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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Koch Brothers

I know this is supposed to be a movie and television blog but I've been riled up this week.

Not pronounced /kɑːk/
For years now, certain political groups have systematically taken rights away from the American worker. These are rights that are constitutionally protected and eroding the rights of an individual to make corporations stronger in the guise of strengthening our economy is about as anti-American as one can get, despite what the far right would have Fox news tell us otherwise.
If we, as individuals, band together to stand up to these politicians and the people who control them (hello, Koch brothers!), we can rightfully restore our place in this world as free citizens of the greatest country in the world.
            
The Koch brothers, and other people funding the far right wingers who are pushing this agenda would have us believe that, by taking away our right to come together in the form of unions to protect ourselves from faceless corporations, they can return this country to the “good old days” of the mid-20th century when problems didn't exist and everything was hunky dory. That is, if you were a wealthy white male.
Pictured: Wealthy white male
The Koch brothers do not believe in the real America, where everyone deserves a fair shot to live the American dream. The brothers are perfectly happy now that they are billionaires to do everything in their power to shut the door to American prosperity behind them, lock the door, and throw away the keys.

What these people fail (or refuse) to see is that the world only existed for the privileged few, and the reason that world doesn't exist anymore is because the rest of us recognize that all people are entitled to endeavor towards the pursuit of happiness and the American way.
Pictured: The privileged few
We recognize this fact and we demand to make the rest of the world hear us. The Koch brothers’ version of the American Way doesn’t exist and shouldn’t exist and we need to let them know that no amount of money can turn back the hands of time. We refuse to return to that period.
           
Here is a short list of what the Koch brothers believe in (taken, in part, from http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers):
  • ·         “We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.” They want the people with all the money to make all the decisions for the rest of us.
  • ·         “We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.” The only ones who don’t need these programs are the ones rich enough to pay for these things out of their own pockets.
  • ·         “We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.” Who needs a safety net when you are a billionaire?
  • ·         “We support repeal of all law which impedes the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.” If corporations are allowed to set their own minimum wages, the American Way will be all but impossible to achieve for the rest of us.
  • ·         “We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.” The rest of us would be much easier to control if we are too stupid to know we are being wronged.

            They believe that an individual does not have the right to form unions to protect our right to work under fair and safe conditions. In addition, the Kochs have worked endlessly to abolish the Postal Service, the environmental protection agency, the Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Food and Drug Administration. All of these institutions have played a major part in protecting the American individual from faceless and immoral corporations.
Pictured: immoral corporation
They would also like to see our nation’s railroad, public roadways, and national highway system turned over to private ownership.
            
We need to persuade people that restoring our right to form effective unions is the first step in pushing back against the rich and their dreams of an American oligarchy (I think I used that word right); by voting against all republicans regardless of whether or not they have received money from the Koch brothers and others like them, we can begin to erode their power and begin to fight back in the battle over the American Way.

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