Someday we may learn that the government shutdown was all just a one dollar bet between brothers Charles and David Koch to see if they could pull it off, just as fictional billionaire bad guy brothers Randolph and Mortimer Duke did in Trading Places, the 1983 Eddie Murphy, Dan Akroyd classic about Wall Street shenanigans.
Please pardon Randoph’s atrocious language, but the reality is the real-life billionaire bad guy brothers are even more evil than the fictional ones. (Imagine what Billie Ray Valentine could overhear the Koch’s saying in the executive can together?)
At least fictional billionaire bad guy brothers Randolph and Mortimer only manipulated two people’s lives; the real-life billionaire bad guy brothers Charles and David are manipulating our entire government.
Trading Places has long been lauded as the best ever movie about Wall Street, according to Business Insider. And NPR breaks down the stock scam in the movie here. But I’ve always felt the movie’s true genius is how it takes on nature versus nurture, and the effect money can have on one’s success and character. (Ed. note: success and character are NOT the same things, and especially not in the 21st Century political arena, thanks in large part to Citizens United and the Duke, er, I mean Koch brothers…)
If there’s a lesson to be learned from Citizens United and how the Koch brothers use of the Citizens United decision it may be that money can alter political outcomes just like it can if you gave it a homeless bum and made him a commodities trader.
