Kochland
Uses the extraordinary account of how the biggest private company in the world grew to be that big to tell the story of modern corporate America. The annual revenue of Koch Industries is bigger than that of Goldman Sachs, Facebook, and U.S. Steel combined. Koch is everywhere: from the fertilizers that make our food to the chemicals that make our pipes to the synthetics that make our carpets and diapers to the Wall Street trading in all these commodities. But few people know much about Koch Industries and that's because the billionaire Koch brothers want it that way. For five decades, CEO Charles Koch has kept Koch Industries quietly operating in deepest secrecy, with a view toward very, very long-term profits. He's a genius businessman: patient with earnings, able to learn from his mistakes, determined that his employees develop a reverence for free-market ruthlessness, and a master disrupter. These strategies have made him and his brother David together richer than Bill Gates. But there's another side to this story. If you want to understand how we killed the unions in this country, how we widened the income divide, stalled progress on climate change, and how our corporations bought the influence industry, all you have to do is read this book. Seven years in the making, Kochland reads like a true-life thriller, with larger-than-life characters driving the battles on every page.
Stats for nerds
5recommend
7mentions
7people
2019–2024years
71% recommend29% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- It sounds lazy to me to say that one industry was able to push through its interests for 50 years running, as if a democracy has no way of defending itself. It is scary how effective Exxon and Koch are (the book Kochland is a good read), but I don't accept that this strips all consumers of responsibility for all eternity.
What oil companies have done is certainly damaging to society - but let's please not lose sight of the fact that it is ultimately consumers who are calling the shots.
To me the truth is that we love convenience, enjoy travel and just having lots of stuff - hundreds of millions of people are fully aware of the effects of climate change and still choose to consume unbelievable amounts of oil, directly and indirectly. The title of Al Gore's "an inconvenient truth" is really quite apt - people watch and understand to then go on an fly across the globe.
If our image of the average citizen is that they are helpless in the face of propaganda/advertising, cannot think for themselves and cannot be held accountable for their behavior/decisions, then I don't believe that's compatible with a democratic system.
Consumers/voters have responsibility and corporations stand and fall based on how we all choose to spend our money. The one-sided criticism of oil companies is boring and almost childish in the way it deflects responsibility.
The geopolitics of energy: What's easy to forget about subsidies is that enormous shock the western world has gone through in 1973 - suddenly the oil stopped flowing and leaders everywhere figured out how vulnerable industrial societies are to even slight disruptions in supply. We also have to consider the security and moral implications of relying on Saudi Arabia and Russia for most of our oil needs - claiming that politicians are supply corrupted by oil money just shows a lack of appreciation for the complexity of the situation.
Eating meat is bad for the climate (methane emissions - you know the drill) - if you consume meat again after reading this, please don't blame it on politics, McDonald's or a lack of knowledge.
- I read the new book Kochland last year. I was expecting an expose of an evil robber baron. Instead the author had a begrudging respect for the talents of the Kochs. As s privately held company they dont have to generate quarterly or annual reports for the shareholders. They can focus on long term projects. The company's value increased from a quarter billion dollars at Fred Sr.s passing to a third of a trillion now.
- And then there are the Koch brothers:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_family
Who've probably got their hands in too many things:
* https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Kochland/Christopher-...
* https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/07/kochland-rev...
* https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/kochland-examin...
- For those with an interest in large markets that are not often discussed on the clearnet:
[1] https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Kochland/Christopher-...
- Some great books have already been mentioned but those which were the most personally influential which haven't yet been mentioned:
- Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
- Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
- Kochland by Christopher Leonard
- Masters of Doom by David Kushner
I read a lot of "business consultant" books and began to be annoyed with them since many of them can be summed up by the title and the first couple of chapters.
I like the books above because they presented factual events that allow you to draw your own conclusions.
I especially like Schwarzenegger's book and Bad Blood because of their depth. It was interesting to hear about Schwarzenegger's crazy business ideas like how he became a millionaire before becoming an actor and how he bought a 747.
I found the audiobook "Master's of Doom" (book is 2003 but audiobook is newer) to be really entertaining as it was read by actor Wil Wheaton who did a great job.
- “Kochland” includes a chapter on warehouse operations that tracked workers’ activity down to the minute (each conversation and bathroom trip had to be accounted for) and posted their performance rankings on a bulletin board.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/books/review-kochland-sec...
