Hacker News Reader

If higher taxes assisted him then why is the United States faltering and our educational system becoming such a joke? I mean to say are we not paying enough taxes? If so how high should they be?

Keep in mind that in the US, much school funding comes from property taxes, and is highly tied to the specific location of the school. Thus, affluent areas "magically" have better schools, and poorer areas have worse schools.

View on HN

I'm confused as to why so many comments on the story are stuck on the very few lines regarding taxes. The vast majority really leads back to his Mom's abilities to seek out ways to provide for him and then putting him in front of opportunities that eventually helped him become who he is.

If she had not been so active in putting him in the right places at the beginning, his life would have been vastly different.

But I can't place where he advocates higher taxes or the misuse of tax money.

Internet libertarians -- of which there are a few on HN -- do not like anything that even hints at the possibility that government can do anything positive, or that taxes should be seen as anything other than a government SWAT team kicking down your door and stealing all your money at gunpoint to give to people who don't deserve it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com