Libraries. A place where people too poor to afford Internet access at home can access information and communities that will help them participate in the political process. Or as conservatives call them: Lie-berries: a direct danger to the our dystopian hopes.
The Poor. The filthy, disgusting, craven, hideous, troublesome, rabble-rousing, undeserving, unwashed, ragged, disrespectful, clamorous, disease-ridden, mostly foreign, foul-mouthed, ignorant, rapacious, uncouth masses of dirty, greedy, tubercular, grimy, mentally and morally deficient heathens who have free crab legs and Obamaphones.
The Koch Brothers. Gross brothers/criminal political lapdogs born into $300 million fortunes who have exploited hundreds of thousands of laborers and the natural resources of America to make that $300 million into billions, and they don’t want to pay any taxes on that, because they are evil.
The Carnegie Robber Barons of yore, when they weren’t pillaging non-rich Americans, worked with locals in designing, building and providing Carnegie funding over the long term for over 1600 libraries across America and around the world. But current Robber Barons the Kochs brothers believe libraries are for non-believers of the liberal bent. They do not like it that poor kids get free opportunities to spend their days surrounded by books and readers instead of home alone with a TV (preferably tuned into FOX NEWS), or hanging out in alleys, while their parents work to pay for their food and shelter. They do not like it that libraries are for many the final safety net afforded to them before they hit rock bottom – where they can search for jobs, send in resumes’, take computer classes, etc. And take action to get back on their feet that they would not otherwise be able to do.
While the Kochs, having shoveled out dump trucks of money on losing candidates this election cycle, have decided to sit out the presidential nomination process, they have not slowed down their progress in their design to destroy what is left of America. The squillionaireres continue to shaped the legislative and regulatory landscape a bit more to their liking. Because their motto is: “We can’t drown government in a bathtub. nut we can smother it with a big ol’ money pile”.
Over in a small town called Plainfield IL, the town was trying to raise money for a new library building – the library being an anchor for downtown and a much-loved and heavily used part of the community. They asked for a 20-year bond and a small increase in property taxes. The end result would have been be a new, larger library, still in downtown, with things like new technology, public meeting spaces, classrooms, and more space for books DVDs and other materials for the community
Here’s what the referendum was about:
The library is currently an anchor for downtown and is a much-loved and heavily used part of the community. They are asking for a 20-year bond and a small increase in property taxes. The end result will be a brand new library that is three times larger than the current library, still in downtown, and will feature new technology, public meeting spaces, classrooms, and more space for books DVDs and other materials for the community.
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The Plainfield Library came up with this after years of focus groups, surveys, and public town meetings. The leadership of the library worked closely with community leaders and stakeholders to create a comprehensive plan that would give them cutting edge library services in ways that the community values. This is good old American democracy in action, a public institution needs an update, the community gets involved, a shared vision is formed, people move forward. That is how America is supposed to work.
Ha,ha, ha. No. It really is not, so the Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity had to step in and abate that nonsense. Americans for Prosperity has literally never met a tax increase for the public good they didn’t have to destroy. Example: the Columbus Zoo funding referendum in 2014. They killed that. A fucking zoo. The awesome Jack Hanna zoo is the single best part of Columbus, Ohio.
They ran anti-library robo calls (let that sink in: anti-library!) and they won. Not only will Plainfield not get the new library building, but:
“a 20 percent cut to services and programs will be needed to keep the existing building functional in the long term.”
“a 20 percent cut to services and programs will be needed to keep the existing building functional in the long term.”
“a 20 percent cut to services and programs will be needed to keep the existing building functional in the long term.”
I kind of can’t believe this. Can you? The Kochs succeeded in not giving those nerdy kids a new library building, but let’s make the current one will suck 20 percent more, BECAUSE WE ARE FUCKING MONSTER BILLIONAIRE INDUSTRIALISTS THE LIKES OF WHICH WE HAVE NEVER BEFORE SEEN IN REALITY. Don’t #everforget this: There is no level to which the Kochs will not sink. There is nothing they will not do in their efforts to change the face of America, from the local public library on up. The only upside is that these two large Kochs are going to make some mighty fine compost when they shuffle off this mortal coil.
I wish sometimes that I too lacked a moral compass and could make a lot of money by taking advantage of the stupidity of people without the downside of lying awake at night worrying about the horrid consequences of my actions and a future fiery afterlife destination.
