Monday, September 19, 2011

Mark Cuban: "The Most Patriotic Thing You Can Do"?

Typically bombastic Mark Cuban, on the most patriotic thing you can do - though patriotism is generally one of understated reasons to build a business (h/t HN):

Bust your ass and get rich. 
Make a boatload of money. Pay your taxes. Lots of taxes. Hire people. Train people. Pay people. Spend money on rent, equipment, services. Pay more taxes. 
When you make a shitload of money. Do something positive with it. If you are smart enough to make it, you will be smart enough to know where to put it to work.
I don’t care what anyone says. Being rich is a good thing. Not just in the obvious sense of benefiting you and your family, but in the broader sense.  Profits are not a zero sum game. The more you make the more of a financial impact you can have.
I’m not against government involvement in times of need. I am for recognizing that  big public companies will  continue to cut jobs in an effort to prop up stock prices, which in turn stimulates the need for more government involvement.  Every cut job by the big companies extracts a cost on the American people in one way or another.
Entrepreneurs are needed to create and grow companies to absorb those people in new jobs. If entrepreneurs don’t create those jobs, the government ends up having to spend more money to help them one way or another.
So be Patriotic. Go out there and get rich. Get so obnoxiously rich that when that tax bill comes , your first thought will be to choke on how big a check you have to write. Your 2nd thought will be “what a great problem to have”, and your 3rd should be a recognition that in paying your taxes you are helping to support millions of Americans that are not as fortunate as you.

2 comments:

CCK said...

While in general I agree with him about getting rich. I don't think my taxes should go to support others. I think my taxes should pay for only those things that are mentioned as duties of the government. You know, that whole article 1 section 8 thing.

Clement Wan said...

Thanks for visiting the blog! A view echoed by many on HN - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3014384 - with the principle issue being that paying taxes isn't an act of patriotism.