If you were employed by one of the Koch companies or by one of the companies they have acquired (Georgia Pacific or Molex), would you quit because of the political beliefs and actions of their shareholders (the Koch brothers)?
Let’s say it was a great job, your dream job. Would the fact that the profits of your labor went to their causes and they signed your paychecks be enough for you to quit?
I do not think I have ever agreed with any employer politically. It has never stopped me from cashing my checks.
Why? What is this about?
If I was directly employed by Koch Industries? Probably. A subsidiary they just happened to own? Doubtful, though I suppose it would depend on how much political activity they were in.
Hell no. I’d keep my head down, take the money and collect the evidence of moral and criminal wrongdoing. Then when there comes the official criminal prosecution, I’d anonymously drop off a few copies at the office of the prosecutor and a few choice newspapers, if any are left.
If you work for a publicly traded company, I guarantee at least one of the shareholders will hold beliefs and engage in actions you disagree with. The only way to avoid that is to work for a small company - one that is not publicly traded, and where you can verify what causes are supported by the owners.
In this case I don’t see it as a matter of simple political beliefs. I see it as contributing to money to wholesale political activism that I despise. I wouldn’t have taken the job if I knew about it, and would leave if I found out.
I chose something different, but not espionage. It’s just that I gotta pay rent and put food on the table. I will not do anything illegal, but hell, I work for an insurance company now…so I’m used to working for people with questionable morals.
I’ll add that I wouldn’t pass judgement on someone doing what they have to do. I’m lucky not to have been in those circumstances.
I think you are incomplete and making the assumption that Koch industries is necessarily and completely evil.
I would certainly continue to work for them, not because I agree or disagree with their political agenda. I’m pretty apathetic about it and don’t automatically believe what I hear, that they are ultimately and consistently evil. I don’t care the profits of my labor go to their causes. I’m libertarian like that.
I can’t vote: No, because I agree with them; because that’s not necessarily true
Nor can I vote: No, because I’m able to separate my job from my personal beliefs; because working for them doesn’t separate my personal beliefs out.
Absolutely. They’re scum and the epitome of what is wrong with corporate America.
what is this about?
They are the guys who pour millions into the campaign funds for their selected candidates.
Outright bribery IMHO
Oh, you mean like UAW, Teamsters, and other unions?
Yes. I don’t like anybody doing it. I don’t care if they spend the money, i’m all for free speech. But the politicians shouldn’t be allowed to accept it, and the rules won’t change with the bribes they’re paying out now.
All politicians are corrupted to some extent or other. You should know that by now.
Fuck no!
Koch subsidiaries pay all my bills, and then some. At a union job, steelworkers union, that pays very good wages, over $70,000 per year, for semi-skilled labor.
This isn’t Walmart. We separate the politics from the paycheck. Koch puts over 11 billion dollars per year into the benefits and wages of its employees.
Remember to use a lot of toilet paper when you wipe your ass, every little bit helps.
I certainly do know that. But there’s no reason to enable them to be more corrupt.
On a scale beyond the wildest dreams of any union that has ever existed.
ETA: I fail to understand the persistence in some quarters of the apparent belief that, in an era when unions are weaker than they’ve been since the Hoover Administration, the political spending of billionaires like the Kochs or the DeVos (Amway) family or Sheldon Adelson is merely a counterweight to the political influence of Big Labor.
Our CEO is a regular contributor to the Heritage Fund and I’m still here because I’m too lazy to find another job. The family that runs our company might not be the moral equivalent to the Koch Brothers, but my reaction would probably be the same: willing to leave, but not necessarily motivated to find a new gig.