuddled by the range of their actions. But overall, I see them like most billionaires - simply self interested. Most big donors/influential persons will be unfairly (probably) demonized by their opposition. It's all part of the game.
I saw him on the Durban University campus in Durban, South Africa in early August of 1981. A few months earlier we had been introduced to his music by two white South African medical students of British background, if you must know.
It was a truly remarkable experience. The audience was roughly 50/50 black and white students. Folks of one colour smiled sweetly at the others but there was little direct interaction between the two.
Nevertheless, I knew at that moment that Apartheid was over. Just like I knew in Santiago, Chile in April 1979 that the days of the military dictatorship of Pinochet were numbered.
In the meantime, the Republic of South Africa is still suffering but Chile has gone on to be a member of the OECD and to become the richest country in Latin America. Hopefully, one day the Republic of South Africa will also enjoy tremendous socio-economic outcomes.
Yes, just read that Johnny Clegg died earlier today of pancreatic cancer. Not all artists are change agents, but he was one. The world is better for his having been here.
Rest in peace, while we kick up our feet in your honor.
Known for its brilliant, drug-infused live performances, the band initially resisted following peers like Jefferson Airplane into the recording studio. âWe had no ambition toward making records,â Mr. Duncan once said, according to the website Best Classic Bands. âWe just wanted to have fun, play music and make enough money to be able to afford to smoke pot.â
Justin Raimondo, former editorial director and co-founder of Antiwar.com, is dead at 67. He died at his home in Sebastopol, California, with his husband, Yoshinori Abe, by his side. He had been diagnosed with 4th stage lung cancer in October 2017.
Justin co-founded Antiwar.com with Eric Garris in 1995. Under their leadership, Antiwar.com became a leading force against U.S. wars and foreign intervention, providing daily and often hourly updates and comprehensive news, analysis, and opinion on war and peace. Inspired by Justin’s spirit, vision, and energy, Antiwar.com will go on.
