I don't get it

[DeeDeeNY]

The Koch Brothers were lucky enough to have been born into wealth and now have an estimated value of $80 BILLION .
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/apr/02/harry-reid/harry-reid-says-koch-brothers-are-richest-family-w/

They could spend their lives doing anything they want, but what they spend their time, energy, and money doing is trying to make life as miserable as possible for those less fortunate than they are. They strive to deny poor working people the basic necessities of life - food, health care, a roof over their heads. It is their aim to make sure that poorer people have as little as possible. They try to buy politicians and influence elections, working to weaken labor unions and skew the tax code even more in the favor of the 1%. Why can't they enjoy what they have? It's $80 BILLION. They could give away all but one billion and still have enough for many lifetimes over of luxury.
WHAT IS THEIR PROBLEM?? I will never understand this. Never.

[dhill926]

1. they're misanthropic, fucking assholes...

among other pejoratives….

[Brickbat]

2. I had the same thought when I was listening to NPR's coverage of McCutcheon the other day.

The report started out, "Imagine you have almost unlimited resources," and went on to paint a picture of how a person might want to influence an election. But why? If you're so rich that you can say you have "almost unlimited resources," what more could you possibly want?

[oldhippie]

6. I think if you have to ask that question ....

"But why? If you're so rich that you can say you have "almost unlimited resources," what more could you possibly want?"

... it's pretty sure you would never comprehend the answer.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. I know! They're evil, psychotic assholes nt

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Not to defend them, but just to point out that...

While Adelson and Icahn may be billionaire bastards from the old school, the Kochsuckers are considerably more complex. True, they are misguided libertarians with the means to make it stick, but they have also given far more away to medical research and the arts.

http://www.kochfamilyfoundations.org/FoundationsDHK.asp

We don't have to like them, but drooling hatred may not be best focused on them.

[Exposethefrauds]

9. ask yourself this question

Would America and the World be better off if the Koch's were never even born in the first place?

Do you support those who are criminals but still do good deeds in the neighborhood from time to time? are they still not criminals openly breaking the law or do you give them a pass because they feed the neighborhood every Thanksgiving and give all the kids Christmas presents?

The Koch's are evil scum, period. No amount of charitable donations is going to change that fact.

[TreasonousBastard]

20. Good question-- is their positive effect...

in their charitable giving as effective as their political giving?

Frankly, I don't see anything special in their business practices. They haven't actually invented anything and if they don't own a lumber company someone else will. So their effect on the economy is probably around zero.

Politics? They have certainly had some effect, but have they caused any permanent shifts? I'm not sure, but when they are dead their effects essentially die with them and all we have left are some think tanks that ultimately have little effect.

Hospitals and charitable foundations have, and will continue to improve lives. Does that make up for their political activities? Might not, but might end up affecting us a lot more in the long run.

Ultimately, like Wal-Mart and a few other things, the Kochsuckers are an obvious target for kneejerk hatred largely because we are irritated that we can't do shit about them.

[DireStrike]

16. Ah, yes, philanthropy.

People "giving" money they don't deserve to people who deserve it. How noble!

[Nye Bevan]

5. Why does JK Rowling keep writing books? Doesn't she have enough money?

Why does LeBron James keep playing basketball? Surely he is set for life?

And why doesn't Warren Buffet spend the rest of his life lying on a beach?

I don't think it's really about the money for these people. They are just doing what they enjoy doing.

[oldhippie]

7. Exactly .....

... and most of the working class people here, working in dead end jobs they probably hate, cannot comprehend that.

[DeeDeeNY]

10. It is not about the money, I agree.

But the difference is that the Kochs enjoy causing human suffering while the others you mentioned all get pleasure doing something they love that also gives them a super comfortable living. And that is a great way to live. None of them are working hard to make life worse for people who are struggling to find jobs or make a living. But the Kochs are very different than them. Putting aside the fact that they didn't earn their wealth to begin with, they are different because their primary focus in life involves going out of their way to make sure those who are way less fortunate than them are as miserable as possible. I can't think of any logical explanation other than they are evil and sick.

[Rincewind]

8. It's simple

They have a lot of money, but they don't have all of the money. Plus, in spite of all of their lawyers and accountants, they still have to pay some taxes, and there are laws their companies must obey, even if it cuts into profits. This of course, is unacceptable.

[99Forever]

11. In a word...

.. they are evil. Completely and thoroughly devoid of any decency or humanity.

[bemildred]

12. Some people find it hard to feel rich without plenty of poor people to compare themselves with. nt

[The Magistrate]

13. There You Go, Sir

I forget the name of the old theologian who maintained that contemplation of the agonies of the damned was essential to complete bliss for the blessed souls in heaven....

[bemildred]

14. Augustine, I think, without looking Sir.

But I like Ruskin for this:

“Men nearly always speak and write as if riches were absolute, as if it were possible, by following certain scientific precepts, for everybody to be rich. Whereas riches are a power like that of electricity, acting only through inequalities or negations of itself. The force of the guinea you have in your pocket depends wholly on the default of a guinea in your neighbors pocket. If he did not want it, it would be of no use to you; the degree of power it possesses depends accurately on the need or desire he has for it, – and the art of making yourself rich, in the ordinary mercantile economist's sense, is therefore equally and necessarily the art of keeping your neighbor poor.” – John Ruskin “Unto the Last”

[The Magistrate]

15. That Is Very Well Phrased, Sir

Thank you.

[JHB]

17. They measure tyranny as anything that impedes their own ability to be tyrants

Of course, they don't view themselves as 'tyrants'. They might even balk at the term 'enlightened despots'. They probably see themselves as benevolent and magnanimous.

Except they don't look at it through any lens but their own, and their lens is a pretty distorted one.

[TransitJohn]

18. Even when they have us all in chains, they wo't be satisfied.

It's psychotic. Capitalism is morally repugnant.

[seabeyond]

19. and... this is the one that gets me, AND they are going die soon cause they are old,

so what is in it for them

i hear ya