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“Billionaire industrialist David H. Koch, who with his older brother Charles poured a fortune into right-wing causes, transforming the American political landscape and shaping U.S. policies on such issues as climate change and government regulation, died Friday at 79." AP News
The left is critical of Koch’s legacy, in particular his resistance to action on climate change.
“When billionaire libertarian David Koch died this week following a decades-long battle with prostate cancer, the Arctic was rapidly melting. The Amazon rainforest was on fire. And the Earth had just experienced its hottest month in recorded human history. These planetary conditions mimicked closely what scientists had tried to warn the public about 30 years ago, when they first sounded the alarm on climate change. They were also the warnings Koch worked most of his career to make sure the American public never accepted, nor did anything about.”
Emily Atkin, New Republic
“David Koch worked tirelessly, over decades, to jettison from office any moderate Republicans who proposed to regulate greenhouse gases. In 2009, for example, a South Carolina Republican, Representative Bob Inglis, proposed a carbon tax bill. Koch Industries stopped funding his campaign, donated heavily to a primary opponent named Trey Gowdy and helped organize teams of Tea Party activists who traveled to town hall meetings to protest against Mr. Inglis. Some of the town hall meetings devolved into angry affairs, where Mr. Inglis couldn’t make himself heard above the shouting. Mr. Inglis lost re-election, and his defeat sent a message to other Republicans: Koch’s orthodoxy on climate rules could not be violated.”
Christopher Leonard, New York Times
Koch Industries can “claim the distinction of being one of the country’s most highly polluting companies, behind only ExxonMobil and American Electric Power… By Greenpeace’s reckoning, in the 20 years to 2017, the Kochs ploughed about $127m into 92 groups that were involved in rebuffing climate crisis solutions… There has been much discussion in recent months about the very public spat between the president and the Koch brothers, with the Kochs calling Trump’s trade tariffs ‘detrimental’ and Trump lashing back that the billionaires were ‘a total joke’. With the exception of trade policy, which is anathema to the free market Koch view of the world, the truth about Trump, though, is that he has adopted many of the rightwing postures the Kochs have long espoused.”
Ed Pilkington, The Guardian
Some argue that, “like all giants in a society, his legacy is unwieldy and full of contradictions that defy a simple reading. As a 42% stakeholder in the second largest privately held company in the country, Koch was said to have a net worth of around $50 billion, making him the 11th-richest person on the planet… But unlike others in his ranks, Koch had one of the freest wallets for charities of his choosing: his lifetime philanthropic giving topped $1 billion to causes such as the Smithsonian, Lincoln Center and cancer research. He patronized groups that preached civility even as he nudged his political arm to portray Obama as an existential threat to American capitalism. Such complications only made Koch that much more of an enigma, a role he hardly minded.”
Philip Elliott, Time
“Koch’s principles were not purely partisan. He supported same-sex marriage and abortion rights and believed in the value of free trade and humane immigration policies. He reviled the war on drugs and pushed, quite successfully, for criminal justice and prison reform…
“He gave $100 million to New York-Presbyterian Hospital; $150 million to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; tens of millions to the Hospital for Special Surgery. Another $100 million went toward renovating the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center. Another $65 million, to restore the fountains and plaza outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another $20 million, to the Museum of Natural History. Much of what Koch’s legacy was will be argued over for decades, as it should be. Some of it will deliver aid, comfort and enrichment to people who care not one whit about the name on the hospital wing or museum wall.”
Editorial Board, New York Daily News
The right celebrates Koch’s philanthropic legacy, and points out his disagreements with conservative orthodoxy.
The right celebrates Koch’s philanthropic legacy, and points out his disagreements with conservative orthodoxy.
Koch “was a tireless champion of the poor and practiced what he preached. He poured his personal wealth into funding research against cancer and expanding hospitals. He supported the arts in New York and elsewhere providing many of his critics with gainful employment on brilliantly lit stages… His passing is a loss for the nation and the millions of people who benefited from his personal generosity. David Koch lived his life practicing what he preached — allowing the free market to elevate mankind in their own industry with their own self-appointed destiny and allowing mankind to then help others unrestrained by a jealous and covetous government. The government may have gone to war against poverty, but David Koch actually elevated people out of poverty.”
Erick Erickson, The Resurgent
“Long before the Business Roundtable endorsed the idea that business contributions to society must be broader than profits, David Koch was demonstrating what a conviction businessman could do for society. In his case that included satisfying customers, providing jobs for thousands of employees, meeting America’s energy needs, promoting policies to spread freedom—and stepping in with the philanthropy he believed is preferable to waiting around for the government to do it.
He helped his company make money, and he left the country richer and freer because he did.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
Many note that “despite Koch’s extensive involvement in libertarian and conservative movements, he had begun distancing himself from the Republican party in recent years. He had serious disagreements with Donald Trump on a number of policy issues, including the president’s pro-tariff stance and his emphasis on restricting immigration. As a result, Koch chose not to direct his donor network’s funds to the Trump campaign in 2016.”
Amory Manuel, The American Spectator
“Koch allies understandably roll their eyes at the notion they secretly control a GOP led by President Donald Trump — the tariff-hiker who tweeted last year ‘The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade,’ dismissing both their ‘money’ and ‘bad ideas’ — and running trillion dollar deficits in a time of relative peace and prosperity. But they have undeniably had their wins. It is hard to imagine criminal justice reform passing, in an unlikely collaboration with the Trump administration, without their efforts…
“They have fought against occupational licensing requirements that make it difficult for working people to do things like braid hair, highlighting government regulations that can actually hurt the poor. They opposed mass incarceration before it was fashionable to do so on the Democratic presidential debate stage, indeed even while some were still boasting of their toughness in supporting the opposite policies.”
W. James Antle III, The Week
“Koch himself was a supporter of gay rights, abortion rights, drug legalization, and much else that does not fit very comfortably on the current ‘right wing’ agenda… Koch, born in 1940, came from an era in which conservatives had not abandoned the cities, their institutions, and their culture, had not declared Lincoln Center and all of Manhattan — and California and Chicago and Wall Street and the Ivy League — enemy territory. He was part of a conservative movement founded by William F. Buckley Jr… These were urban men, members of the hated ‘elite,’ and even in many cases part of the ‘establishment.’”
Kevin Williamson, National Review
“David #Koch was far more successful — and far more generous, philanthropic & actively committed to human progress — than literally any of the small, miserable people celebrating his death will ever be. He was a giant worth mourning.”
Guy Benson, Twitter
