The Rise of Conservatism: A Three Part Series

Most college students don’t realize the value in being educated (at least a little bit) on politics and media. I myself was one of those college students prior to enrolling in an activists writing media class at my university. After learning about a few of the conniving individuals who run the ‘back rooms’ of politics, I decided to end my ignorance and further educate myself on what is going on around me. Sure, I found out some things that I would rather not know, some things that anger me, and some things that still do not make any sense to me. Yet, for the most part, I’ve begun to change my role to a politically-aware active citizen.

Not sure what I’m talking about? That’s okay; check out my three part series on the rise of conservatism and media. In my serialized responses, I attempted to explain concepts, documents, and people who are most involved with the rise of conservatism. Part one of my series discusses the Powell Memo, where I believe that conservatism got its name out there. Louis Powell, the writer of the Powell Memo, is a prominent figure in the rise of conservatism and free market capitalism, as well as advocacy and activism. His document is critical in understanding how much of conservative media and infrastructure came about. Part two of my blog series follows up on the rise of conservative infrastructure by looking at think tanks. Think tanks may only be a vague concept to many people, but they are actually quite complex. Last but not least, part three of my serialized responses looks at present day conservatism and the “kings of conservatism”, who are also known as the Koch Brothers. You may be surprised to see how much power they have over conservatives and how their money can get them to the top in just about anything.

Check out my responses and get educated on the rise of conservative infrastructure…you won’t regret developing an understanding of who is trying to run America now!

The Koch Brothers: The Kings of Conservatism

This is part 3 of a 3 part series. Be sure to check out part 1 and part 2!

So who is helping to keep conservative think tanks alive today? The one and only Koch brothers. Not familiar with them? Well, you’ll be shocked when you find out how influential they are and how many corporations and businesses they have business in. Before, I never knew who these brothers were. Sure, I may have heard their names, but I never thought anything of it. I’d be impressed if you had an idea of who they are!

The Koch brothers are multi-billion dollar business men that have a desire to manipulate. The Koch brothers were born into wealth thanks to their father, Fred Koch, who began his family business of Koch Industries, which at the time dealt with refinement of oil into gasoline. The business, Koch Industries, is known as the second largest privately owned business in America. That’s pretty alarming, especially if you consider how many people are not fully aware of who the Koch family is.

Charles and David Koch still work with Koch Industries today, after the passing of their father and mother, maintaining its wealth and success. But Charles and David are not just involved with their own family business. In fact, they have their greedy little hands in many more businesses and corporations around the country. The Koch brothers seek out think tanks and advocacy groups that have similar interests to themselves–that is, of the conservative nature. Both Charles and David Koch have donated millions and millions of dollars to conservative and libertarian campaigns and think tanks. Their financial support is one of the many reasons that think tanks, both conservative and libertarian, are as successful as they are today. You may be wondering why they dish out so much money so frequently, and the answer is simply that they want the country to follow their conservative wishes and be associated with the far-right.

Look at how far the Koch brothers influence spreads. They really DO have their hands in everything.

So is this a good thing? Two extremely powerful and wealthy brothers are manipulating as many people as they can to instill their interests on all of America. They are pushing towards free-market capitalism, where government has little control, much unlike it is today in America. If you aren’t educated on politics, this all might be very confusing and seem like no big deal. However, it is a HUGE deal, and is something that has been feared for a very long time, dating back to Thomas Jefferson. Upon seeing government in France, and witnessing the power of elites, he wrote to George Washington in great fear, “Though the day may be at some distance, beyond the reach of our lives perhaps, yet it will certainly come, when a single fiber left out of this institution will produce a hereditary aristocracy, which will change the form of our governments from the best to the worst in the world” (Fang 230). It is scary that someone who lived so long ago could predict this happening to America today.

Don’t let these faces become the faces of America.

Now that you know about it, what are YOU going to do about it?

*If you are interested in learning more about the rise of conservative media and the right, check out Lee Fang’s novel The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right.*

Let’s get thinking about think tanks…

This is part 2 of a 3 part series. Check out part 3!

Think tanks…you may have heard about them, but what do you really know? As a student myself, I was slightly familiar with the words and concept but was not knowledgable about how think tanks operate and how they even came about. Truth be told, I really didn’t know much. All of that changed pretty quickly in the past week or so when I read articles about them for my activist’s writing media class. So what exactly is a think tank? A think tank is an organization where scholars and specialists seek to find solutions to problems and then promote their findings. These highly skilled scholars collaborate on issues of political and economical concern. As a team, they work towards giving helpful advice and finding solutions to important issues or concerns. When a solution or decision is made, the think tanks then promote their research and findings. As a college student, it is easy for me to compare think tanks to a collaboration group, or a team of researchers and educators. The concept is quite simple, yet ingenious. But there isn’t just one type of think tank. Think tanks are flexible and truly vary based on their political and ethical standpoints and beliefs. Think of the government and the way it gets divided into political parties. There are the Republicans and the Democrats as the main two parties, and several other smaller parties that hold even more different beliefs. Think tanks are typically divided up similarly to this, based on the group’s political orientation and beliefs. So with think tanks some may be conservative (and hold ideals similar to that of the Republican political party if I could make that connection), while other think tanks are liberal, who can be compared to the Democratic party if that makes this concept easier. Personally, it puts think tanks into a more familiar mindset by comparing them to the government’s political parties. It can get confusing pretty fast if you do not know, read, or write much about politics (like myself!). One of the most interesting aspects of think tanks is how they are run. A large majority of think tanks are non-profit organizations, which means that they are not owned by anyone that any funds associated with the specific think tank does not need to be paid or given out to a big owner. Instead, the respective think tank has total control over the funds. This is different from much of society because many businesses work and operate just to pay off some of the owners, aka those who helped get them there. However, not all think tanks run as non-profit organizations. Some are funded by either the government, businesses, and even advocacy groups. These types of think tanks have to work in conjunction with their owners and do not experience all of the freedoms that non-profit organizations may.

While there are thousands of think tanks across America, I decided to focus on one conservative think tank that is extremely prosperous: American Enterprise Institute. The American Enterprise Institute prides themselves on being committed to “expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity and strengthening free enterprise.” Based on their ideals and philosophy, the American Enterprise Institute is classified as a conservative think tank. The focus their attentions of promoting free enterprise capitalism. More information regarding their work and research, as well as who the personnel that runs the think tank can be found on their website at: http://www.aei.org/about/. I highly encourage you to check out the website just to get an idea of the many different issues that think tanks consider and discuss.

When researching, you may notice the Koch brothers’ names popping up. (If you don’t know who these guys are, you will soon find out in my next blog post in this series! You’ll be shocked at how influential these men are and how much control and power they have over many things.) The widely influential and multi-billion dollar brothers are one of the reasons that this nonprofit and conservative think tank is as successful as it is today. It has been reported that Charles Koch has donated over $800,000 to the American Enterprise Institute over the past eleven years, giving the think tank the financial support necessary for research. Of course, the Koch brothers, who are associated with conservatism and the right-wing ideas, supports the work of the American Enterprise Institute and other conservative think tanks. Their money has been dispersed to numerous conservative and successful think tanks. For example, they have helped by donating to The Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and the Manhattan Institute, just to name a few.

Millions and millions of dollars are being donated to think tanks. That amount of money could solve many issues in the world today. So consider this: how exactly is the millions of dollars that is donated to conservative think tanks helping society? Should that grand amount of money be poured into organizations that may not be recognized by those who are unfamiliar with think tanks? Check out some of the issues they tackle and see if you are in agreement. You may be surprised at what you find out…

Conservative Infrastructure Beginnings…The Powell Memo and Advocacy Writing

This is part 1 of a 3 part series. Check out part 2 and part 3. 

Conservatism has been around for quite some time, however I believe that the rise of their infrastructure and media is a newer thing in the conservatism movement. Have you ever heard of the Powell Memo? I never had prior to taking my activists writing media class, which is curious because the Powell Memo plays a big role in the rise of conservative infrastructure. As a student, I never once learned this through all of my years of education, but why? I feel that it can be important to know how things came to be, especially since politics is a huge part of America today. Despite the fact that I do not have a large interest in politics, understanding some basics can help me become an educated citizen.

The Powell Memo was written by Lewis Powell in 1971 as a letter to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It is a great example of advocacy writing, something that anyone who has strong feelings and viewpoints should look into. Powell states the issue at hand: to defend free-market capitalism from the many organizations/people that are trying to harm it. He proceeds to suggest different solutions to the problem, one of them being the creation of think tanks across America. Although you may not have a clear understanding of what think tanks are, you will soon find out in my next blog post as I explain their role in the rise of conservative infrastructure and how they affect conservatism and politics today.

Powell’s memorandum is read best when looking at it in the following format that aids advocacy writing:

They have ______________.

I/we don’t have ______________.

So, they shouldn’t have ______________ either.

OR

They have ______________.

I/we don’t have ______________.

How do I/we get ______________ too.

These two formats are extremely helpful in advocacy writing as it allows the writer to establish the problem at hand and how to act upon it, not simply wait around for someone else to do something (which seems to be the problem these days).

It seems that Powell may have followed the format in his memorandum to get his point across, which it did. The memorandum was spread across America, suggesting political organizations to become more involved in matters.

Was he successful? I would have to say yes, even though I feel his memorandum is a bit over exaggerated and makes it seem like everyone except conservatives who hold the same ideals as him are the problem. Powell pushes his ideas onto everyone else, specifically the Chamber of Commerce, to act and act now. He wants them to follow his suggestions as they are the BEST suggestions. Basically, he wants the Chamber of Commerce to modernize their efforts and acts to lobby the federal government. So is Powell helping politics and America or did he simply create further problems? One thing is for sure, he helped bring the conservatives into the limelight quickly.