freedom of speech

My dad is an amazing man. He epitomizes integrity. He has worked very, very, very hard to be where he is today. Both my parents have said, "the best part of making a lot of money is the ability to give it away and make a difference." They have made a difference in millions of people's lives. They haven't won academy awards or made headlines with their good deeds, but they have sure made a difference on this earth in so many positive ways it's impossible to list all of them.

The leaders of our country are now berating wealthy people in such a horrible way and it is downright disgusting. They live in their government sheltered world, not living under the same rules as the working people of America, and they have NO idea what it takes to run a business and provide jobs. I ran a business. I provided jobs for several young designers right out of college. Every year I would see my company's profits being sent to the IRS...after working from 6am to 2am many, many, many days.... The possibilities for entrepreneurship and small business ownership is why so many people immigrate to this country. But yet, we are being told by the media and leaders of this country that "wealth is bad" and "rich people are greedy" and we should not pursue careers to make money....

People who say this have obviously no clue how important "rich people" are to this country to keep important charities functioning, education at its best and the arts and sciences continually the most innovative in the world. And that is horribly wrong to be so out of touch with reality.

My dad was finally fed up listening to people tell him, basically, how "evil" he is and he "SHOULD have his taxes increased!" because he "won't miss the money anyway". So...he decided to write an ad for the Wall Street Journal to put his money where his mouth is -- and use our great country's constitutional right to "freedom of speech". My entire family reviewed and edited the ad (almost everything big in my family is done together as a family). I designed and laid it out so that it would be easy to read and fit in the dimensions given to us by the Journal (which was difficult considering the small space and how much he wanted to say!). The ad was in today's Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, March 31st, in the lower left corner (quarter page ad) of page A4, front section (you can also go to the blog I set up for him: Technology OnSite Services).

I'm extremely proud of my dad. I wish I could tell everyone every single incredible thing he has done to make the world a better place. But I won't. He wouldn't want me to anyway. That's how most "greedy rich people" are...behind the scenes making the world a better place. The ones in the headlines (Madoff, etc.) only make a bad name for the countless more who are doing good.

Not all people who make the world better are rich, but not all rich people are greedy.