Ken Burnstein

I'm obsessed with simplifying things! Minimalist, Generalist, Technology Advisor. Founder at ClientCentric.

[david friedberg @friedberg]

why not just raise income tax rates?

because your real intent is not to just “provide healthcare”.

you’re masking that you are proposing the creation of, for the first time in the 250 years of this American republic, an organized government seizure of private property from citizens.

you’re calling it a “wealth tax” or a “billionaires tax” or “millionaires tax” or whatever nom du jour polls well. but at the end of the day, it’s the seizure of private property from citizens by the government. citizens that earned money, paid their fair taxes on those earnings (53% if they live in California) and are now being told they need to hand over after-tax assets because the government has failed to provide promised services with the revenue it’s collected, and are now re-casting their own failure to be a socio-economic inequity that must be justly resolved... a slippery slope that has never gone anywhere good (see economic effects in USSR, Cuba, Venezuela, France and Norway wealth tax etc.)

the American founders fled tyranny in Europe and this amazing nation was populated by immigrants (myself and your parents) from around the world not just looking for a “better life” but for a place where they could have freedom from tyrannical governments that can take what they want from private citizens. a great nation borne of property rights, the rule of law, and endowed freedoms to believe, speak, or act. these principles led to the greatest run of innovations, successes, and widespread increase in prosperity, for all citizens, ever seen.

the citizens, the individuals, not the institutions, delivered this progress. those who invented, who toiled, who bled, who sacrificed, who took risk and persevered, who led, and who changed the world, are not charlatans, kleptocrats, or oligarchs. they’re what made us all better off. prosperity is a measure of america’s success, not its failure.

it is your principle that is so offensive, as evidenced by the broad disdain for your flippant flirtation with the darkest of human fantasy - socialism. you and other neo-socialists have led so many of us to reflect on America’s history and what it is becoming. that now leads so many to consider, so unnecessarily, leaving their homes for a place where everyone stands up to shout down the principle you suggest. because if your ideas are now considered moderate, it’s clear this titanic is sinking.

that a “simple tax” of taking assets that have been earned, through toil and tribulation, rightly taxed, and preserved, should now be unjustly seized, is your solution to a problem of obvious government mismanagement and outright fraud, tells us that your true motivation lies not in giving people healthcare but in cutting down success and deleting the system of prosperity and opportunity for all.

i don’t care, and neither should anyone else, what the sum total market value of a private citizens private assets might be. it is none of my business and should be none of yours. because, again, once you open that pandora’s box, we might as well study Lord of the Flies … there is literally nothing stopping 51% of citizens demanding that their government go out and seize 100% of the private property of the 49%.

want to give healthcare to people in need? do your job and fix healthcare. make it affordable. want to be lazy about it? then do your job lazily and raise income taxes.

want to take private property from private citizens who have paid their fair share of taxes and legally earned their property, then honestly declare that it is envy, not inequity, that you strive to resolve…

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Told my dog "no mas" after his last treat, within earshot of my phone. Now all my ads are in Spanish!

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Overheard in San Francisco: "an it was the kind of meditating where you're not talking to ANYBODY!"

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

My wife just summoned me to look up the meaning of the word "minion" for her. Gotta appreciate the irony

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Only in SF - Me: (to 80+ year old guy in Mercedes) "excuse me sir, don't know if you know it, but you're parked on top of a scooter" Old Guy: "ohhh... Thats ok. I'm just waiting for my wife to finish at the hairdresser, so I won't be here that long"

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Currently reading Scaling Up by Verne Harnish. Good read so far! https://t.co/j9lYFMszWc

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Can't stop watching this!

[Tiffany Fong @TiffanyFong]

gm this made me cry laughing

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

@grantsdotgov Is there currently a way to export data into a CSV file, and/or an API available?

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Great visual....

[Hiten Shah @hnshah]

This is a fantastic visual explanation of crossing the chasm from a product perspective.

[Harrison Schenck @FractionalList]

Playing with dad is proven again and again to boost cognitive development

Wrestling, tossing on the bed (safely), climbing, tackling, etc

Not to mention the positive downstream social effects

The video below explains it well

Imagine your 4 year old deciding whether or not he should jump off the coffee table and give you a people's elbow to the ribs

If you get upset when he does this, you risk reinforcing timidity and shame while creating an approval-seeking gap that he'll seek to fill the rest of his life

But if you clap and give him approval and say "nice work", you're equipping him with confidence for the metaphorical battles life has in store for him as he comes of age

Highly recommend all dads of young kids watch this whole thing:

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Definitely felt that last earthquake this afternoon!

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

ClientCentric just launched the first School and Daycare Solution on the @mondaydotcom platform.

https://t.co/Yom6Hwmx6z

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Can't wait to pick up one of these babies!
https://t.co/hcizOpz7RY

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

This is a must watch, if you haven't seen it...
https://t.co/Qd76Etz6WG

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Overheard in Istanbul:

Vendor: "you look like you could use some ice cream!".

Me: "thanks, but I just ate."

Vendor: "How about a carpet?"

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Holy crap.... I'd be comatose for three days after one of these!

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

Went into a bookstore in Seoul and picked up a book on useful English phrases for everyday conversation.

Opened to a random page and found these gems: "I have swallowed a mosquito", "I think he might be a spy" and my favorite: "I have thrown my life away"

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

I don't have time to learn another language, so I've decided to learn a new accent.

[Ken Burnstein @kenburnstein]

What open loops do you have floating around in your subconscious right now that are keeping you from getting a good night's sleep?