More on the Koch brothers’ ‘Freedom Center’ at the U of A

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In case you missed it, the billionaire bastard Koch brothers and their "Freedom Center" at the University of Arizona are back in the news again. David Safier posted about it back in May. All the university right wing money can buy:

The Tucson Weekly had one of those articles last week that make the paper mandatory reading. It's about the new "Freedom Center" at UA, funded by conservative dollars and headed by David Schmidtz, "a star among libertarian intellectuals." Ken Kendrick, who is "co-founder of the software company Datatel, and is currently managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks," kicked in $2.5 million. A lesser donor, but a more important name, is Charles Koch, one of the Koch brothers, who kicked in $1 million — so far as we know. There are some anonymous donations which could possibly come from him as well.

Tim Vanderpool has a follow-up report in the current edition of the Tucson Weekly entitled Freedom's Ring | Currents Feature | Tucson Weekly:

Semantics could be part of the problem; in recent years, conservatives have merchandised the term "freedom" for everything from pep rallies to fried potatoes. So it's hardly surprising that this simple word would, in the eyes of some, become code for an often saccharine brand of nativist politics.

But here on the UA campus, it mostly sparks questions about just how "free" the Freedom Center really is from its reactionary donors and their bare-knuckle libertarian agenda—particularly when one of those benefactors is the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. (See "Freedom From Regulation?" Currents, May 5.)

Charles Koch and his brother, David, are energy tycoons known for pouring millions of dollars into ultra-conservative causes. Among their favorites are the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which is linked to the creation of the Tea Party movement.

The new center is staffed with Philosophy Department faculty, and led by David Schmidtz, a 15-year department veteran and leading libertarian intellectual. According to a UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences publication called SBS Developments, the center grew out of classes Schmidtz has long taught on the "philosophy of freedom."

In a previous interview with the Tucson Weekly, Schmidtz characterized the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation as a minor Freedom Center patron, having pledged a mere $1 million. Among the center's other contributors is a major donor that the University Foundation—which administers such donations—has refused to identify.

This only adds to the worry about the corrupting influence of private money, particularly from the powerful Koch brothers. "I think it's problematic for academics, and creates potential conflicts of interest," says David Gibbs, a professor of history and government in the UA's Political Science Department.

* * *

 Gibbs, it defies logic that the Kochs would simply donate to the UA's top-rated Philosophy Department with no strings attached. Instead, he sees it as "deep lobbying," or an attempt to place the seal of academic legitimacy on their extremist libertarian views.

"When you think of lobbying," he says, "you think of a lobbyist coming in to twist a congressman's arm over a particular piece of legislation. But deep lobbying is where you influence the whole climate of opinion. And that's what is going on here.

"It's a very long-term project," Gibbs says. "Since the 1970s, a lot of rich individuals have been trying with great success to shift the climate of opinion radically to the right. The Koch brothers, of course, have become famous for doing that. There's really nothing comparable on the left."

That dovetails perfectly with the Freedom Center, which Gibbs labels "a libertarian think-tank with window dressing. They moderated some things on their website, and some of the people on their board are, in fact, distinguished philosophers, which gives it some legitimacy and cover. Given the record of the Koch brothers, it's difficult to see how it would be any other way."

* * *

UA philosophy professor Tom Christiano serves on the center's advisory board. He says academic independence will not be compromised, regardless of who gives money. "The Freedom Center is still a work in progress, and undoubtedly, we'll have to be vigilant, probably more vigilant than in the past, to make sure that decisions aren't biased by ideological considerations."

Regardless of who donates what, some find the cash-strapped university's increasing reliance on outside funding troublesome. Among them is Rachana Kamtekar, an associate UA philosophy professor with no ties to the Freedom Center. "It's not always going to be possible to ensure that the sources of money are clean," Kamtekar says. "And that's the problem with big money. A lot of it is not clean."

* * *

While there have been concerns about donor involvement regarding four new appointments to the Freedom Center, acting UA Provost Jacqueline Mok cites stringent policies prohibiting such influence. "Although a donor might designate his or her gift to support a particular program or area of study," Mok writes in an e-mail to the Weekly, "we would not permit a donor to make a hiring decision for the institution."

That doesn't let David Gibbs rest any easier. "The use of the money here is something that I think poses serious problems," he says. "In academics in general, and especially in philosophy, debates are supposed to be decided on the merits—that the stronger argument, the one with more weight and logic behind it, should prevail. But what's going on here has nothing to do with the quality of argument.

"This has to do with money," he says. "And in my view, that poses very serious problems for the integrity of scholarship."

OK, so here is my question: during a time of massive budget cuts to the state university system and wholesale reorganization and elimination of degree programs and college departments, how is it possible that the U of A Philosophy Department is adding four professors funded by dirty Koch brothers money?

If I was in charge of budget cutting at the University of Arizona, one of the most useless degree programs I can think of to put on the chopping block for elimination first is the Philosophy Department. Especially that Ayn Rand Libertarian nonsense. They can all go contemplate their navels and the meaning of life while getting high at home on their own dime for all I care. I mean, C'mon!

A philosophy degree is as useless as the old underwater basket weaving courses that athletes used to be assigned while making the university millions of dollars in sports revenues. Take a Humanities course instead, it will expose you to just enough of the classical philosophers without rotting your mind.

Wait, it gets better. Dan Gibson at the Tucson Weekly writes that Andrew Breitbart's Big Government blog has been critical of Vanderpool's article. Some "Big Government" Readers Don't Like to Read | The Range:

[H]ere's what's strange: while there are 51 comments on the Big Government site, there hasn't been that much traffic to the article itself. Since the Big Government article went up, there have only been 18 unique visitors to Vanderpool's story that came from the link inside the article. Even saying that maybe a few people came to the article later or from another source, there are still a lot of people commenting on the linking article without actually reading the source material.

And this surprises you? How many times do I have to take winger commenters to task for "reading comprehension" here? Our far more intellectually sophisticated and intelligent readers here at Blog for Arizona should read Tim Vanderpool's article and post a thank you at the Weekly. Help a "fellow traveler" out.