Economics from a people first point-of-view
September 3rd, 2018 — Economics and Investing, Government
In my last post, Dark Money – The Rise of Charitable Foundations, I wrote:
The goal of the Kochs and other libertarian scions who inherited immense wealth and set up charitable foundations has now expanded to include subverting our entire judicial system by teaching judges as well as law students their right-wing brand of free-market economics.
This post will cover the Libertarian Academia Complex in more detail. Continue reading →
September 3rd, 2018 — Economics and Investing, Government
In Dark Money’s Chapter Two, “The Hidden Hand: Richard Mellon Scaife,” Jane Mayer gives readers a thorough discussion of the rise of thousands of right-wing charitable foundations that have been secretly funding libertarian political campaigns and policies.
The index to Dark Money, copyrighted in 2016, obviously does not link Betsy DeVos’ family foundations to what is happening right now in 2018, but this post will. Because this is the week our entire judicial system may be “reformed” by the deep “anti-state” she is part of. Continue reading →
August 16th, 2018 — Economics and Investing, Government, Reviews
When this movie began we wondered if we’d gone into the wrong theater. Beautiful shots of the state of Montana were shown in panoramic glory. But then the camera panned the ‘lake’ left behind by the Anaconda copper mining company when it left the state.
At the ‘lake’ a guide is telling visitors that wild geese by the thousands have been killed by the acidity in this water that rises higher every year while the EPA has done nothing to remedy the situation.
I couldn’t help but think that Keats got it wrong in his “Ode on a Grecian Urn” when he wrote “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
Wherever some human beings are involved we do need to know more—much more—to protect ourselves and the things we love.
Because for decades dark money, defined as massive secret funding by wealthy people to promote their libertarian goals in politics, has been radically changing the shape of our American governments.
Many voters in Montana feel deeply about the damage being done in their state, so deeply they have been the leading state in the U.S. to fight the 2010 law, “Citizen’s United” that allowed corporations to donate to state political campaigns. Continue reading →