Billionaires behind the hate

Something to think about when you're wondering who's pulling the strings behind political propaganda/disinformation...

pr.thinkprogress.org...

RADICAL RIGHT
The Billionaires Behind The Hate


Billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch are the wealthiest, and perhaps most effective, opponents of President Obama's progressive agenda. They have been looming in the background of every major domestic policy dispute this year. Ranked as the 9th richest men in America, the Koch brothers sit at the helm of Koch Industries, a massive privately owned conglomerate of manufacturing, oil, gas, and timber interests.

Dont forget each and every average non-billionaire internet-poster who is posting something hateful, polarizing, demonizing. Each of us is personally responsible for what the world looks and sounds like.

reply to post by Skyfloating


Absolutely. We all must be responsible for the things we say and the hate, love, truth, and/or lies we spread. We are all responsible for the effects, no matter how small or large, we have on the world. And I realize billionaires aren't automatically wrong because they're billionaires.

However, I think the problem with the super-rich promoting lies/hate is that they have a LOT more power and MANY more resources to do so than the rest of humanity. Here on the forums we're sort of the unwashed masses (so to speak) duking it out on an even playing ground (which is great/nobler in a way, actually). But those with the most power and wealth can actually affect mass populations and world events much more easily with their beliefs. They can also utilize much more insidious/effective tools to affect mass opinion than simply stating their disinfo face-to-face/honestly. So really, I think my concern is a matter of scale of substance and not simply substance itself.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
Dont forget each and every average non-billionaire internet-poster who is posting something hateful, polarizing, demonizing. Each of us is personally responsible for what the world looks and sounds like.

Money = power. And where is responsibility? How did they gain their wealth? I do not know in this example. But if I look into history, power is addictive. Extreme wealth base possibility of extreme power misuse. That is why I'm sceptic on wealthy people. All guys who got really wealthy in past 20 years in Czech Republic are MAFIA guys. Even Bill Gates earned his wealth on base of deception (others stupidity).
Extreme wealth is danger for society - please discuss this point, it is obvious for me, and I would like to change my opinion if you give me some argument/example against it. I think that majority of (really) wealthy people are immoral, even psychopathic - same as top politics.

reply to post by NoHierarchy


Ah, they're just a jealous bunch since now they realize that they're not really the bigger fishes in the pond.

reply to post by Skyfloating


Oh, don't you worry about that. In the end, things will always be better than before.. don't you believe so?

Originally posted by zeddissad
Money = power. And where is responsibility? How did they gain their wealth? I do not know in this example. But if I look into history, power is addictive. Extreme wealth base possibility of extreme power misuse. That is why I'm sceptic on wealthy people. All guys who got really wealthy in past 20 years in Czech Republic are MAFIA guys. Even Bill Gates earned his wealth on base of deception (others stupidity).
Extreme wealth is danger for society - please discuss this point, it is obvious for me, and I would like to change my opinion if you give me some argument/example against it. I think that majority of (really) wealthy people are immoral, even psychopathic - same as top politics.

Oh definitely. I am a firm believer that nobody deserves that amount of money. A human can't possibly legitimately/properly earn or handle the amount of power/wealth that is available in this world. It's insane really. And you're probably correct- most of the richest people on the planet had to exploit and stomp some heads to get where they are. Even if they were well-meaning, they'd still need to do some real damage somewhere in the world to make that kind of money. Whether it's common practice, willful ignorance, apathy, or outright malice, every super-wealthy person/organization is guilty of more harm to the world than the average person.

It is great to know that it isn't only the left that has billionaires advancing their causes! Anyone ever heard of George Soros???

Good to know there is a little balance!

reply to post by NoHierarchy


someones got to stop socialism from comming to america, since they have the money they can get alot more done then I can. then again, you probably like the idea of having no money and having big brother tell you what you can eat, drink, wear, when you can go out, and how much you have to work to help out your comrades.

Excellent expose! From that same "Billonaires Behind the Hate" link:

Koch has funded the leading groups dedicated to spreading skepticism of climate change:

– Koch’s Americans for Prosperity, the right-wing tea party group which Koch founded in 1984 and continues to finance, has just announced that it will send a team of political operatives to Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. AFP intends to hold a press conference to attack any climate change solution the President promises as a mistake that will “kill jobs here” and “infringe on our personal and national freedoms.”

– Koch has funded the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has been the most aggressive conservative front group heralding hacked e-mails as proof that climate change does not exist.

– Koch funds the “Hot Air Tour,” a campaign led by lobbyists stopping in cities across the country to call into question the science underpinning climate change. The tour also features an actual hot air balloon to illustrate their beleif that climate change science is just “hot air.”

The National Academy of Sciences, the US Global Change Research Program, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have all come to the same conclusion: “that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use and the loss of carbon-sink capacity in heavily timbered forests are increasing temperatures and making oceans more acidic.” David Koch’s Koch Industries derives much of its profit from its oil refineries, one of the major emitters of carbon dioxide, and from its George-Pacific timber subsidiary, one of the largest contributors to the loss of carbon-sink capacity. So while it’s clear Koch’s bottom line is in conflict with addressing the world’s climate crisis, it should also be clear that he is no champion of science — no matter how many halls he buys at the Smithsonian.

Originally posted by NoHierarchy
Something to think about when you're wondering who's pulling the strings behind political propaganda/disinformation...

pr.thinkprogress.org...

RADICAL RIGHT
The Billionaires Behind The Hate


Billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch are the wealthiest, and perhaps most effective, opponents of President Obama's progressive agenda. They have been looming in the background of every major domestic policy dispute this year. Ranked as the 9th richest men in America, the Koch brothers sit at the helm of Koch Industries, a massive privately owned conglomerate of manufacturing, oil, gas, and timber interests.

Like the movie...The International


LOVE

Which billionaire would you rather back?

The billionaire that wants to expose the hoax of global warming, the junk science behind it, and how governments profit from it.

OR

The billionaire that openly wants the destruction of the dollar, to hasten the march to socialism?

Anyway....why is the questioning of Global Warming considered hate? Why is questioning the government considered hate?

Was "ThinkProgress" considered hateful when they questioned George Bush, and the War in Iraq?

Originally posted by Carseller4
Was "ThinkProgress" considered hateful when they questioned George Bush, and the War in Iraq?

of course not. because it served the socialist agenda. i remember nancy pelosi(i wish she would die off allready) joining in on calling bush a nazi and having no problems with people protesting him. but as soon as people compare her god obama to hitler like they did bush, she pees her depends adult diaper lined with versaci and says she "is sickened with the hate in america today"...well im sickened with her elitist socialist drabble.

Originally posted by Carseller4
It is great to know that it isn't only the left that has billionaires advancing their causes! Anyone ever heard of George Soros???

Good to know there is a little balance!

I suppose. I mean, most rich people are right-wingers. And most ultra-rich elites support right wing politicians and vise versa.

Most of the corruption is on the right-wing, without a doubt. But there is definitely bribery corruption on the left, they're not exempt.

Originally posted by chrisd250
reply to post by NoHierarchy

 

someones got to stop socialism from comming to america, since they have the money they can get alot more done then I can. then again, you probably like the idea of having no money and having big brother tell you what you can eat, drink, wear, when you can go out, and how much you have to work to help out your comrades.

I don't think you have a real grasp on what Socialism actually is. You seem to be parroting right-wing talking points, coping a rabid/angry attitude towards the "socialist takeover". It sounds a lot like charges of communism (which never held any water) you saw with fascist McCarthyism. I suggest you actually do your homework and be objective about it. But I'm going to make a, probably safe, assumption that you will do neither.

Like I said in my other recent response, most rich elites are overwhelmingly right-wing and support radical conservative politics. This is because the right-wing is overwhelmingly in support of tax cuts for the rich, ass-kissing to corporate power/wealth, and all sorts of de-regulation which ends up hurting right-wing citizenry more than helps them. It's quite well-known to those who have a firm grasp on the issues that many right-wing common people are voting for elitist Republican candidates who end up screwing them over and duping voters into thinking they're fighting for the average Joe working class guy. But the reality couldn't be further from the truth. Do a little research on Socialism, and you'll see that it's actually more Democratic than Capitalism. Before Obama was elected, most of you right-wingers never even used the word Socialism. It's just the new topic for 2-minutes hate against Democrats. But the reality is, Dems might be left-wing within the right/left paradigm, but within the big picture they're definitely more right-wing. It's a joke to call Obama a radical, or to call most politicians radical leftists. If you ask any radical leftist about this, they'll f*ckin laugh in your face if you called Obama radical. He's viewed as a centrist/right-ish Democrat who ends up compromising/coddling fascist/corporatist right-wing issues more than attacking them.

And if you read any of my replies and still think I want big brother telling me what to do, then you're clearly a fool or you responded to the wrong thread accidentally, because your response doesn't apply. I'm an Anarchist, this means I'm ACTUALLY anti-government unlike many closet-fascist right-wingers (i.e. posers) who are very selectively anti-government (and in all the worst ways). This also means that I have more brains than most lefties and more balls than most righties. So you've got nothing on me, bud.

Originally posted by Carseller4
Which billionaire would you rather back?

The billionaire that wants to expose the hoax of global warming, the junk science behind it, and how governments profit from it.

OR

The billionaire that openly wants the destruction of the dollar, to hasten the march to socialism?

Anyway....why is the questioning of Global Warming considered hate? Why is questioning the government considered hate?

Was "ThinkProgress" considered hateful when they questioned George Bush, and the War in Iraq?

Ok, you're obviously very new to this whole class warfare thing.

First off, global warming is absolutely NOT a hoax. In fact, for over 2 decades the fossil fuel industries (aka THE RICHEST INDUSTRIES EVER TO EXIST) have lobbied intensely, and purposely put out propaganda/disinformation/pseudo-science to create a false debate about global warming. The issue is a scientific issue and right-wing pro-corporate think-tanks have turned it into a political issue (as they usually do). THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE. The science overwhelmingly supports global warming. It's not a left-wing conspiracy, that's a f*cking stupid notion. Like I said, global warming was NEVER about right vs. left until industry injected false debate into our country. You have absolutely no idea how much of a strangle-hold industry has on this country. Wanna know why we don't have power as the people?? Because ultra-rich special interests control our government. These special interests are mostly right-wing, but have strong footholds in the Democrats as well. These special interests will support any candidate who de-regulates them and stalls any kind of clamp-down on unethical practices. The biggest supporters of corporate outsourcing, lobbying, de-regulation, lack of taxation, off-shore tax havens, unchecked pollution, etc. etc. are mostly right-wing. Trust me I've been following these issues for years now, and the facts don't lie.

Do you even hear yourself? You're actually saying that these corrupt billionaires are somehow lone crusaders against the "NWO hoax" of global warming. Do you have any idea what I said before in this post?? Do you have any idea how vested their financial interests are in the oil/timber industries?? These billionaires have effectively CONTROLLED THE DEBATE on global warming. They've injected false information into right-wing think-tanks to create doubt about it, which is then disseminated to you through blow-hard talking heads (beck/hannity/o'reilly/limbaugh). Of course these rich execs couldn't directly lie to you about this stuff, there's no way you'd buy it that way, so they've infiltrated the people you trust (i.e. the aforementioned tv/radio pundits) and believe to be on your side. But they're not, absolutely not. Whether they realize or not I'm not sure, but they're not working for you, they end up hurting you and getting you all riled up against the phantom of a communist conspiracy. There never was one. The vast majority of left-wingers hate communism just as much as capitalism. They're both failing/authoritarian systems, and you're the only ones holding one of them up as your great white hope. Get a grip and let's work together as the underclass populace.

Originally posted by chrisd250

Originally posted by Carseller4
Was "ThinkProgress" considered hateful when they questioned George Bush, and the War in Iraq?

of course not. because it served the socialist agenda. i remember nancy pelosi(i wish she would die off allready) joining in on calling bush a nazi and having no problems with people protesting him. but as soon as people compare her god obama to hitler like they did bush, she pees her depends adult diaper lined with versaci and says she "is sickened with the hate in america today"...well im sickened with her elitist socialist drabble.

I'll concede that some of the criticism of Bush was exaggerated. But the bottom line is that calling Bush and the rest of his admin Nazis was FAR MORE accurate than calling Obama one. What you're seeing now, after 8 years of the quasi-fascist idiocy that was the Bush admin, is right-wing blowback/payback. It's almost like the right-wing is so embarrassed of the Bush admin and took so much sh*t for them, that they're just throwing EVERYTHING they've got at Obama, hoping it sticks and hoping it distracts everyone so they forget Bush quicker. Granted Obama is definitely doing some questionable crap, he's doing some good as well, but he's DEFINITELY NOT a terrorist/muslim/hippie/fascist/communist/anti-christ/racist/insert-rabid-epithet-here. Like I said, the neo-conservative/evangelical right-wing is a sinking ship, and these are the desperate death throes. I suggest you take your party back from the whack-job evangelical corporatists, and the left needs to take the Dems back from cowardly neo-liberal corporatists.

But ultimately, as an Anarchist, I want the whole thing replaced and dismantled eventually with something more free, sustainable, autonomous, localized, and egalitarian.

Well its not like Obama and or the Democrats dont have thier billionaire supporters.

Obama Visits Billionaires Row

Barack Obama's billionaire backers

Facts about Liberal Billionaire George Soros

reply to post by NoHierarchy

sh*t f*cking stupid f*ckin

Dude calm down, cussing does not make you right, it really just says you can't calmy and rationally get your point across.

I actually thought ATS had a policy against using cuss words even if they were masked by silly puncuation? I swear they used to. (I have been away for 3 years, so that might have changed.)

They reason most rich people are conservative is because they actually work hard for their money and get a little peaved knowing it is being confiscated from them and wasted by the government, instead of it being used by them to create more jobs. Then you have billionaires like the Nazi sympathizer, George Soros, using his money that wasn't taken from him, to destroy the dollar and install policies that put more money in his pocket.

As far as Global Warming is concerned, it is a flat out hoax, a great excuse to spread the weath to poorer countries. This is all about the redistribution of wealth, which is a common theme in any socialist policy. You go on a tangent about "fossil fuel industries", but fail to realize that right now government profits from taxing these industries far outweigh the actual profits these industries make. Weird...government actually comes out ahead without having to do a thing, while these companies have to put out what is left of their profits to actually hire people, take huge risks of finding the next well, and having to jump through government hoops to actually find the next well.

Originally posted by Carseller4
It is great to know that it isn't only the left that has billionaires advancing their causes! Anyone ever heard of George Soros???

Good to know there is a little balance!

I wouldn't be surprised if Koch and Soros were on the same side and use left and right to divide and conquer. With people distracted and fighting over petty issues they can achieve their real agenda.

Originally posted by Carseller4
Dude calm down, cussing does not make you right, it really just says you can't calmy and rationally get your point across.

I actually thought ATS had a policy against using cuss words even if they were masked by silly puncuation? I swear they used to. (I have been away for 3 years, so that might have changed.)

They reason most rich people are conservative is because they actually work hard for their money and get a little peaved knowing it is being confiscated from them and wasted by the government, instead of it being used by them to create more jobs. Then you have billionaires like the Nazi sympathizer, George Soros, using his money that wasn't taken from him, to destroy the dollar and install policies that put more money in his pocket.

As far as Global Warming is concerned, it is a flat out hoax, a great excuse to spread the weath to poorer countries. This is all about the redistribution of wealth, which is a common theme in any socialist policy. You go on a tangent about "fossil fuel industries", but fail to realize that right now government profits from taxing these industries far outweigh the actual profits these industries make. Weird...government actually comes out ahead without having to do a thing, while these companies have to put out what is left of their profits to actually hire people, take huge risks of finding the next well, and having to jump through government hoops to actually find the next well.

I never said cursing made me right. I use them because they come naturally when I speak. The amount of complex/intelligent words I've used far outweigh the swears, and personally I see no problem with swearing, it helps color a point with emotion, simply a different manner of communicating to other human beings. Everybody does it, and it's effective when you're speaking honestly.

I could really care LESS about rich people being peaved about their "hard-earned" money being "taken away" from them. If hard work was really the main factor behind profits in our capitalist economy, then the single mom working 3 jobs to support her kids would be a billionaire. As would the countless blue (and even white) collar workers who slave for their rich higher-ups, probably doing more work than most execs, but reaping much less of the benefits. Even during 90% tax on the rich, they still had plenty of money to live quite lavishly, even during the Great Depression. No matter which way you cut it, hierarchy, whether in power or wealth, is neither sane nor justifiable. Plain and simple. It's a game of exploitation, luck, and domination, and that's not a world we should propagate. Don't brush off the responsibilities of these people simply because they "create jobs". That's like selling a man the rope he hangs himself with. Work in this civilization is slavery, it always has been. For instance, Egyptian slaves weren't actually slaves against their will, they worked their jobs for the powerful/wealthy pharaohs (so they could achieve their lofty dreams on the backs of the masses) and spent currency at the market much like we do. A recent finding shows that Medieval freaking PEASANTS had more vacation time than modern American workers. Also, tribal peoples, when hunting/foraging for food work much less hours per week at it than the modern worker does, and even then, to the tribal person, such effort isn't thought of as work, it's directly linked to their survival rather than slaving for some illusory economic system. Sorry, but just because I NEED money in this society, doesn't mean I'm going to grovel and thank our rich lords for trickling down jobs and paychecks to me. It's pure capitalist propaganda to support such an ideology.

Global warming is not a hoax, not AT ALL. Seriously DO YOUR HOMEWORK. I have, and I've always given denier arguments consideration, but they've always turned out to be false/frauds/disinformation/industry-backed.