Reblogged:Wealth Is Rightfully Exhibit A

[Gus Van Horn blog]

The good news is that billionaire Ken Langone -- whose investment helped make Home Depot the successful company it is today -- is standing up to Bernie Sanders, the millionaire who thinks billionaires shouldn't exist.

Image by Nathan Dumlao, via Unsplash, license.

The bad news is that he has chosen to tie one hand behind his back while doing so. (I'll also mention that he should rain hellfire on Elizabeth Warren, who plans to wipe out large fortunes, should she become President.)

"Forget how much money I made," Langone told Business Insider. He said that by helping to found Home Depot, Langone ensured that "more than 500,000 people" have been "gainfully employed, providing for their families, enjoying life, educating their kids" throughout the years. [format edits]

Langone is absolutely correct that his money helped employ numerous individuals, but he should be proud of what his wealth represents. Unlike the plundered wealth of socialist elites, Langone's wealth is a direct result of the opposite process, trade, and thus is another measure of the greater value of those companies after he invested in them.

Those companies are now far more able to help their employees and their customers live fulifilling lives. Langone saw intelligent and hard-working people -- and bet on their success. He assumed a risk for them in exchange for a share of their later success. Both sides won.

This is what Bernie Sanders damns when he excoriates billionaires, and this is what Elizabeth Warren would plan to tax out of existence. Do they not know that billionaires help us all by assuming risks that are too big for most of us to take? Or do they not care?

So I respectfully implore Mr. Langone not to forget his billions, but to remember them with rightful pride. They are just as much a measure of the life-giving power of trade as all the jobs he helped create.

-- CAV

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