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Product Details
Audio CD
Publisher: Random House Audio; Unabridged edition (January 19, 2016)
This book is a hard read; not because of Lexile score interest, but because it raises a huge warning flag with regards to some of the funding that has been going into the recent elections. I got the Kindle edition of this book at 11 C.S.T. and stayed up all night reading it, it took about seven hours. I’ve made it a point for the last eight months to pick a book off of the new releases and just read it; it’s been my own personal challenge to read whatever, regardless of the topic or the political bent. This one was very fascinating and interesting with providing insight into how much money has been circulating in politics and for how long.
I sense that this book will be a contentious one for many who read it, or even look at the title, but hear me out, I’m just a middle or the road person reading it for the sake of reading it. It’s certainly told with a liberal bias, but before it is declared unpalatable because of that, or all lies, there are some really worthwhile components to consider. The book is not anti-republican, rather it highlights the funding of anti-government movements and intentional divisions within the republican party as a result of libertarian ideas held by the Koch brothers. It moves past the republican party and focuses on the ultra-conservative anti-establishment ideas of a few of the 1% in creating a scenario that is wholly advantageous to them. It also highlights some who stood up against the Koch’s in regards to some ideologies, such as John Kaisch, who ceased to be invited to the larger mover and shaker events hosted by the Koch brothers.Read more ›
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This book is rapidly making waves, after the New York Times and Washington Post worked with author Jane Mayer to reveal Koch Industries' history building a major refinery for none other than Adoph Hitler, just after he became Chancellor of Germany.
But the sensational Nazi connection was just the easy part, and Koch is among several old-money fortunes that were pivotal in establishing today's complicated web of innocuous-sounding corporate front groups. Such journalism is imperative at a time when Americans are constantly being duped by advertising and public relations executives, selling political ideas that are not actually designed to benefit the audience listening.
Putting my opinions aside, here's why the book stands out:
1: THE ACCESS. Through interviews with current and ex-Koch Industries staff & executives, and members of Koch's sprawling "nonprofit" political network, Ms. Mayer has reminded the political community of her talent as an investigator. Her ability to find both new and historic details that are previously unreported--and immediately relevant--are what set this author apart from the day's other pre-eminent experts on plutocrats & oligarchs (such as Kim Phillips-Fein, Lee Fang, Lewis Lapham, Lisa Graves, Ken Vogel, Mark Ames, and Greg Palast, to name a few).
2. THE NARRATIVE. With secretive people like Charles Koch and the late Richard Mellon Scaife as an author's subject, the sheer lack of honest information can make it hard to write anything other than a political white paper. But Ms. Mayer's experience and reputation as a reporter at the New Yorker have opened many doors that were previously closed, painting a more crisp, rich portrait of this private history.
An enthralling and comprehensive story of the Koch dynasty, those that came before it, and those that fall in line with the anarchist agenda of Charles Koch. The account of the far right network is extremely informative and also a bit mind-blowing. Also, being a native of Pittsburgh, I couldn't put down the chapter on the Mellon Scaife story. Not only can this book serve as a road map for getting out of the political muck we are in as a nation, its a telling account of anti-social and narcissistic behavior that ties many of these billionaires together. Charles Koch and cohorts seem to feel they are above the law, and will undermine or change the law to maintain their position. Of course, I am not sure what kind of person I'd be if a Nazi nanny changed my diapers....you gotta read this.
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This is the most exhaustive, best researched, best-written history of the monied families that have built the Radical Right into a juggernaut that has turned back the clock on social progress in this country. The Koch brothers are not only the heart of that enterprise, their efforts dwarf those of everyone else, and for that reason they are at the center of Mayer's exceptional investigative report. From the Koch family's early roots as industrial supporters of fascism prior to World War II, to their influence in killing progress on climate change, in helping warp the election system via the Citizen's United decision, and through their influence on virtually every important social and political struggle of the last forty years via a network of front groups and an underground river of cash, Mayer provides a frame-by-frame analysis, a kind of Zapruder film, showing exactly how the brothers Koch have all but succeeded in assassinating a once great democracy and enshrining an ideology that puts profit ahead of human lives and the future of the planet.
All that - AND it's a great read.
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This item: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
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