If a Koch brothers company offered you a job for 50% more in salary, would you take it?

[Renew Deal]

16 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes. Money talks
	6 (38%)
	Yes, it would improve my life
	3 (19%)
	No, I morally object and cannot be bought
	3 (19%)
	No, I would want more money
	0 (0%)
	No ;)
	1 (6%)
	That's a tough one. Have to think about it
	2 (13%)
	Other
	1 (6%)
	Robb is a dingbat
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[Major Nikon]

1. Depends on what I'd have to do

Money isn't everything.

[Xipe Totec]

2. Free money? sure. Why not.

And I would stick around until they fired me.

Which probably would not be too long a wait.

Subversive that I am.

[Adrahil]

3. I can be bought. But it will take more than that. ;) n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

4. For me to refuse half again what I make now would be irresponsible and selfish.

My job is to provide the best for my family that I possibly can. I would add that my Wife shares the responsibility and so I would expect her to take the job as well.

[craigmatic]

5. Yeah but I'd do a really shitty job on purpose.

[Renew Deal]

7. Then why take the job?

Then again, you will probably get promoted.

[craigmatic]

12. To win twice my dude, to win twice. I take their money but still keep it real for the people.

[Renew Deal]

14. Good point

[Chuuku Davis]

6. Why do these polls have an abundance of answers?

Seems like yes or no would be adequate

[Renew Deal]

15. I didn't want to put people on the spot with this one.

It's not exactly "do you have a drivers license"?

[Rex]

8. I need to be able to vote for two options because

"robb is a dingbat" is an automatic pick.

[hrmjustin]

9. No. I have principles and these men are evil incarnate.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

10. They've given millions to schools, universities, and art museums

Nothing is black or white.

Money is, however, green.

[hrmjustin]

11. To me it is.

They can give all the money they want. They own politicians and groups that are out to destroy our way of life.

[brooklynite]

13. Is your objection to the work or to giving money to the Koch Brothers?

I don't have a skill set that would be appropriate, but unless you object to paper products, what's the issue?

[Renew Deal]

16. I'm not supporting or objecting to anything

I have no negative judgment of people for taking jobs that will improve their lives. I'm asking a question that will make people think.

I'm sure there is something you can do whether it's doorman, CFO, janitor, or plant foreman. There's a lot that goes into running a company.

[brooklynite]

18. True, but one point I make is that I want to ENJOY my work...

I work for the Government, and don't make the maximum my talents could generate (my wife takes care of that). But there are many Departments in my agency that I wouldn't work for, because the work wouldn't satisfy my, regardless of the money.

[blkmusclmachine]

17. YES voters are Third Way/"New" DEM

[Renew Deal]

19. .

For the morning crowd

[Fumesucker]

20. 50% more than zero is still zero..

[ScreamingMeemie]

21. Could I stay at home in my jammies doing exactly what I do now?

Nope.

[Starry Messenger]

22. Why would they?

They are probably cheapskates.

[Calista241]

23. I have a friend that works for GP

And she says they treat their employees well, but they are subject to management's political views through memos and what not.

[Coventina]

24. Not for me. I now have my dream job (if I can keep it) and have no interest in changing.

I make enough to make ends meet, I love what I do.

The Kochs would have to offer more than just a raise to get me to move.

[wyldwolf]

25. If you were starving and Chick-fil-A offered you a sandwich...

Would you eat it?

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. Every crumb. That is of course unless it's necessary to share it...

In which case I would share it evenly and make sure not a single crumb is wasted.

[wyldwolf]

39. good answer.

[RKP5637]

26. I would take it, but would still keep looking for better. n/t

[Sheepshank]

27. Many good people work for assholes and get paid min wage

So on the whole, I don't see why these same people couldn't work for assholes and get paid twice as much.

What we don't know with this question in the OP is:

(1) if the new job has the very same tasks already being carried out as the old job. In which case why in the hell are Koch's paying twice as much? So this seems unrealistic a decision that will never really have to be made.

OR

(2) if the new job carries with it moral dilemmas such as trying to promote or implement very very ugly policies, then no, I could not take the job. My mental and emotional well being and good name means much to me. Deliberately doing something that could cost others their lives or livelyhood or damaging to family via direct health or accute environmental damage isn't something I could participate in.

[Cosmic Kitten]

28. $1000 a day could do it

Put me in one of their HR Depts

[KansDem]

29. Yes, but only if Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX) does the math...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017254679

My $9,000 raise would turn out to be $5,000,000!

[leftofcool]

33. Duzy!

[Oneironaut]

31. Yes, and my problem is not with the Koch brothers. It's the weak government

that allows people like them to have so much influence. Businesses will always naturally seek to dominate everything, including entire governments. Blaming them for trying to get more power is like yelling at a bunch of marauding animals for attacking a trash bin you left open. Businesses invariably have to be forced to be socially responsible and in check. The paradox is how to have more regulation when businesses already have so much power that they control the government's attitudes.

[Maeve]

32. Yes to taking their money, no to buying their products

As a storyteller, sure, I'd take their money (devils' have had it long enough!), but my stories might be a bit more pointed than they would enjoy...
And I don't buy their stuff.

[sendero]

34. IMHO...

.... questions like these require a context.

If I were struggling to feed and clothe my family, I would take the #$%$#@ job. If I were "comfortable", I would not.

A similar question arises about shopping at Wal-Mart. I buy groceries there (not much else) because they are 30% cheaper than competing stores and that is a significant amount of money each week.

I don't buy much produce or meat there, the quality is lacking, but a can of soup is a can of soup and I'd rather pay less if I can.

Everyone has to make up their own mind how they fit into the matrix, there are several companies whose products I studiously avoid. But I can't live like a monk either.

[Xyzse]

35. Probably...

I don't really know. Depends on my situation at the time I guess, since it is generally a no.

[NCTraveler]

36. Depends if I had the qualifications and what the job entails.

I could care less who pays me in the end. I could fight immorality and a lack of ethics better from the inside. They also don't get to choose what I do with my money after it is mine.

[nichomachus]

37. Anyone who works for a corporation works for a corporatist

So, this would be no different. Name just about any large, publicly owned corporation and the people at the top probably share Koch's values. At any rate, the board of directors does. Corporate law requires the directors to maximize the return to shareholders -- any other consideration be damned. So, if they can net more money over the short term by polluting the river, they have to pollute the river. If they can net more money over the short term by moving jobs offshore, they must move jobs offshore. They have no choice. If they don't make as much money as they can, they can be, and have been, sued by investors.

As long as they're not asking you to do something morally reprehensible, why not?

[LWolf]

38. Could they provide me with a job

that is more important in terms of public service than the job I'm currently doing as a public school teacher? Something in which I'd be making a bigger difference than I do serving my students, justifying abandoning them?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

40. I wish I could afford to have better morals on this.

[Inkfreak]

41. Sure.

To say no would be foolish, imo. Unless that person looks into every employers political leanings.

My number 1 goal is to provide for my family.

[bigwillq]

42. At this point in my life, no.

I like my job, make a decent salary, and have minimal expenses.
If I were in a position where I was raising a family and could benefit from the increase in salary then, yes, I would accept the job.

[RedCappedBandit]

43. Depends on the job.

I know plenty of people in my field (social work/public policy) who work for shitty organizations.. but are in positions where they can use their money to do good. Even private for profits have philanthropy departments. Their motivations for having those departments might be poor but that doesn't change the impact the investment can have.

[spin]

44. I'm retired and have no interest in going back to work. (n/t)

[Javaman]

45. Once upon a time...

I worked as a camera assistant in L.A.

I worked on all sorts of commercials. That was my meat and potatoes.

once in a while, I would get a call from one of the camera operators that I worked with and he would say, "the Europeans are here with their big bag of money".

Which meant they would pay us in cash and pay us very well.

the amount I would make in one week on one of their shoots would equal about what I would make in 3 to 4 months normally.

needless to say it was a massive payday.

Anyway, they would swoop in and we would find out what the product is and off we go.

However, since they still advertise cigarettes (at least they did in the 90's, I don't know about now), I would ask up front.

I can't tell you the amount of shoots I turned down, because I couldn't bring myself to help promote, even as a crew member, something I know causes cancer.

And at times, I really needed that money.

I just couldn't bring myself to do it, no matter how much they paid me.

so as for the poll and the Koch brothers, I would tell them to go fuck themselves with a smile.

[deutsey]

46. I can't say just based on getting more money

There would be many factors (location, what I'd be doing, commute, work-life balance, people I'd be working with, etc.)

I did work once for a company whose founder and CEO was in cahoots with the right wingers trying to destroy Clinton. That was distasteful for me, but my wife was pregnant with twins when I got the job and we needed the healthcare, income, and stability the job would bring us.

Fortunately, the company for which I worked wasn't involved in the CEO's politics (although it was rumored that in order to advance you needed to join his PAC). I wasn't thrilled with the company's very corporate culture (their casual Friday was what I considered to be regular workweek attire before I joined), but I liked what I was doing, honestly, and I liked quite a few of the people who worked there (some of them even shared my politics).

While my supervisor and I were on opposite ends of the political spectrum (he was ex-military and conservative, but not rabidly ideological), we actually shared a lot of values in common; we just put them into action differently. I liked him and still think of him as one of the best supervisors I've ever had and one of the few I genuinely respected.

So I could work there and hold my nose when it came to the stench of the owner's political views and activities.

I don't know what it would be like at a Koch-owned company, but more money alone wouldn't be enough to tempt me to join one.