1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,680 Speaker 1: From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,119 Speaker 1: learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, welcome 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: back to the show. My name is Matt Nol isn't 6 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: here today, but he'll be back shortly. They call me Ben. 7 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,160 Speaker 1: We are joined as always with our super producer Paul 8 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: Mission Controlled decond. Most importantly, you are you. You are here, 9 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: and that makes this stuff they don't want you to know. 10 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for tuning in, fellow conspiracy realists. 11 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: Today's episode is is a bit of a retrospective, but 12 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: it involves a bit of the future as well. And 13 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: this episode may be divisive to some of our listeners. 14 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: We always hope our episodes are divisive. That means we're 15 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: doing something right. Yeah. Ultimately, this episode is the It's 16 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: about the line between freedom and wealth and what that 17 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: means is freedom? Wealth is wealth? Freedom? What are we 18 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: all struggling to do here with our jobs and trying 19 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: to prosper Like, what's the end of the goal. So 20 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: as we as we explore today's strange tale, as we 21 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: dig through the rabbit hole, peel back layers of the 22 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: figurative onion. We'd like to hear from you, as long 23 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: time listeners know you do not have to wait till 24 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: the end of the episode to let us know your thoughts. 25 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: If the spirit so moves you, you can pause and 26 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: call us directly. We are one eight three three st 27 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: d w y t K. So keep that in mind. Uh. 28 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: And there there may be some things that feel a 29 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: little bit high level because we are exploring the life 30 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: and times and the long shadow of a man named 31 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: David Coke ko c H. Who is David Coke? Great question? 32 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: Here are the facts. David Hamiltons Coke was born on 33 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: May three in Wichita, Kansas. His dad, Fred Coke fred C. Coke, 34 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: was a chemical engineer and his paternal grandfather a fellow 35 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: in whom Harry Coke was a Dutch immigrants. He was 36 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: a newspaperman. He was one of the founding shareholders of 37 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: a railway interest now David Hamilton's. Coke was the third 38 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: of four sons. He had two older brothers, Charles Coke 39 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: and Frederick Coke, and then he had a fourth brother, 40 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: This is an interesting story. Had a fourth brother named 41 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,720 Speaker 1: Bill Bill is technically the youngest of the four Coke Boys. 42 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: He was born nineteen minutes after David. Yes, they're twins. 43 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: That's right, um, And then we just can kind of 44 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: continue following Dave It's life as he attended Deerfield Academy. 45 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: This is in Massachusetts. Is a it's a prep school. Uh. 46 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: It's a very nice place, has a very good reputation. Right. 47 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: Deer Field Academy is a gathering place for quite a 48 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: few influential people or the children of influential people who 49 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: will go on to inherit their parents position. People like 50 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: King Abdullah the second Al Hussein of Jordan's Rockefellers go there, 51 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,359 Speaker 1: and of course cokes go there. There you go. And 52 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: another place that highly influential people go is where David 53 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: ended up. Next, he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 54 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: and there he earned a Bachelor's of Arts and Sciences. 55 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: Then he went on to earn a Masters of Science 56 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: in chemical engineering. Both of those he was He's a 57 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: tall guy who was a tall guy about uh six 58 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: and afy tall, and he was known for being pretty 59 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: good at basketball. During his time, he averaged twenty one 60 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: points per game over the course of three years. I'm 61 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: throwing in this fact to humanize him a little bit. 62 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: So now with that and he was pretty good. Yeah, 63 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: just him as a person. Let's talk about his career. 64 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: Coke joined Coke Industries, the family business, working for his 65 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: older brother Charles. David started out as a technical services 66 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: manager and nine years later nine he becomes the president 67 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: of the company's engineering division and it's renamed Chemical Technology Group. 68 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: All the while, ever since the death of the patriarch, 69 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: fred S. Cooke, there's been growing tension between the four brothers. 70 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: This came to a head in June of three when 71 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: Frederick and Bill, the younger twin and the older brother, 72 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: when their shares of the company were bought out for 73 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: one point one billion dollars. And this bitter feud has 74 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff going on, like they didn't speak 75 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: for years after the conclusion of this stuff. Uh. The 76 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: family felt betrayed by Bill, who essentially blew the whistle 77 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: on some sketchy behavior by Coke Industries and Native American land. 78 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: And Bill is the youngest of the two twins, David 79 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: nineteen minutes younger, and all three of them attempted to 80 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: blackmail their brother Frederick based on what they suspected about 81 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: his sexual orientation. Yeah, so the money change the family 82 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: dynamics anyway, without going too far into the Shakespearean tension 83 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: between the siblings. Long story short. By two thousand and ten, 84 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 1: David and Charles Coke controlled the company. Each of them 85 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 1: owned forty two per cent of Coke Industries. Wow, that's 86 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: really high. It's a high number in uh, something as 87 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: high stakes as Coke Industries. UM. And then on June five, 88 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,039 Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen, were jumping quite a bit ahead here, 89 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: but David Coke announced he was going to retire from that, 90 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: from his position within the company. UM, but he was 91 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 1: he would end up staying on a little bit as 92 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: like kind of a from two eighteen well into two nineteen, 93 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: as kind of a ceremonial position within the company. But 94 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: he was officially stepping down due to health concerns because 95 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: he had cancer. That's correct. Yes, David Coke was diagnosed 96 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: with prostate cancer way back in nine. Like anyone who 97 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: is diagnosed with something's terrible as prostate cancer, he definitely 98 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: has the motivation to pursue every possible avenue of treatment. 99 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: Unlike many people diagnosed with prostate cancer, he also has 100 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: the means to pursue these treatments. He goes through uh chemotherapy, 101 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: he goes through radiation treatments, he gets surgery. This all 102 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: fails to completely eliminate the cancer, and it keeps returning. 103 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: And so it comes to pass that, after a long 104 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: battle with prostate cancer, David Coke passes away in New 105 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: York on Southampton, New York on auguste He's seventy nine 106 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: years old, and according to the official statements of his 107 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: loved ones, his relatives in the press, there is no 108 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: definitive cause of death that was cited yet, but you know, 109 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: most people are reasonably assuming or speculating that this was 110 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: somehow related to his ongoing cancer battle. Sure, at this 111 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: level of wealth, the Coke estate, just David Coke's part 112 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: of it can function in many ways as though the 113 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: person who helmed it is still very much alive. The 114 00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: institutions and systems that David Coke helped create pass away 115 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: when he passed away. But what sort of systems did 116 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: he create? How much money are we talking? Let's take 117 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: a break for a word from our sponsor, and assuming 118 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: that Coke Industries doesn't buy us in the next in 119 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: the next few minutes, let's continue to explore the story. 120 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: And we're back and we are also now owned by 121 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: Coke Industries, who are also owned by Illumination Global Unlimited. 122 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,959 Speaker 1: So we're straight. Everything's fine, We're back in the family. 123 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: But what is Coke Industries? This is how we this 124 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: is the best way for us to answer the questions 125 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: about wealth. Here's the gist. The thing we call Coke 126 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: Industries today began way back in ninety as the Wood 127 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: River Oil and Refining Company. This was co founded by 128 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: Fred C. Coke. In nineteen sixty seven, in honor of 129 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: Fred Coke, it was renamed Coke Industries since then, that's 130 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: been the shorthand way to refer to this enormous conglomerate. 131 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: And when we say enormous conglomerate, we're talking about a 132 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: disquietly number of things. Yeah. Yeah. According to the Securities 133 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: and Exchange Commission, Coke Industries is what you would call 134 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: a private conglomerate. They've got all kinds of different things 135 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: and companies that they control, and uh, everything from petroleum 136 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: and chemicals, the production of that and the the distribution 137 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 1: of those chemicals through pipelines. There's some ranching going involved. 138 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: There's some chemical chemical tech occurring here. There's all kinds 139 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: of commodity training, minerals. How do you get them, where 140 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: do you find them? What do you do with those minerals? 141 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: Capital markets and fibers. Fibers are in everything you guys, Uh, 142 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: financial services, you've got paper, the pulp that you need 143 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: to build the paper, as well as business development, which 144 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:07,680 Speaker 1: is interesting in its own right because that's how you 145 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: get a lot of the other companies to become or 146 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: come to fruition right exactly. Today, Coke Industries is the 147 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: second largest private company in the United States. What's number one, 148 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: you may ask. It's a company called Cargill, which we 149 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 1: can save for a different episode. Coke Industries has an 150 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: annual revenue of a hundred and ten billion dollars and 151 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,680 Speaker 1: it has around a hundred employees. So two things about 152 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 1: those numbers, Uh, that one ten billion dollars is indicates 153 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,679 Speaker 1: a growth trend because in it was a hundred billions, 154 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: So they went up by tim bill and those one 155 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: d and twenty employees. Those that number may not factor 156 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: in contractors, freelancers, so on. So depending on how we 157 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: define employee, that number could be a little higher. It's 158 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: also active in sixty countries, which means that it is 159 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: probably selling something to you. You have almost certainly boughts 160 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: or used a product created by Coke Industries, because in short, 161 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: they sell a ton of stuff. Oh, you've certainly encountered them. 162 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: I remember ages ago when we were doing this show, 163 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:30,439 Speaker 1: we did a check up to see what Coke Industries owned, 164 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: and we listened off some things, including things like if 165 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: you're just walking through a grocery store, let's say, if 166 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: you're in the United States or maybe in another country, 167 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: you may you may see things like quilted Northern, or 168 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: soft and gentle or brawny, maybe angel soft sparkle. Do 169 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: any of those catch catch your ear because it's probably 170 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,080 Speaker 1: a paper product that you used to clean something or 171 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,959 Speaker 1: wipe your hands on. Uh, there's a lot of those. 172 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: Mardi Grass. Another one Dixie, as in ups from Dixie. 173 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 1: They also own Georgia Pacific, which is the largest manufacturer 174 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: of plywood and core gated boxes and containers in the US. UH. 175 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:16,960 Speaker 1: They produce all sorts of textiles and plastics to the 176 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: world's largest producer of lycra. They produced stain Master, solar Max, 177 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: all of Polly shield, oxy clear. They make gasoline, diesel, 178 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: jet fuel, asphalts, fracking chemicals, ethylene. I'd just like to 179 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: point out here that they own a lot of the 180 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: raw materials that end up becoming a lot of the 181 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: other products. That's kind of what Coke Industries does here 182 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: when you're talking about, you know, getting crude oil to 183 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: then process for a whole bunch of different kinds of 184 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: textiles and plastics, right, or you're talking about Georgia Pacific 185 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:52,719 Speaker 1: getting all the wood that you need to create all 186 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: of the other paper products and other things like that. Um, 187 00:12:56,559 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 1: it's it's smart business, I guess, like essentially controlling, um, 188 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:07,920 Speaker 1: controlling the processes which you need to make an end thing. 189 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: Right of production? Yeah, owning thanks, owning the means of production. 190 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,920 Speaker 1: They own the means of production. Yes, got it. Uh, 191 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: but yeah, it's it. You can really see it illustrated here. 192 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: And it's no secret that after a certain threshold of scale, 193 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: whether we're talking or whether we're talking fame, infamy or 194 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 1: just finance, right after this certain threshold, any entity becomes 195 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: inherently controversial. So it's it's true, right, It follows logically 196 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: that Coke Industries has had a troubled legal history, congressional investigations, 197 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: d o J, consent decrees, civil lawsuits, felony convictions, and 198 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:53,960 Speaker 1: so on. One of the biggest controversies that's getting a 199 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,839 Speaker 1: lot of attention now, especially from politicians on the left 200 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: side of US politics, will be the active role that 201 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: coke industries plays in pollution and climate change denial. Yeah. Again, 202 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: like you said, Matt, what's good for business versus what's 203 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: bad for business? Yeah. Absolutely, And in the end, there's 204 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: there are so many profits to protect for the people 205 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: that run this massive industry or it's not even industry, 206 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: is that they conglomerate. Um, there's so many moving parts. 207 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: You you have to or you're at least incentivized to 208 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: deregulate as much as you possibly can and do what 209 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 1: you have to do to make sure that those profits 210 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: go up by three percent each year. But they've had, 211 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: you know, as part of their legal troubles in the past. 212 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: If you go back to you get a really interesting 213 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: look into a specific thing that they were accused of doing. 214 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: And then I found out that they were doing where 215 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: they were apparently stealing oil from Native American reservations within 216 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: the United States. Yeah. Yeah, this comes from an excellent 217 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: book called cooke Land by an author named Christopher Leonard, 218 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: in which he traces the twist and turns of this 219 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: nefarious tale. So, as you said, this stuff hits the 220 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: fan in November, and it's the result of an investigation 221 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: that was launched in October of seven by the Senate 222 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: Select Committee on Indian Affairs. They were inspired by a 223 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: series of articles in the paper the Arizona Republic that said, hey, 224 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,440 Speaker 1: big oil is stealing oil from Native Americans who own 225 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: these various oil wells. Here's how the scam worked. Companies 226 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: would pick up crude oil from the wells and they 227 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: would take it to the quote unquote marketplace. But when 228 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: they did this, they falsified their receipts, their invoices to 229 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: make it look like they had a picked up less 230 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: oil than they actually did. So they were getting a 231 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: big they were skimming off the top or b that 232 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: the oil was of a lower quality than it actually was, 233 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: therefore worth less on the marketplace. Therefore we're paying less. 234 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: Look at that and throughout this whole controversy, because it 235 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: was a controversy for for the cokes and for coke industries. Uh, 236 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 1: this is when David really becomes and the Coke brothers 237 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 1: I guess as a whole or as a duo. Uh. 238 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: It gets them and meshed within the politics. The like 239 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: forward facing politics, right, this is a big stage for them. Yeah. 240 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: So the company later admits in court that it collects 241 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: about ten million dollars worth of crude oil each year 242 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: without paying for it over the course of this scam. 243 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: And this is just one illustration of what what big 244 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: businesses do. It's important to say that Coke Industries is 245 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: by no means unique in this sort of thing, and 246 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:04,399 Speaker 1: that's why countries and state actors have legislative mechanisms in 247 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: place that are, in theory meant to prevent these kinds 248 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: of shenanigans. But despite the ongoing controversies, this family business 249 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 1: made David Coke an even wealthier man. And we have 250 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: some we have some stats about his uh, about his 251 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,400 Speaker 1: his position in financial society. At the time of his passing. Yes, 252 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:30,639 Speaker 1: according to Forbes, he was number eleven on the list 253 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: of wealthiest men on the planet. He had a total 254 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 1: asset amount of forty two point two billion dollars. Again, 255 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: according to Forbes, UH, and he had an estimated net 256 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:48,200 Speaker 1: worth of da fifty point five billion dollars. And let's 257 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: pause here for a second, Matt, because that is a 258 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: huge number. We're throwing a lot of huge numbers out here, 259 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 1: and that makes it a very easy number to glide 260 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 1: over without fully understanding or rocking it. There's a guy 261 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,399 Speaker 1: named Sam par writing for a website called The Hustle, 262 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: and he did a great walk through if I've combined 263 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:10,159 Speaker 1: a couple of different things here to make it. To 264 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:14,680 Speaker 1: help us imagine just one billion dollars in our head. 265 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 1: All right, let's start with a one dollar bill. Pretty cool, right, 266 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 1: Imagine it's a crisp new one straight from the ment. 267 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: Now stack a hundred of those together. This makes a 268 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 1: stack about an inch high. That's ten thousand dollars. And 269 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: when you look at it, it's just the stack. It's 270 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:34,480 Speaker 1: not that impressive. If you add enough stacks together, you'll 271 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:38,440 Speaker 1: get a million dollars. Also, weirdly enough, not as impressive 272 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 1: as it may seem in film, because when you stack 273 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:42,880 Speaker 1: it that way, when you add it up that way, 274 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 1: it's not enough to fill up an average briefcase, I mean, 275 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: like a carry on for a plane. It's still a 276 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: lot of money, and a billion is much different. A 277 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: billion gets us into the realm of imaginary scenarios. Right. 278 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: So let's say you save one dollars a day. That's awesome, 279 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: great job doing that. It will take you ten million 280 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 1: days around a little over twenty seven thousand years to 281 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:18,959 Speaker 1: save up one billion dollars. Wow. And well, also if 282 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,159 Speaker 1: you try and visualize I remember seeing videos with this before, 283 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:24,920 Speaker 1: we try and visualize what a billion dollars looks like. 284 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: So if you were going to do that, if you're 285 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: gonna look at it, it would be a four square 286 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: mile area or what would be the equivalent of two thousand, 287 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: five hundred and fifty five acres of just money. Yeah, 288 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: if you put if you took that billion and made 289 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: it one dollar bills, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you 290 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: would also have more money than several entire countries. You 291 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,120 Speaker 1: would be you know, you would have more than their 292 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: g d P for instance. Oh but let's talk about 293 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 1: what you can buy with a billion bucks? Okay, yeah, 294 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,920 Speaker 1: with just one million dollars per the A j C. 295 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: You can buy six point seven f thirty five a 296 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,880 Speaker 1: fighter jets. Oh yeah, you can also if you bargain 297 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,679 Speaker 1: a little bit, get into sports. Oh yeah, you can 298 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 1: get a NFL team for a billion bucks, Oh for sure, 299 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: you can almost almost by Let's say I don't know 300 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:23,680 Speaker 1: a palace. Yeah, Buckingham Palace is just one point four 301 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: billion dollars. After all, these are all crazy things to buy, right, 302 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:33,640 Speaker 1: So that's a billion dollars. David Coke as an individual, 303 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 1: as one guy, directly controlled enough wealth to do this 304 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: fifty times over. Yeah, and remember that's assets and money, 305 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: you know, cash, money, accounts, all those things, all of 306 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:51,360 Speaker 1: it together, um, in property in particular, it becomes very important. 307 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: So what to do with all this scratch, all this cheddar, 308 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 1: all these gains, this real superpower, genuine superpower, this very 309 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: real version of time travel, which is a nice, nice 310 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:08,360 Speaker 1: easter egg there for some of our long time listeners, 311 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 1: well done that. David Coke is a man of principle 312 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: as he saw it, and he his most well known 313 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: spending fits into two broad categories, first philanthropy and second politics. 314 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: In terms of philanthropy, we see a I guess well 315 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:34,879 Speaker 1: and yeah, well intentioned but imperfect person. He's been on 316 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: the Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of the world's top fifty 317 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: philanthropists consistently since two thousand six. In a two thousand 318 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,960 Speaker 1: thirteen interview with The Wall Street Journal, he called himself 319 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: a sugar daddy for charity, his words, not ours. He 320 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: said he had a moral obligation to help. He said 321 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: he preferred to donate his money to outstanding institutions rather 322 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 1: than use it on buying a bigger house or a 323 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: fifty million dollar painting. And again is a direct quote 324 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 1: from him. I get it. That feels like the right 325 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: thing to do. Uh. He conducted most of his visible 326 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: philanthropy through his foundation, named the David H. Coke Charitable Foundation. Uh. 327 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: They save the money on creative names and pass those 328 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: savings to you. I guess you've probably heard that mentioned 329 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: a couple of times in passing from you. Know, this 330 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:27,800 Speaker 1: is brought to you and thanks thanks to impart by 331 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: that foundation. And they're doing good work. They're they're giving, Uh, 332 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: they're giving to institutions and causes that are making pioneering breakthroughs, 333 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: especially in the medical space. Yes, and sometimes it is 334 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: difficult to square these things when depending on what you 335 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 1: think about David Coke or the Koch Brothers. Um knowing 336 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: that this is a real side of him and his 337 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: spending and his wealth and his family's wealth. Um, this 338 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,640 Speaker 1: charitable side, it is real, and it's you can't deny it. Well, 339 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: I have some I don't want to call him hot takes, 340 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,120 Speaker 1: but I have some observations on that. Well, we'll get 341 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 1: to him in a second. Right, It's you're right, Matt, 342 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: objectively not bad. So he gave over a billion dollars 343 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: to charity throughout his life, so over or right around 344 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: one of his assets he donated to things like the 345 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: Lincoln Center of the American Museum of Natural History. In 346 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: terms of medical causes, he started the Coke Institute for 347 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,880 Speaker 1: Integrative Cancer Research at M I T. New York Presbyterian Hospital, 348 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:42,120 Speaker 1: M D. Anderson Cancer Center, JOHNS. Hopkins, Stanford University Hospital, 349 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 1: Mount Sinai, the Hospital for Special Surgery. Good stuff, great stuff, 350 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: saved lives, right in arguably. Here's the thing though, Here's 351 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,160 Speaker 1: the thing that some of his critics will point out, 352 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: and that I have to admit, has some sand People 353 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: who people who argue that Coke industries business practices have 354 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:09,400 Speaker 1: raised the rates of cancer in their communities. Right, people 355 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 1: who have never smoked, never drank, gay lung cancer left 356 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,439 Speaker 1: and right, they say, you know why is if this 357 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,919 Speaker 1: guy really wants to fight cancer, why doesn't he change 358 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,359 Speaker 1: what his company is doing? Why is he why is 359 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: he donating after the fact? You know what I mean? 360 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 1: Quite a good point. I was I I thought it was. 361 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: I thought it was a good point. Additionally, he cites 362 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: a close call he had an aircraft accident with inspiring 363 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 1: him to become a philanthropist. But also if you look 364 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: at the specific acts of philanthropy that he's responsible for, 365 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 1: a lot of them do center on cancer. And again, 366 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:59,399 Speaker 1: he was diagnosed inertly has a personal reason to be 367 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 1: very interested in that, a personal identification with it. So again, 368 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:09,320 Speaker 1: objectively inarguably good things, but you can see why people 369 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:14,280 Speaker 1: would criticize even that part of this person's life. And 370 00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: that's not even talking about the other huge category of 371 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: donations for the Coke industries, for David Coke himself, for 372 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 1: his brother as well, and all their related uh name brands. 373 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: And that is the realm of politics. And we're gonna 374 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: get into that right after a quick word from our sponsor. 375 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:43,000 Speaker 1: So politics, you you become a billionaire, and two things happen. 376 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: People keep trying to draw you into politics, right, and 377 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: you are, as we said, inherently going to be a 378 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: controversial figure to some. That is literally the most fair 379 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: way to say it. Yeah, on the bottom of that 380 00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 1: spectrum is you're going to get frequent calls when there's 381 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: an election coming up. Right, So, David Coke did become 382 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: involved in politics. In fact, he ran for vice president 383 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,919 Speaker 1: once back in nineteen eighty. He did not run on 384 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: the GOP ticket, He did not run on the Democratic ticket. 385 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: He ran as a libertarian along with the presidential candidate, 386 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:28,320 Speaker 1: Ed Clark. So they had a very i would say 387 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:30,719 Speaker 1: nowadays for most people who are familiar with the concept 388 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,400 Speaker 1: of libertarianism. They had They had a pretty much by 389 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:39,160 Speaker 1: the book libertarian platform. Let's get rid of minimum wage laws, 390 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:44,239 Speaker 1: let's get rid of corporate taxes, agricultural subsidies, let's give 391 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 1: the FED the boot, a cavalcade of federal agencies. Interestingly enough, 392 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:50,439 Speaker 1: the FBI and the CIA were on that list, and 393 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 1: I thought, wow, you guys are not gonna win this election. 394 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: We don't want any policing either here or abroad. Right. 395 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: They also, uh, they all so wanted to get rid 396 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,760 Speaker 1: of Social Security. But and some of our fellow listeners 397 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 1: are already well aware of this. The ticket had some 398 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:14,119 Speaker 1: things that could be seen as surprisingly socially progressive, especially 399 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 1: for that time and in era. Yeah, specifically if they 400 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: were seeking equal rights for the l g B, t 401 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: q I a group, and they wouldn't have referred to 402 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:30,119 Speaker 1: it as that in but yes, they were looking for 403 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: equal rights for all people. They wanted to end the 404 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: drug war, which you know is if anything is progressive, 405 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 1: that feels like one of the top things. Um. And 406 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: especially you have to remember that if you're thinking about 407 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:49,120 Speaker 1: a conservative person or group of people with so much wealth, 408 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,320 Speaker 1: you don't imagine that those two things would exist on 409 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: a ticket, or or as policies on a ticket. Mm hmm. 410 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: And it's strange because it is. It is surprisingly progressive, 411 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: or appears to be so if you just look at 412 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,239 Speaker 1: that one facet of it. But things like cutting a 413 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: ton of federal agencies, that's a harder pill for a 414 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,880 Speaker 1: lot of people to swallow. But it's one of those 415 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:19,919 Speaker 1: it's one of those things that sticks out in some 416 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:23,280 Speaker 1: of our minds so strongly that maybe we don't even 417 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,639 Speaker 1: think about the other things. We just know, oh, those 418 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,479 Speaker 1: those guys represent this one thing that I really like, 419 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: But all the rest I'm not even going to pay 420 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: attention to right, Yeah, the danger of single issue voting. Yeah, 421 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 1: so it didn't work out. They did not win. They 422 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: were positive in terms of, uh, they're surprised at just 423 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 1: how much of the vote they did get, which was 424 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 1: small but measurable, I believe. Yeah. Yeah, and they we're like, hey, 425 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: that's actually pretty great. But not winning that election did 426 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: not spell the end of political involvement for David Coke. 427 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: Quite the opposite. You see, he and his brother Charles 428 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: had already been active in politics behind the scenes for 429 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 1: a long time, and they escalated their operations over the 430 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: following decades because they have been working on this kind 431 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 1: of stuff since the seventies. Coke's political spending, both through 432 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: his institutions and his donations, was nothing if not thematically consistent. 433 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: It was very much aligned with his deeply held libertarian 434 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 1: beliefs as far as we know. In in the money 435 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: that we can trace, which which is a pretty small 436 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 1: slice of the pie, the tip of the financial iceberg. Here, 437 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: the Cokes have collectively spent at least one hundred million 438 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,720 Speaker 1: dollars building this massive political machine, sometimes called the Coke 439 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 1: Toopus um. This machine is meant to bring mainstream US 440 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: and maybe over a larger swath of the mainstream West 441 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 1: in general. Um much more in line with their own 442 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: right leaning libertarian beliefs. Critics have accused the Cokes of 443 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: buying influence. That part is true. That is how lobbying works. 444 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: Lobbying is legal in this country, especially the kind of 445 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 1: lobbying that the Koch brothers and several other groups of 446 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: billionaires and people representing billions of dollars put through as law. 447 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: Right exactly. Shout out to alec Yeah, shout out to 448 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 1: citizens United. So critics have also said that the Cokes 449 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 1: are using this political machine they've built to manipulate elections 450 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: and government policies like you're pointing out, Matt, under the 451 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:50,959 Speaker 1: cover of vague and nice sounding words like liberty, freedom, patriotism. 452 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: Two supporters of one or more of these endeavors. This 453 00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:00,920 Speaker 1: is in line with their own ideological beliefs. Two critics. 454 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,560 Speaker 1: This is a shell game with the ultimate end being 455 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: something very much like neo feudalism. There is not a 456 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 1: state that functions the way that states are supposed to 457 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: function in democracies or representative democracies, etcetera. But what is 458 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: this machine? Exactly? Is this business as usual or is 459 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 1: this a vast conspiracy? And perhaps most importantly, what happens 460 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 1: to the engine once the driver has passed away. Here's 461 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,800 Speaker 1: where it gets crazy. It gets handed down to the 462 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: next in line in succession, just like that TV show HBO. 463 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: What's is the TV show Secession? Okay, that makes sense. 464 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: So yeah, there's I'm being facetious. Let's let's get into No, 465 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: I think you're absolutely right. Actually we both know you're 466 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 1: absolutely so, Yes, there is a conspiracy of foot. The 467 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 1: shue here is that people will maybe disagree with the 468 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 1: characterization of the conspiracy or focus on smaller parts of 469 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 1: the whole. Probably the best or most well known of 470 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:19,800 Speaker 1: the coke critics is the investigative journalist and author Jane Mayer. 471 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:24,120 Speaker 1: In her book Dark Money, The Hidden History of Billionaires 472 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 1: Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, she explores the 473 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: coke system and what she sees as its ultimate aim, 474 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:37,000 Speaker 1: which is instituting policies that directly benefit coke industries and 475 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: protect it from the consequences of the widespread pollution creates. 476 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 1: So also, it's weird because it's it's also advancing the 477 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: libertarian ambitions or ideologies of the Cooke Brothers and their affiliates. 478 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 1: But at the same time it's helping their bottom line 479 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: in a very easily provable way, like a one to 480 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 1: one match. If you look at if you look at 481 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:09,600 Speaker 1: how different members of the House of Representatives vote or 482 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: what they prioritize, and that's that's again, that's legal, that's lobbying. 483 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: It is and it is certainly um heartening to think 484 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: of it in those terms, the the way Jane Mayor 485 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:28,160 Speaker 1: describes it in in Dark Money, just about how and 486 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:29,960 Speaker 1: it's kind of what we talked about before, just how 487 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 1: the consequences of their actions in their industries and they're 488 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,400 Speaker 1: the way they're attempting to free those up to do 489 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: whatever they want to do um, however long they want 490 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,960 Speaker 1: to do and however much they want to do UM. 491 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:48,320 Speaker 1: In the end having those things also hurting the people 492 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: that surround those industries. I mean that is um that 493 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: this is where we get into that territory. Really is 494 00:33:55,200 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: dark money. It's it's scary, right, dark money is dark 495 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,160 Speaker 1: in that it is untraceable, right, well, it's untraceable, but 496 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:07,640 Speaker 1: it's also like dark thematically, like it's uh, I don't know, 497 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 1: not evil is a strong word but it's uh has 498 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:15,400 Speaker 1: ill intentions. Yeah, dark money typically does not refer to 499 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:19,840 Speaker 1: anonymous donors on a mission to give every kid a 500 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 1: library with him walking distance or you know, free lunch. Yeah, 501 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:28,879 Speaker 1: or prevent any of those kids from ever developing prostate cancer. Right, right, 502 00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:32,640 Speaker 1: that's the issue. So there's this other journalist, Peter Overbee 503 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:35,719 Speaker 1: writing for MPR, and I like the way that he 504 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:42,120 Speaker 1: phrased this. It's also is clearly coming from a specific stance, right, 505 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 1: he says. Quote. The Coke political network remains famous and 506 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:50,000 Speaker 1: infamous for its secret funding and fiercely negative advertising, which 507 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 1: often aimed at then President Barack Obama and other Democrats. 508 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:57,440 Speaker 1: Their group, Americans for Prosperity, was funded with Cooke Brothers 509 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:00,160 Speaker 1: money as well as contributions from other rich don as 510 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:04,239 Speaker 1: they recruited, and although David Coke denied giving money to 511 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,720 Speaker 1: Tea Party candidates, in two thousand ten, the Koch brothers 512 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,560 Speaker 1: efforts helped the Republicans win a net gain of sixty 513 00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:15,760 Speaker 1: three seats in the House of Representatives. So, again, agree 514 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,160 Speaker 1: or disagree with the aims of those representatives, the aims 515 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: of the Cokes. The point here, the takeaway here is 516 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:25,319 Speaker 1: that the system they created works, you know what I mean, 517 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,839 Speaker 1: the secret seminars they have, which is a real thing. 518 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,040 Speaker 1: The secret seminars they have do result in actionable plans 519 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 1: and they do make a difference to your life if 520 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:40,280 Speaker 1: you live in the US. Well, they also we're working 521 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: to target specific uh I guess you would say types 522 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:48,200 Speaker 1: of people within the United States. UM. And they were 523 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 1: doing this in a lot of different ways. But some 524 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,319 Speaker 1: of some of these groups aimed directly at veterans, some 525 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:59,600 Speaker 1: directly at senior citizens at UM this latinos or women 526 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 1: and a lot of this stuff. It's strange how it 527 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,719 Speaker 1: would appear on the surface to not necessarily be political, 528 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:09,880 Speaker 1: like a lot of the ways that they would kind 529 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:13,359 Speaker 1: of get in the door. UM. I don't know. But 530 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:17,200 Speaker 1: but again what we what we do know is that 531 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,960 Speaker 1: they were exploiting stuff. And this is a commonality that 532 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,200 Speaker 1: will see throughout a couple of other things with the cokes, 533 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:29,279 Speaker 1: like UM loopholes in pollution standards, with the e p A, 534 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 1: loopholes in UM production standards, things like that. But in 535 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:36,759 Speaker 1: this case, it was a lack of transparency within the 536 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:38,880 Speaker 1: US law and also we enforce them by the I R. 537 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:42,200 Speaker 1: S and the Supreme Court had made some decisions in 538 00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:45,120 Speaker 1: the past that created some serious loopholes or or at 539 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:49,359 Speaker 1: least places for abuse. And then, of course the other 540 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 1: controversial causes, one of the big ones in the news 541 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:58,200 Speaker 1: today being climate change denial organizations. Examples of this would 542 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:04,840 Speaker 1: include ending studies and then directing those studies to to 543 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:07,799 Speaker 1: spend the perspective or spend the data right. In an 544 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:09,920 Speaker 1: interview once upon a time, one of the Koch brothers 545 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:14,359 Speaker 1: argued that climate change was actually good for humanity, and 546 00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:17,320 Speaker 1: that it would create more arable land to grow food, 547 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:21,720 Speaker 1: or that it would help drive innovation. It's really gonna 548 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,320 Speaker 1: clear up greenland for all the all the stuff we 549 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:28,359 Speaker 1: need to do on it. Finally, right, So the big 550 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:32,280 Speaker 1: question here why is there not more accountability or transparency 551 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:34,680 Speaker 1: for this web and others like it. I would also 552 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:38,200 Speaker 1: add a further question, if this is truly the right 553 00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:41,319 Speaker 1: thing to do, if this is truly something for the 554 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:44,520 Speaker 1: greater good, then why does it need to occur in secret? 555 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,200 Speaker 1: Why does the money need to be dark? If we 556 00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:50,000 Speaker 1: are if we are helping humanity, you know what I mean? 557 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,120 Speaker 1: So it's more like a surprise for humanity. There we go, Well, 558 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,480 Speaker 1: far be it for us to ruin a good surprise 559 00:37:56,600 --> 00:38:00,680 Speaker 1: party right. According to my Arm, it's because these groups 560 00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:03,920 Speaker 1: are considered charities, so they don't need to disclose the 561 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:09,440 Speaker 1: names of their donors, and she describes them as kinds 562 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:12,640 Speaker 1: of secret banks that affect American politics in a huge 563 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 1: way without most people understanding who is behind them. Critics 564 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,640 Speaker 1: of the Coke's operation don't stop at calling it dark money. 565 00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:23,960 Speaker 1: You'll hear them accuse the Koke Brothers of everything from 566 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:29,600 Speaker 1: actively conspiring to subverting democracy to enacting a slow motion, 567 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:35,360 Speaker 1: decades long coup Tata God. And they certainly do again 568 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:39,759 Speaker 1: behave in a conspiratorial manner. A lot of the things 569 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:46,600 Speaker 1: that they support are things that the average US resident 570 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:51,200 Speaker 1: would be against or have have some serious concerns about. 571 00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 1: At the very least the Koke Brothers hold are held 572 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,400 Speaker 1: the Coke Organization's a better ways say, held twice a 573 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:05,879 Speaker 1: year min ours. They are carefully carefully hidden, sequestered, quarantined 574 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:11,880 Speaker 1: from the public. The guest list and the substance of 575 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:16,160 Speaker 1: the conversation at hands are closely guarded secrets. At one point, 576 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:20,760 Speaker 1: they even erected white noise machines that created static facing 577 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:24,400 Speaker 1: the outside UH due to concerns about people eavesdropping on 578 00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:27,440 Speaker 1: what they're saying. And again, if what you're doing is 579 00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:32,600 Speaker 1: the greater good, is the surprise that much more important 580 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 1: than the substance of your actions? No, certainly not. Man um. Well, 581 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:40,440 Speaker 1: here's the crazy thing. It's not just a you know, 582 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,600 Speaker 1: a small group of influential people, right who end up 583 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:46,040 Speaker 1: at these places, who go to these seminars. There was 584 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:49,279 Speaker 1: an leaked guest list and it was somewhere in the 585 00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:51,880 Speaker 1: in the realm of four hundred and four and fifty people, 586 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,360 Speaker 1: and not just any people. We are talking about the 587 00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:58,319 Speaker 1: wealthiest conservatives in America and they get together and they 588 00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 1: hang out. Who knows what they're doing. They could be 589 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:07,319 Speaker 1: swapping recipes, They could be planning, you know, strategic ways 590 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:12,319 Speaker 1: to use their gathered moneies, their fortunes too, I don't know, 591 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:16,880 Speaker 1: influence politics, change the way we have to do things. 592 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:20,200 Speaker 1: And it could all be quantum leap fan fick, you 593 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:22,759 Speaker 1: know what I mean? Absolutely, I mean that is not 594 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:29,399 Speaker 1: beyond the real possibilities. It's a good show. Wow, So yeah, 595 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,719 Speaker 1: but that that's what that's what we know. We know 596 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:36,279 Speaker 1: the demo of the attendees, and we know some of 597 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:40,240 Speaker 1: would appear to be the results because we can see 598 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 1: some other donations that these attendees make. And there's a 599 00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:48,279 Speaker 1: fantastic right up on this if you like more information 600 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:52,239 Speaker 1: about it. Uh. Again, a pretty biased source, but it's 601 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:56,560 Speaker 1: worth the read. It's called high Tower low Down dot 602 00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:01,920 Speaker 1: org and this I wasn't familiar with this source beforehand, 603 00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:04,480 Speaker 1: but they have. They have a pretty good walk through 604 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:08,680 Speaker 1: of the mechanisms and some of the organizations that are 605 00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:11,600 Speaker 1: the faces for these donations. Yes, but as a heads up, 606 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:13,880 Speaker 1: as and as Ben said, some of the language in 607 00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:16,440 Speaker 1: there from the author is a you can feel it. 608 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:20,600 Speaker 1: You can feel the bias immediately and inherently. This author 609 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:24,160 Speaker 1: probably does not attend those twice a year meetings. And 610 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:26,040 Speaker 1: I'm going to go out on a LM. Matt, I 611 00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,520 Speaker 1: don't think. I don't think this person is a fan yeah, 612 00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:32,960 Speaker 1: of the Coke Depus. And one thing this author does 613 00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:37,120 Speaker 1: point out that was intriguing for me was that they're 614 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:42,120 Speaker 1: they're really outlining the whole Citizens United changes to packs 615 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:47,439 Speaker 1: and super PACs and viewing money as essentially a vote 616 00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:51,600 Speaker 1: or or voting with your money. Right, This concept of 617 00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:56,040 Speaker 1: being able to make unlimited campaign donations to any candidate 618 00:41:56,120 --> 00:42:01,239 Speaker 1: whatsoever for any reason. Um, the author equates that to 619 00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:06,320 Speaker 1: essentially a coup within the United States. Yeah, and I 620 00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:09,920 Speaker 1: believe the author of this is Jim Hi Tower, who 621 00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:13,560 Speaker 1: builds himself as America's number one populist. Oh, that's his 622 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:17,000 Speaker 1: picture at the top and he uh. He is an author, 623 00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:24,200 Speaker 1: public speaker, and self described political spark plug. Twice he 624 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:28,960 Speaker 1: was served as the Texas Agricultural Commissioner, So he definitely 625 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:33,560 Speaker 1: has a anti corporate stance, be aware of that. But 626 00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:36,640 Speaker 1: with that in mind, they trace the nuts and bolts 627 00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:41,640 Speaker 1: of the organism of the Coke depuses functions pretty well. 628 00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:45,799 Speaker 1: And that's that's where we go. That's the thing. So 629 00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:49,000 Speaker 1: when David Coke passed away, there were quite a few 630 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:53,440 Speaker 1: people on Twitter, on a social media and the present 631 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:59,319 Speaker 1: so on who were more or less lauding, dancing on 632 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:02,399 Speaker 1: the guy's grave, happy that he was gone because they 633 00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:08,320 Speaker 1: saw that as our species saw that as a way 634 00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:13,160 Speaker 1: to prevent further damage, right or further enactment of these policies. 635 00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:19,239 Speaker 1: The thing is, for everyone, everyone who is whistling in 636 00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:22,719 Speaker 1: that particular graveyard, most of the people are celebrating this 637 00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:28,319 Speaker 1: guy's death, are doing so because they object to the policies, 638 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:33,480 Speaker 1: the institutions, the machines that he helped create. And those machines, 639 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:38,160 Speaker 1: those policies, those institutions, they are alive and well, they 640 00:43:38,239 --> 00:43:42,640 Speaker 1: are doing just fine. They are set to continue. The 641 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,800 Speaker 1: money is too good. We know a little bit about 642 00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:49,520 Speaker 1: what comes next. Well, yeah, it's it's the succession thing 643 00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:53,920 Speaker 1: we were talking about. According to the source Business Insider, 644 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:58,240 Speaker 1: there is somebody who is ready to take over the 645 00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:00,920 Speaker 1: heir to the throne, if you will, and it is 646 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:05,480 Speaker 1: David Coke's nephew. It's his brother, Charles son, Chase Coke. 647 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:09,920 Speaker 1: He's at least being positioned, let's say, as being the 648 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:14,000 Speaker 1: one to take over next. But again, according to Business Insider, 649 00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:17,480 Speaker 1: Chase has something different in mind. He wants to shift 650 00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:19,960 Speaker 1: focus of the company away from a lot of these 651 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:24,839 Speaker 1: conservative politics, a lot of the um things. He wants 652 00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:26,360 Speaker 1: to shift away from support of a lot of the 653 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:30,319 Speaker 1: things that his his uncle David had been wanting to 654 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:33,200 Speaker 1: do as well as his dad Charles. And apparently he 655 00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:37,600 Speaker 1: isn't much of a fan of Donald Trump. Right, Well, 656 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:40,120 Speaker 1: the Charles Coke was not much of a fan of 657 00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:45,120 Speaker 1: Donald Trump either, because you know, the policies are the 658 00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:49,719 Speaker 1: current administration have at times clashed with the ideologies of 659 00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:55,920 Speaker 1: the Coke libertarianism. Right, oh yeah, open, open trade with everybody. 660 00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:58,200 Speaker 1: Let's all exchange all of the money so that I 661 00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:01,680 Speaker 1: can make more billions. Yes, sorry, that's put it crudly, 662 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:05,759 Speaker 1: but yeah, yeah, Well, the thing is that he is 663 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:10,520 Speaker 1: apparently trying to how to political phrase it, They said, 664 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:14,200 Speaker 1: Chase Coke wants to steer the conservative juggernaut his family 665 00:45:14,239 --> 00:45:19,840 Speaker 1: created toward a kinder, gentler libertarianism. Interesting, it sounds nice, 666 00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:25,520 Speaker 1: but what does that mean? Kinder gentle or libertarianism. In 667 00:45:25,560 --> 00:45:29,600 Speaker 1: addition to recruiting donors to the Coke Network, he's been 668 00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:34,200 Speaker 1: doing things like anti poverty initiatives. He's been trying to 669 00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:44,080 Speaker 1: grow relationships with high profile individual influencers Dion Sanders from 670 00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:48,120 Speaker 1: the NFL. He's getting down with him, uh, or he's 671 00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:52,319 Speaker 1: trying to build some kind of bridge and you know, 672 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:54,920 Speaker 1: guide their philanthropy so that they can work together and 673 00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:59,440 Speaker 1: guide their philanthropy and towards causes that they're both concerned with. 674 00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:04,920 Speaker 1: And so the steps that Chase Coke is taking or 675 00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:09,719 Speaker 1: is expected to take in the future are seen as separate, 676 00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:13,680 Speaker 1: drawing a brighter line between what they do, and the 677 00:46:13,719 --> 00:46:18,160 Speaker 1: mainstream Republican party, and not all the donors are happy 678 00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:24,120 Speaker 1: with this. They see the change as um not on 679 00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,200 Speaker 1: board with why they got into the game in the 680 00:46:26,239 --> 00:46:35,520 Speaker 1: first place. Still again, Chase Coke maybe driving the machine, 681 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:39,720 Speaker 1: but it's still the same machine, maybe taking some different 682 00:46:39,719 --> 00:46:43,759 Speaker 1: turns and some different routes. But it remains to be 683 00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:48,839 Speaker 1: seen how different this will actually become. And there is 684 00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:54,160 Speaker 1: in this case, uh and an active conspiracy. It's inarguable, 685 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:58,200 Speaker 1: it's not a theory. The network created by the Coke 686 00:46:58,280 --> 00:47:03,439 Speaker 1: brothers conspire through some backdoor things that were not very 687 00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:06,720 Speaker 1: transparent that we're opaque, and they did this to bring 688 00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:12,320 Speaker 1: their own um, their own belief system into the mainstream 689 00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:17,120 Speaker 1: and to do their best to push conversation and thought 690 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:20,440 Speaker 1: in public policy toward that. So it's a real conspiracy. 691 00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:24,759 Speaker 1: The difference here, or the big differentiation here is for 692 00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:28,960 Speaker 1: some people that is a that is a conspiracy towards 693 00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:33,280 Speaker 1: the greater good. For other people, that is a conspiracy 694 00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:37,480 Speaker 1: to enrich the elite at the cost of not only 695 00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:40,439 Speaker 1: every other living human being, but the planet upon which 696 00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:43,799 Speaker 1: those human beings live. Well, yeah, and and if if 697 00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:47,319 Speaker 1: you look at this story individually, it's it's about a 698 00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:51,799 Speaker 1: family consolidating power, right, Yeah, a single family, not just 699 00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:54,759 Speaker 1: a whole bunch of elite people out there. It's it's 700 00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:58,120 Speaker 1: the Coke family. And when you have an error coming 701 00:47:58,160 --> 00:48:02,560 Speaker 1: through like Chase, who has been relatively unknown for forty 702 00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:07,440 Speaker 1: two years or so, Um, it's interesting too. Then thrust 703 00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:10,960 Speaker 1: somebody like that into the spotlight and you know, have 704 00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:14,719 Speaker 1: some some changes to what may happen or what the 705 00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:21,000 Speaker 1: forward facing ideology is of your conglomerate or whatever, because 706 00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:25,600 Speaker 1: there is change in the air. Um. It's really interesting 707 00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:28,920 Speaker 1: because it is just one small group of people who 708 00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:32,080 Speaker 1: are all related by blood, who are managing to have 709 00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:35,480 Speaker 1: these massive waves within our culture and society. So what 710 00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:37,279 Speaker 1: do you think, folks? Is this all on the up 711 00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:39,719 Speaker 1: and up? Is this how the game is played? Is 712 00:48:39,880 --> 00:48:45,320 Speaker 1: this exceptionally evil or unethical? And if so, whatever your answer, 713 00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:48,040 Speaker 1: maybe why I would love to hear from you. If 714 00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:53,839 Speaker 1: you controlled, let's say a hundred billion dollar giant conglomerate, 715 00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:58,319 Speaker 1: would you fight to uh to have the rules and 716 00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:01,440 Speaker 1: regulations put forth by the government in which you operate. 717 00:49:01,640 --> 00:49:04,239 Speaker 1: Would you find to have those weekend so that you 718 00:49:04,239 --> 00:49:08,200 Speaker 1: could make more billions? Would you do that I don't know. 719 00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:12,640 Speaker 1: Put in that position, it feels like maybe we would 720 00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:15,640 Speaker 1: if we knew that that money was all like for 721 00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:20,200 Speaker 1: our family and for the future of our children. It's weird. 722 00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:24,239 Speaker 1: It's a weird proposition. Well again, you know, nobody thinks 723 00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:27,960 Speaker 1: they're the bad guy, nobody thinks they're the antagonist in 724 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:31,280 Speaker 1: the story, where all the protagonists of our own stories, 725 00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:35,200 Speaker 1: we all feel like we in general know the best 726 00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:37,840 Speaker 1: way to do something or have a good idea about 727 00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:41,400 Speaker 1: how to go about it. So with that in mind, 728 00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:43,719 Speaker 1: we also have to we also have to note that, 729 00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:48,360 Speaker 1: in a purely financial sense, a lot of organizations of 730 00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:54,000 Speaker 1: this size are similar to sharks. They have to keep swimming, 731 00:49:54,160 --> 00:49:58,160 Speaker 1: they have to keep eating, otherwise they will perish. I mean, 732 00:49:58,200 --> 00:50:01,600 Speaker 1: that's the that's the part of the concept, right, And 733 00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:05,000 Speaker 1: does that make it correct? I mean absolutely not. No, 734 00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:09,600 Speaker 1: But sharks are scary, right, right, But it's I still 735 00:50:09,600 --> 00:50:15,160 Speaker 1: think it's a good comparison because yeah, scary scary. Sharks 736 00:50:15,160 --> 00:50:18,440 Speaker 1: are scary indeed, But yeah, we we want to know 737 00:50:19,360 --> 00:50:22,120 Speaker 1: what you think. And then additionally, if this is a 738 00:50:22,160 --> 00:50:26,640 Speaker 1: little further away from the coke conspiracy, but additionally, if 739 00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:29,799 Speaker 1: you had let's say, let's keep the stakes small, just 740 00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:34,880 Speaker 1: two billion dollars US. What would you do? What? What 741 00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:38,160 Speaker 1: can you think of doing that would have the largest 742 00:50:38,560 --> 00:50:44,040 Speaker 1: long term positive beneficial impact on humanity or the planet. 743 00:50:44,840 --> 00:50:47,480 Speaker 1: I would love to hear that. Let's let's pitch each 744 00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:51,520 Speaker 1: other ideas. Uh, Matt, Maybe you and I Mission Control 745 00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:54,160 Speaker 1: can get back in the booth next time and have 746 00:50:54,200 --> 00:50:57,200 Speaker 1: a section where we suggest some of our own ideas. Yeah, 747 00:50:57,239 --> 00:50:58,839 Speaker 1: and why would you do that? If you could just 748 00:50:59,080 --> 00:51:04,320 Speaker 1: buy a US in F thirty five as a right 749 00:51:04,640 --> 00:51:07,680 Speaker 1: good math to Uh? Yeah, let us know. You can 750 00:51:07,719 --> 00:51:10,080 Speaker 1: find us on Facebook, you can find us on Instagram. 751 00:51:10,520 --> 00:51:13,239 Speaker 1: You can find us on Twitter. You can find me 752 00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:15,720 Speaker 1: personally on a few of those. I'm at Ben Bulling 753 00:51:15,840 --> 00:51:19,200 Speaker 1: HSW on Twitter. I am at Ben Bolan on Instagram. 754 00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:22,359 Speaker 1: But if you happen to find yourself in Facebook land, 755 00:51:22,840 --> 00:51:26,120 Speaker 1: why not stop on by mosey on down to Here's 756 00:51:26,120 --> 00:51:28,160 Speaker 1: where it gets Crazy, our group page where you can 757 00:51:28,200 --> 00:51:31,120 Speaker 1: meet our favorite part of the show, your fellow listeners. Yeah, 758 00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:34,800 Speaker 1: it's a great place to have discussions with other conspiracy 759 00:51:34,840 --> 00:51:37,759 Speaker 1: realists about stuff like this. But if you want to 760 00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:40,480 Speaker 1: write to us directly or talk with us directly, you 761 00:51:40,520 --> 00:51:43,319 Speaker 1: can call our number again. We are one h three 762 00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:47,040 Speaker 1: three st d w y t K. Leave us a 763 00:51:47,080 --> 00:51:49,320 Speaker 1: message you might get on the air, and if you 764 00:51:49,320 --> 00:51:51,040 Speaker 1: don't want to do any of that stuff, but you 765 00:51:51,080 --> 00:51:53,560 Speaker 1: still want to communicate with us, use our good old 766 00:51:53,680 --> 00:52:17,320 Speaker 1: fashion email. We are conspiracy at i heart radio dot com. 767 00:52:17,440 --> 00:52:19,240 Speaker 1: Stuff they Don't Want You to Know is a production 768 00:52:19,239 --> 00:52:22,040 Speaker 1: of I heart Radio's How Stuff Works. 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