No, but they are a common punchbag for articles like this. In this case, Kochs probably had no idea what TPA is doing and exercised no control whatsoever over their actions in any way, they just gave money to a fund that gave money to ideologically affiliated fund that gave money to ideologically affiliated fund that gave money to TPA. But of course that doesn't make a good headline.
> So now we accept that the brilliant billionaire businessmen don't know where their money is going
Of course. When you donate to a fund, you are not going to track the destination of every cent, it's enough that you trust the managers of the fund that they will direct money to the causes which are ideologically aligned with what they think is right. They may request general report from time to time (like "gave X% to libertarian small-govt groups", etc.) but they certainly wouldn't micromanage every associated organization. Just as I, when donating to, say, Red Cross, don't go and see every project they are doing. I just trust they'd do the right thing with my money, based on what I know about them as an organization.
Brilliant businessmen are rarely brilliant because they know what which cent in their business is doing. More often, they are brilliant because they organize their business in a way that they don't need to know, they just hire right people, build right structures and delegate to them.
> So their not evil just clueless - highly doubtful.
They are neither evil nor clueless. Just as I am not "clueless" because I donate to dozens of organizations without knowing minute details of what they are doing. I just know that they are organizations that do things I support or would support, and trust them to figure out specific details of how to use my money. If I ever learn they are not doing a good job, I'll stop donating to them, that's all.
So, the headline is hyperbolic because the Kochs didn't make the decision, but ...
"More often, they are brilliant because they organize their business in a way that they don't need to know, they just hire right people, build right structures and delegate to them"
Which implies that they did in fact want this, even if you ignore all their other constant political gamesmanship for ends such as these.
Seems like we are having our cake and eating it too.
> So, the headline is hyperbolic because the Kochs didn't make the decision, but ...
And by "hyperbolic" you mean "complete fiction". It's like saying "Soros is to blame for political violence in US" because some of Soros funds have found way to Antifa groups, which are known to be violent.
> Which implies that they did in fact want this
Opposing government taking over infrastructure? Sure did, they are known for their libertarian views. Opposing specific municipal project? They probably had no idea it exists. If they did, I could plausibly imagine they might oppose it, but it's not the reason to put words in their mouth and describe something they didn't as something they did.
> if you ignore all their other constant political gamesmanship for ends such as these.
By using term "gamesmanship" you imply there is something nefarious in voicing their opinion and supporting causes they consider just by means like donating their own money and trying to explain to people their point of view by using their own money. I wonder do you deny this right to every US person or just ones that disagree with you or just ones that have money and disagree with you?
> Seems like we are having our cake and eating it too.
Not sure what you mean by "cake" here. The situation is simple - Kochs are known libertarians and donate to tons of libertarian causes. TPA is one of the "small government" groups that got some money under it, through network of affiliates. They opposed specific municipal project, as they think it is better to be done privately and not by government. Wired tried to present this completely mundane political occurrence as a nefarious plan by a shady billionaires to deprive us of Internet (no doubt in service of their ultimate goal of enslaving us all). Shame on the Wired for doing this hack job. End of story.
