Customer Reviews

Mr. Kaiser Goes to Washington: The Rise of a Government Entrepreneur (Luther Hartwell Hodges Series on Business, Society, and the State)

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Mr. Adams remarkable book exposes H. Kaiser as a sociopath, war profiteer, and con-man. Reading his treatment of workers at Boulder Dam in the early 1930s where 110 people died, cases of carbon monixide poisoning and heat exhaustion written off as 'non-industrial' by (guess who)Sidney Garfield, the project's medical director. kaiser lost 100 claims by workers, settled out of court, that shook kaiser awake that he is not above decency and morality, that the 'rules' actually applied to him in the only way he could understand: monetarily. Out of this sordid, disgusting begining came Kaiser 'Permanente', and its step-child managed care.

Mr. Kaiser was the quintessential war contractor. His motto: "Find a need and fill it" was modified to 'bomb a hole and fill it.' This book is a must read for students of history, civics, and political corruption. The "Liberty Ships" made of concrete are well known for the distances that the could - and did travel. Sometimes it wasn't all THAT far. But once built and provisioned, the corporate liability was transferred to the public commons while the assets were privatized - much like today.