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“What, will these hands ne’er be clean?”

Didn’t work back in the 1600s. Any reason to suspect it would work now?

The first generation lives off the interest;
The second generation lives off the principal; and,
The third generation lives off the name.

It’s interesting that self-made billionaires like Gates and Buffet are highly engaged in philanthropy and good government, whereas born-rich losers like the Rockefellers and the Waltons and the Marses and the Koches will stop at nothing to expand their wealth, to the detriment of us all.

Seems to me another good reason to hike up the estate tax.

That’s an impressive assortment of errors to pack into a single sentence, Max. No one here has accused the Rockefeller heirs of ruthlessly acting to expand their oil-derived wealth; the charge is something closer to the reverse. The picture of the Kochs as indolent heirs who will stop at nothing to expand their wealth is equally silly.

I do what I can to amuse. I wasn’t referring to the story in particular, though it doesn’t say much about this point, as the Rockefeller family fortune now is primarily outside of oil after the trust-busting and the public sales of remaining shares. Call me when they start questioning Wall Street’s privatized profits and socialized risk, they make tons off that, and work to keep it that way.

The Kochs aren’t as pathetically useless as the Waltons or Marses, but they’re by no means enterprising: the father built the business, which the sons maintain almost exclusively through special interest lobbying. Are we supposed to fawn over their philanthropy just because Nova on PBS ends with a thank you to them? Please. They were born with silver spoons and they fight tirelessly to screw the rest of us.

But my bigger point is one of contrast: it’s supposed to be a big deal the Rockefellers contributed $5 million towards something? That’s like patting yourself on the back for giving $50. To them, it’s nothing. It’s symbolic. Let’s praise them when the contributions are described with the letter “b.”

Max,
I wonder about your objectivity. Charles Koch has been listed amount the top 50 American philanthropists repeatedly and his bother David has held a similar place in the top 50 for the World since 2006.

Also, they have built the family business to over 2500 times the size they inherited it at. At least according to Wikipedia

Dislike them if you want but at least credit them with their actual accomplishments.

Wow Max, no envy there /sarc “They were born with silver spoons…”

How about you quit your whining and build something yourself so YOU can make those donations with the “B” in them? Try being the change yourself before expecting others to. It’s quite satisfying (spoken from first hand experience).

Yeah….thought not. Easier to sit on ones tush and gripe. Just remember that when you’re pointing at the Walton’s et al that 3 fingers are pointing back at you.