Big Ag Drag and The Pump Chump: Austen S. Cargill II and Paul Fireman

Zero Sum Empire

Intro/Billionaires in the News: Back to the Future II is neoliberal propaganda (shout out to Micah Bateman). T. Boone Pickens dead; Robert Smith tells young people to respect capitalism; Sackler Family doing more horrible stuff; Peter Thiel thinks libertarianism will eliminate politics. Billionaire #1: Austen S. Cargill II: 10/10* (16:30) The opening clip is a recording of the Church Universal and Triumphant praying for rock musicians to be cast into the fiery pit of hell in case you’re curious (link below). Austen Cargill is retired and lives on a ranch in Montana. Before that, he was on the board of directors of Cargill, the largest private company in the US. We talk about Cargill and anonymity and briefly touch on some of their many, many crimes. Luckily, there are 14 members of the Cargill family on our list, so just look at this segment as a table of contents for things to come in future episodes. Billionaire #2: Paul Fireman: 5/10* (44:15) This segment was a lot of fun, so we hope you stick around for it. Fireman made his fortune by building the Reebok company and then selling it to Adidas. Fireman embodies every boring billionaire stereotype, so we get to talk a little about what those are. Also, make sure you watch the real estate company ad for his mansion that we mention because it is hilarious. *Rating Score on the David Koch Memorial Asset Liquidation Index Links: Fireman mansion ad: https://youtu.be/d4AwDHoYpQs Austen Cargill buys CUT Ranch: https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/article_dddc76fe-b5ac-531d-95e0-d22565dd8cea.html Back to the Future Product Placement: https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Product_placement Mighty Earth Report: http://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/Mighty-Earth-Report-Cargill-The-Worst-Company-in-the-World-July-2019.pdf Brewster Kneen’s Invisible Giant: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745319582/invisible-giant/ Church Universal and Triumphant from the Sounds of American Doomsday Cults: https://youtu.be/i3ZsUYKDJF4 Boston Citgo Sign: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Citgo_sign