AN OPEN LETTER TO EDUARDO SAVERIN ('You sir, are no Bill Gates')

Pragmatic Capitalism ^ | 05/17/2012 | Ross Thomas

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Nonsense.

[ct_libertarian]

And you, Ross Thomas, are no Capitalist.

[Uri’el-2012]

Pragmatic Capitalism

Masquerades as a free market blog.

[READINABLUESTATE]

Ross Thomas is jealous.

[sten]

if a guy has been living outside the US for years... and decides to finally stop paying for services he’ll never receive... why shouldn’t he?

also, who is ‘hurt’ by someone living in another country and not sending tax money to the US?

only the welfare addicts that are taking 65% of our budget

where are the calls to restrict sending money to mexico by illegals in the US??

[wideawake]

There’s a set of “arguments” that you can easily drive a Mack truck through.

[Joe 6-pack]

I personally don't give a hoot about facebook, don't play on it, or know a whole lot about Saverin, Zuckerberg et al. As much as I love this country, I can't say I blame him for doing what he feels he has to do. My only problem with him is if he supported policies, programs and politicians that sucked up the same taxes he's trying to avoid. If that's the case, he's a hypocrite. If he opposed such, then he really should be lauded for his intellectual and philosophical consistency.

[silverleaf]

Dear Ross,

Consider youself un-friended.
Buh Bye!

PS: Singapore needs capitalists, too.
In fact, they welcome them

[dfwgator]

Hopefully he’s not like Bono, who tells us to cough up more money to aid Africa, while putting all of his assets into Dutch tax shelters to avoid paying taxes in Ireland.

[dfwgator]

One of the fundamental freedoms of a truly free country is the freedom to leave. This isn’t East Germany.

[tflabo]

Didn’t the Feds go hard after Gates a few years back seeking more of his gelt? These same altruistic hacks never seem to volunteer more of their own money into the Federal Treasury. Not that Severin shouldn’t be taxed somewhat but what did the Feds do to merit extorting huge sums off his fortune?

[Third Person]

This guy gives the real Ross Thomas a bad name.

[GBA]

Real capitalists build nations.

And then foolish politicians, and the ever more foolish people who vote for them, tear it all down trying to steal all they can from those capitalists.

And I'm supposed to be offended by Saverine's actions?

Not going to happen. I'm too busy being mad at the people and policies that chased him away.

Besides, if I'm going to mad at him, then I've got to be mad at all the companies and individuals who bail out of tax crazy states like California, Michigan, Illinois, etc.

We never seem to tire of getting the lesson Saverine and others are teaching.

[Third Person]

Pragmatic Capitalist or Ignorant Socialist?

[MarkL]

I read a story about the recent increase in citizenship renunciations by American ex-pats, and for the most part, it's not so much a $$$ issue, but an "It's none of your damned business" reason.

It seems that recent IRS regulations demand that when an American citizen marries someone with different citizenship, and lives in a foreign country, the IRS now demands all sorts of financial information from that foreign spouse, even if he or she does no business and has no income from the US. I've also heard that many foreign banks are now refusing to do business with US citizens, due to the US government demands for information.

Mark

[sten]

he’s lived outside the US for 2-3 yrs. didn’t grow up here... and intends to live in singapore

if the US believes they have some claim on his property (money == property) just because his business touched the US market...

then why aren’t they demanding money from ALL foreign citizens that receive financial benefits while dealing with the US?

why aren’t they demanding all those receiving money from illegals working in the US pay US taxes??

on top of all that... why the HELL is there no cap?

[MarkL]

Re: You sir, are no Bill Gates

(From "The Big Bang Theory," "The Toast Derivation." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1632232/quotes?qt=qt1439115

[Usual gang and Priya are gossiping about Sheldon]

Howard Wolowitz: Raj, did you ever tell your sister about the time Sheldon got punched by Bill Gates?

Priya: Oh, God! You're kidding?

Raj Koothrappali: Nope. Gates gave a speech at the university. Sheldon went up to him afterward and said, "Maybe if you weren't so distracted by sick children in Africa, you could've put a little more thought into Windows Vista."

[all laugh]

Leonard Hofstadter: Bam! Right in the nose. Made me proud to own a PC.

Mark

[gusty]

Saverine’s move to Singapore is an act that protects the rest of us. Without the threat of leaving, what amount of money would government decide to confiscate. As I heard Mark Steyn say, can you imagine the tax rate a one world government would impose.

[ontap]

I’m for anything one has to do to save his assets from communistic seizure.