The last person (well, maybe not totally the last) that I thought I’d listen to on a podcast would have been Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries and famously a supporter of “right-wing” causes.

But, there he was on the Tim Ferriss podcast.

No, I’m not going down the political rabbit hole.

It’s all about working together ethically to do something for the benefit of as many people as possible.

I thought I had noticed a difference in the actions of Koch over the past few years, and I was right. He discovered that there are issues where he shared values with people who had divergent views on other topics. For example working with a number of noted liberals to make progress on prison reform.

Listening to him I’m reminded of all the people–politicians and business and church people alike–who draw a line and refuse to work with people on the other side. There is bitterness, acrimony, division.

Or even the political Founders of the government of the US who warned us about the need for ethical behavior for the success of the union.

I may not agree with Koch on everything, but I love his optimism still alive in his 80s and his mission to build things that help others and help society.

This mission works in whatever country you live in. I have met people from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Europe, even China with that same passion.

It reminds me that technology should be in the service of improving society and humans in general. It should be much more than making a very few people billionaires while exploiting us.

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