

Mark Cuban is bullish on America - vaksel
http://blogmaverick.com/2008/11/05/proud-to-be-an-american/

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david927
I don't even think about President Elect Obama being black, and I'm shocked
that people factor it in to his message of hope, as if that's partly what it's
about: that a black man can be president. It's nothing of the sort.

What inspires me is that he'll actually change things. Nearly all politicians
will give lots of lips service to lots of things and in the end keep
everything the same. I (and many others) strongly believe he's different.

That's why people are in the streets. That's why they are excited. That's why
this is big.

It's not about the color of his skin but the content of his character.

~~~
adrianwaj
To me, Obama is a half-black half-white, non-practicing Muslim - not that I
think him any lesser for it. When a fully black or fully devout Muslim
candidate wins the election, that would be very interesting. It is not fitting
to congratulate Obama on the race card just because he's different to his
predecessors.

~~~
ibsulon
Except that he's explicitly Christian, not Muslim.

~~~
jonas_b
I liked Colin Powells take on that one:

"I'm also troubled by not what senator McCain says, but what members of the
party say - and it is permitted to be said - such things as "you know that
Obama is a muslim". The correct answer is that he's not a muslim, he's a
christian, he's always been a christian. But the reallyright answer is: what
if he is? Is there something wrong with being a muslim in this country? The
answer is no. That is not America. Is there something wrong with some 7 year
old muslim american kid believing he or she can be president?"

~~~
olefoo
I think it more likely that Americans would elect a Muslim than an atheist. We
still have a long ways to go in overcoming our prejudices.

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comatose_kid
"While I prefer lower taxes, I can tell you that no entrepreneur or CEO worth
a damn in this country gives up or works less because of a change in tax
policy."

~~~
hugh
Really? I'm considering moving back to Australia in order to start my company
when the time comes.

I moved to the US because it had lower tax rates, but if that gets reversed
then the US can say goodbye to my income.

~~~
vaksel
you are counting your chickens before they hatch. In this country we tax
profit. Which means until your startup starts making you that 250K/yr in
profit, you won't be affected one bit by any increases Obama makes. Actually
you'll probably benefit during the early stage under Obama.

And its not like Australia has a super low tax rate, you'll still pay 30% in
taxes. So ask yourself this, is the extra 5-10% in profit worth it to you to
lose x% of your customers who don't want to do any business with a company
outside United States?

I see the additional tax rate under Obama as an investment. I lose a little
bit off the top, but I'll get more than compensated by my users actually
having money to spend.

~~~
brianlash
"customers who don't want to do any business with a company outside United
States"

Wait. When have you ever not done business with a web services company on the
grounds that it was located outside the US? Do you think that kind of thing
actually goes on? And that the problem is so endemic it should be cause to
stick around, lest you lose all your US-based customers?

It may be so with a brick-and-mortar, or with a business that involves high-
cost shipping. But for a traditional web services company -- Freshbooks
(Cananda), Netvibes (France), Problogger (Australia) -- I don't think that
argument holds any water.

~~~
vaksel
Sure if you have some freebie app its not a big deal. But the second you ask
your users to pull out a credit card your location becomes a big deal to most
people.

~~~
brianlash
I get where you're coming from, but in terms of trust I think people check a
few things:

1) Is my connection secure and encrypted, 2) Is either of Authorize.net,
PayPal, or Google acting as a payment gateway 3) Is the site established, and
does it have verifiable feedback from people I trust, 4) Does a Google search
show other people talking about the site, What are they saying, 5)Does the
site's content converge to norms I've come to know and expect from credible
companies I've patronised

And 6) Is it located in the continental United States (if Yes that's icing on
the cake... nothing more). I won't speak for _most_ (I don't think you should
either) because I have no grounds for basing an assumption of the "most
people" magnitude.

But I think there are a lot of measures people check before swiping the credit
card on a virtual transaction. The US/non-US piece is one consideration, but
that's my point: It's just one item on a list of important credibility checks.

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siculars
I agree with Mark. The promise of hope in America trumps virtually all policy
decisions. I didn't even vote for the guy and I'm actually happy he won. I
really hope the next four years will be an amazing time to be an American and
that President Elect Obama can deliver on his message of change.

------
martythemaniak
"our amazing country once again reinvigorated the dream that any child in this
country, no matter what circumstances they are born into, can grow up to be
anything they want, including President of the United States."

Yeah, tell that to Arnold and all the other first-gen immigrants. :\

~~~
jimbokun
Governor of California's not a bad consolation prize. 7th largest economy in
the world, and all that. :)

------
charlesju
Every time Obama speaks, an angel has an orgasm. - Daily Show

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jmatt
Voting for Obama because he is black essentially defeats the purpose of the
civil rights movement. The whole point of the movement was the color of your
skin doesn't matter. I voted based on my principles and issues.

It's sad to see so many dissenting opinions downmodded just because the
majority disagree. Yes some of them were deserving of it, but others made
legitimate points.

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smakz
It's so stupid everyone's concentrating on race... seriously. You're just
making the situation worse rather then better. Racism will only be gone once a
minority is elected president and no one cares to mention the fact they are a
minority.

Also, he's as much white as he is black. Everyone is pretending like the one
drop rule from the slavery-era south is still in effect.

Come on people!!!!!!!!!!

~~~
jhancock
I don't think race is the only thing people concentrate on. And I do not think
that is at all what enabled Obama to become the Democratic front-runner
earlier this year.

It is clear that race is still a factor. Obama has no problem discussing race
issues openly. I don't either. I think it is healthy and about time we start
talking more openly about race issues, it may enable us to make further
progress. I feel race issues have stagnated the last 30 years. Its gotten a
little better, but crawlingly so relative to what it could be.

------
dustineichler
from the article "In this country you work harder to achieve your dreams and
goals." exactly... !! respect.

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mattmaroon
I am bullish on Mark Cuban.

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patrickg-zill
Apparently Cuban's reasoning is that with a black President, suddenly inner-
city wannabe gangsters will start writing Rails apps.

~~~
fallentimes
Even if it seems sort of trite and artificial to many people (including
myself) having a black President with a name that sounds like "Osama" is a big
achievement.

~~~
LogicHoleFlaw
I had a long discussion a few days ago with a close friend about racism in
America. It's real and does exist, but it really warms my heart to see the
nation come together in spite of that to elect their new President.

~~~
hugh
What about the point of view that Obama won partially _because_ of pro-black
racism?

Both among blacks and whites, there were people who admitted voting for him
_because of his "race"_.

Now, I myself don't believe in this "race" concept that other people seem so
obsessed with, but I still find that a disturbing thought -- just as
disturbing as the thought that some people were voting against him for his
"race".

~~~
rw
Call it affirmative action. There isn't a problem with so-called "reverse
racism" when it is being used to repair centuries of injustice.

~~~
fallentimes
People of today shouldn't pay for the crimes of people of yesterday (even if
it does end up happening a lot). That's why AA/Title9/etc are great in theory,
but pretty awful in execution. If only we were all color blind...

