Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that David Koch died on Aug. 23, 2019. I say good riddance. Much has been said, good and bad, about the man. Some pieces, even from left-leaning sources, are going out of their way not to speak ill of the dead, such this piece from Mother Jones.
David’s numerous detractors—some of whom tastelessly took to Twitter today to wish him eternal damnation in hell—would argue over whether David, at least in the political realm, shaped the world for the better, though in other areas his backing has unquestionably done so. In the end, he leaves behind a complicated legacy. His name memorialized at Lincoln Center, at the Met, at a cancer research center at M.I.T., will tell one story; the significant, though less-visible imprint of his giving on our polarized political climate will tell another.
If Twitter had existed when Hitler died, I am sure someone would have called those who celebrated his death tasteless. Mr. Koch does not leave a complicated legacy behind. Not at all—he was a rich man, wealthy beyond the dreams of any average American. He was worth, at the time of his death, $51 billion. While he did donate some of his fortune to worthy causes, it was only to project an image of public service. His brother Charles’ own press release about his death is nothing more than a whitewashing of a lifetime of doing everything possible to acquire ever more profits.
At every turn of his life he did everything possible to change American society and American politics into his own twisted vision. He ran as the vice presidential candidate on the Libertarian ticket in 1980 because, apparently, Ronald Reagan was not conservative enough. Throughout his life he gave large sums of money to advance conservative causes, and by “conservative causes,” I mean increasing profits and business opportunities for him and Koch Industries.
He will not be here for the climatic disaster he has wrought upon the world. My child will, though. We could have addressed climate change 30 years ago, but his paying off of Republican politicians, and his taking a page out of the tobacco industry playbook by denying the science, has not just the United States at the brink of disaster, but the entire world.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Will Bunch put it eloquently:
Interestingly, the Koch brothers largely didn’t support Donald Trump, but the monsters they created had already escaped from the lab. The foundations of radical free-market politics — fostering distrust of educated elites to convince the masses to reject science, turning to religious fundamentalism to get working-class folks to vote against their economic interests — morphed into the angry, other-hating far-right populism that gave us Trump.
The Koch brothers also gave us Scott Walker and his union-busting activities in Wisconsin. Walker wanted David Koch’s money and approval so badly that he even got duped into taking a phone call that he thought was from him, but was actually from a prankster called Ian Murphy.
Murphy: Now you’re not talking to any of these Democrat bastards, are you?
Walker: Ah, I-there’s one guy that’s actually voted with me on a bunch of things I called on Saturday for about 45 minutes, uh, mainly to tell him that while I appreciate his friendship and he’s worked with us on other things, to tell him, well, I wasn’t going to budge.
Walker: Mainly, because I thought he’s about the only reasonable one over there and I figured if I talked to him, he’d go back to the rest of the gang and say, you know, ‘I’ve known Walker for 20 years, he’s not budging.’
[…]
Murphy: Bring a baseball bat. That’s what I’d do.
Walker: I have one in my office; you’d be happy with that. I got a Slugger with my name on it.
Murphy: Beautiful.
[…]
Murphy: [Laughs] Well, I tell you what, Scott: once you crush these bastards I’ll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time.
Walker: All right, that would be outstanding. Thanks, thanks for all the support and helping us move the cause forward, and we appreciate it. We’re, uh, we’re doing the just and right thing for the right reasons, and it’s all about getting our freedoms back.
Murphy: Absolutely. And, you know, we have a little bit of a vested interest as well. [Laughs]
Walker: Well, that’s just it. The bottom line is we’re gonna get the world moving here because it’s the right thing to do.
The fact that Walker bought into this, and found even the outlandish things Murphy said to be believable and actionable items, is most distressing. Walker was looking for a check, for accolades for attacking the rights of working men and women, and likely a place to step off to in Republican leadership when his term ended.
That is also a part of the legacy of David Koch: politicians so desperate to please him that they would agree to use a baseball bat against peaceful protesters.
Years from now, when he is nothing more than a memory, and his name is on a few buildings, sea levels will continue to rise. Polar bears, among other species, will be gone, the result of a combination of deforestation, climate change, and loss of habitat. We will lose what we once took for granted. David Koch could have made a positive difference for change. Instead, he chose to fund conservative think tanks such as the CATO Institute and Americans For Prosperity, spreading lies about climate change, undermining the media, and subverting scientific research. All so he could continue to make billions in the fossil fuel industry.
Our children will have to deal with his legacy, and it is a legacy that is not complicated. He willfully and gleefully supported a system that gave us Donald Trump. He helped to vilify the media and scientists. Will I shed a tear? Will I show any regret over his death? No. Do I think it is in any way tasteless to point out after his death the evil he did in his life? Not at all. I will not mourn him; what I will mourn is the damage he did in his lifetime to our political system and to Mother Earth. I just hope for my son’s sake that it is not too late to save the planet.