From: Michael Lorrey (retroman@together.net)
Date: Mon Apr 13 1998 - 18:42:00 MDT
Charlotte Shore wrote:
> Warrl kyree Tale'sedrin wrote:
>
> RE: >> but if you have to work for wage and must spend most of your
> wage for your survive you are not able to earn enough money to build up
> your own firm. Therefore you are forces to earn wage your hole life. <<
>
> > Sorry, but the three people I named (among a great many others --
> some of whom immigrated to the United States, not speaking English,
> possessing only those resources they were able to keep while fleeing
> through the jungle or accumulate during years in refugee camps --
> you can't get much poorer than that) did precisely what you
> say cannot be done.
> Maybe you didn't recognise the names, though.
>
> Ray Kroc was a milkshake-making-machine salesman and repairman, and
> from that start he created the McDonald's chain.
> Rich deVoss was a door-to-door soap salesman. He owns half of Amway.
>
> Sam Walton sold various supplies to small-town general stores. And
> created the WalMart chain. <<
>
> There is a new factor that isn't acknowledged in your argument above,
> and that is that our confiscatory tax system has grown immeasurably
> MORE confiscatory since the above gentleman were able to make their
> fortunes. In other words, it is much more difficult nowadays, with
> greatly increased gov't taxation on our incomes and everything else
> within sight, to save enough to go into one's own business.
>
> In addition, inflation by the Federal Reserve has eaten away the value
> of our money, drastically. Just compare prices for a commodity from,
> say, the 50s to their present prices, and you will see just how much
> purchasing power the dollar has lost.
Actually, Charlotte, it really depends on what state you are in. While I
would agree that, say, New York residents probably have little hope of
saving enough for a business, places like Alaska, New Hampshire, Montana,
S. Dakota, etc. are states with extremly low levels of state tax burden.
While many real estate tax loopholes that people used to use to create
businesses are closed, the federal tax rates are lower on average than
they were in the 60's and 70's. If you can live in a state that has low
taxes, its not that hard to save, and if you are able to save and put
anything in stocks for a few years, you can do quite well. My older
brother, for instance, dropped out of college with nothing but a bad back
and a lawn mower. Now he owns one of the largest property management and
landscaping firms in New Hampshire. He was offered a goodly fraction of a
million for his business this year (ten years since he started it with
nothing). He also does quite well in the stock market. He has never been
given any support from anyone, no outside investors, and always pays 'cash
on the barrelhead'.
Another example is a freind of mine in Seattle, who spent three years
programming at Microsoft, and saved enough to open the Linda Cannon
Gallery, the hottest contemporary art gallery in Seattle.
Then there is my freind Bill Boone. Say what you will about network
marketers (and I've said my share as well, as I don't like most of them).
Bill has been up and down but dedicated to the business concept for 14
years, working on different product lines, and in the last few years got to
the point where he only works an hour or two a day to bring in several tens
of thousands of dollars a month in income, with no overhead. He's a happy,
energetic, and IMHO, a very extropic personality.
These three people I know well, and am proud to say that they are my
freinds.
I have also known quite a few people who would fall in the category of
'trust fund baby'. Invariably they are usually people who never quite
measure up to the people who earned the money they live off of, and never
seem to be quite motivated to do anything about it. Those that do earn some
measure of success do not nearly attain the same level of ROI that people I
know who start from nothing do, which entirely disproves the adage that you
need money to make money.
>
>
> These facts would make the gentleman's argument more true than false,
> IMO.
-- TANSTAAFL!!! Michael Lorrey ------------------------------------------------------------ mailto:retroman@together.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive MikeySoft: Graphic Design/Animation/Publishing/Engineering ------------------------------------------------------------ How many fnords did you see before breakfast today?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 14:48:54 MST