>> each of you here and those who are watching on television what a great opportunity we are here this morning to hear from one of the best governors in the entire country. we're just delighted to welcome him to heritage. well rick perry is lone star state's 47th governor. he has defended texans' conservative values, fought for principled solutions to tough challenges and worked to implement a clear vision for better schools more jobs, safer communities and a brighter

future. sounds like our kind of governor, doesn't it? as a result, texas is consistently ranked as the nation's best place to do business and create jobs. i'm sure some of you here know that texas has led the nation in job creation with more jobs gained than any other state in 2010 and over the past 10 years. texans are safer because governor perry has pursued an aggressive border security strategy that is putting more boots on the ground, more helicopters in the sky and more resources into the hands of texas peace officers standing between texans and the exploding drug-related violence across the border. he has refused to raise taxes when texas faced a record 10 billion budget shortfall in 2003. instead he was the first texas

governor since world war ii to sign a budget that lowered state spending and has now done it twice. as governor rick perry has used his line-item veto to cut over $3 billion in proposed spending. he led the battle to pass the country's most sweeping lawsuit reforms. closing the door on junk lawsuits that had been making trial lawyers rich while driving countless doctors either out of the state or out of the profession all together. since texas voters approved these reforms malpractice claims and premiums have fallen and access to healthcare is increasing across the state as doctors have applied in droves to practice in texas. i'm sure that make him more concerned than most governors today about the recent passage of supposed healthcare reform here. in 2005 governor perry signed an

historic 15.7 billion property tax cut for homeowners and businesses that also included new taxpayer protections against appraisal increases. in 2009 governor perry secured a tax cut for approximately 40,000 small businesses in texas and protected the rainy day fund for future challenges. governor perry is the fifth generation texan. he grew up the son of tenant formers in the tiny west texas town of paint creek. he was one of the first of his family to go to college earning a degree in animal science at texas a&m. where he was also a member of the corps of cadets and a leader. so he has the science right. he has the business right and he knows how to lead inspirationally. between 1972 and 1977 governor

perry served in the united states air force flying c-130 tactical aircraft in the europe and middle eastern part of our world. he is a lifetime member of both the national rifle association and the american legion post number 75. he also served as the commissioner of agriculture in texas and he served in the texas house of representatives. he married his childhood sweetheart and they have two children griffin and sydney. we are delighted to once again welcome governor rick perry to the heritage foundation and we are delighted to hear from him today both about his ideas about how to improve america and his new book fed up which we will have copies of available for you and which he has indicated a willingness to sign if we have time today. without further adieu let's welcome to our podium governor

rick perry from texas. [applause] >> peggy, thank you very much. it is indeed an honor to be here today and back at the heritage foundation this foundation has been a singular standard-bearer of conservative thought for some time and again i just want to say kwou for what you all have done. -- thank you for what you all have done. today is almost a week now since the american voter sent a bold and simple message to our nation's political establishm t establishment. it wasn't complex it was pretty short and sweet actually. they said we're fed up. and we're ready to take our country back. americans are obviously fed up with the democrat party that long ago set aside their interests in favor of expanding government, raising taxes doing

the bidding of labor unions and the personal injury trial bar. activist judges. americans are fed up with the repeated incursions into their liberty however their disdain for washington doesn't just stop at the party line. americans are fed up with democrats and republicans who have embraced bailouts, championed so-called stimulus programs and supported big government giveaway. voters understand the true threat posed by this mountain of debt and are increasingly perplexed by bankrupt federal programs like social security and they're deeply frustrated by federal officials who do nothing to address these serious problems. the american people are fed up

with bureaucrats telling them how to live their lives. calling the shots of healthcare insurance. they say they must buy. what kind of food they eat. what kind of light bullen -- lightbulbs they use in their homes. they're also fed up with elected judges telling them when and where they can pray. how we can display the 10 commandments. this simmering trues stations are erupted -- frustration erupted into an overwhelming landslide far republicans on election night. and look at the historic gains in both the house of representatives and the united states senate some comment they or thes call that a republican tsunami. i refer to accentuate the positive. and echo what senator elect marco rubio simply said.

he said this was for conservatives in washington a second chance. it offers a second chance to republicans and democrats in washington. to set aside the accepted way of doing business inside the beltway. to vote themselves to getting it right. starting with essential coons institutional limits on government. i wholeheartedly believe that the 10th amendment to the united states constitution casts a very narrow path. a very narrow role for government. conveys our founding father's understanding that the government closest to the people truly governs best. you know in that key phrase that reads the powers not delegated to the united states by the constitution nor prohibited to it by the states are reserved for the states respectively or

to the people. . n my view the federal government shameful disregard of the 10th amendment pushes us backwards down a very slippery slope down that slope the present of the bill of right -- precept of the bill of rights they end up compromised. the essence of our republic can be lost forever along with those god given freedoms. the words of the 10th amendment are timeless. but they also are a rallying cry for such a time as this. reminding citizens of the rights. elected officials of their responsibilities. that includes those officials who rode that wave of dissatisfaction into statehouses across the nation. i believe some 19 legislators switch to republican control

that night. including two north carolina and alabama which will be experiencing republican leadership for the first time since the 1870s. that's a long time to wait. that's a long time to wait. but we must ensure that it's worth the wait. at the state level my fellow governors and i need to work with legislators to prove the wisdom of our founding fathers. when they limited the power of the federal government and entrusted the challenges of day-to-day governance to leaders at the state and local level. and federal is 45. james madison wrote the powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal government are few and defined those which are to remain in the

state governments are numerous and indefinite. if he were here today i have to wonder if mr. madison would look at today's leaders in washington, d.c. and say, did i mumble? i believe he and his peers were incredibly clear in our nation's success was prove of their wisdom for a long, long time. in short, free people work harder. they live better. they take better care of one another than those being crushed under the weight of an oppressive government. that freedom helped america grow into the greatest nation that the world has ever known bar none. unfortunately that greatness is threatened because we have allowed washington to expand at

the expense of liberty. maybe it was the song of earmarks for local projects. but we have allowed for the creation of a monster. the federal government's current role directly contradicts the principles of limited constitutional government. that our founders they established to protect us from. my frustration with this screwed balance of power that sub tri gaits state rights to federal dominance led me to write that book. led me to write "fed up". our fight to save america. from washington. the federal government's expansion really kicked into gear during the progressive era

as it's sometimes called with the adoption of the 16th amendment that gave the federal government access to our wallets via taxation. i know a lot of people think the world of roosevelt's new deal. i grew up in rural texas but the fact of the matter is, it is a legacy of glut. glut of federal program. including a social security program that is not only bankrupt but also had very little to do with america's emergence from the great depression. and i congratulate scholars and burton folsom for popping the balloon of adoration that surrounded these flawed programs. unfortunately. the new deal has essentially become the third rail of

american politics that indiscriminately killed the political careers of any leader who would be courageous enough to criticize them publicly. you know you combine the new deal with president johnson's great society and its associated medicare and medicaid costs and you end up with 106 trillion dollars of unfunded liability and approximately zero dollars set aside to pay for them. that is not the sort of thing that we do in texas. i consider texas a prime example of how responsive and effective government can be when it's closer to the people. for example, texas has long led the nation in job creation. as becky shared with you. half of the jobs created in the country this year were created in texas. since 2005 to present four out

of five jobs. 80% of all the private sector created in the united states were created in texas. and the jobs that were created by texans, it was by people who risked their capital. who got up every day, went to work and they worked long hours in a fiscally conservative environment. there's four simple principles we adhere to in texas. first, we don't spend all the money. we left upwards of 8 billion in a rainy day fund. second, we have defended a predictable and a stable regulatory climate so that employers know what to expect and they can take the risk at that particular point in time. when they know what those costs are going to be. we reformed our legal system so

that we would cut down substantially on that plague of junk lawsuits that had employers and doctors tied up at the courthouse instead of creating wealth and doing good. and fourth, we put into place accountable public schools. sends a clear message that the skilled workforce will be available if you expand or if you want to move from another state like many from california are doing today. 153 california businesses since the first of the year through september have relocated from california to texas. you know, my fellow republican governors including bob mcdonald and chris christie, they're doing the same thing that we're doing in texas. they get it. that's not to say that each

state is some problem free nirvana. the challenges are still real that the states face. and whether they wrestle with pension fund issues or debt problems states have their work cut out for them. however, the difference compared to the federal government is rather drastic. for example, texans face about 520 dollars per capita in debt. per capita debt at the federal level is around $42,600 and growing i might add as we speak. at the same time the average texan pays 1691 in local tax. 1750 in state taxes but a whopping $8916 in federal taxes. and you know, even if you take

iowa the 25% for national defense and we gladly do. the federal tax burden is about twice the local and state tax combined. now, trust me, our sens can do the -- our citizens can do the math. and they see the difference in value between the state and the federal government. and they are really ready. to regain that constitutional balance. last tuesday's vote totals pretty much reaffirms that for me. on november 2, 2010, people pushed back. they pushed back against a washington establishment that is spending too much and borrowing too much but is ignoring the constitution and i might add the views of our citizens. the election affirms the power of individual americans and it actually in a powerful way repudiatesen and an overly

control in central government. we need to keep the dialogue rolling on how limited government set closest to the people will maximize our liberty our citizens have elected leaders willing to fight for our beliefs and it's time to hold these leaders accountable. for example, repealing and defunding nationalized healthcare in its entirety is vitally important. because you can't go through that kind of legislation piecemeal and pars every element of it. instead they need to start from the premise that the state cans handle these questions better and look to them to support that process. they need to support the states. not punish them. the new leaders in washington and those who profess to be conservative should vote to handcuff the big spenders

simplify our tax system amending the constitution to restrict federal spending. a balanced budget amendment would be the perfect tool for that. and it would protect future generations for -- from this new administration to run rampant. like my fellow voters. like my fellow conservatives in this room i don't see storm clouds and sadness on the horizon. i happen to see some of our greatest days ahead of us. i see a bright, bright future. the future is contingent upon a return to our central constitutional value and individual freedom restoring a constitutional limited government will take a massive effort but our people are more than equal to the task.

surely the people who are willing to die on foreign battlefields in the defense of freedom for others and shelter complete strangers in the aftermath of storms like katrina and ike have the heart and the compassion to tackle this with the continued influence of conservative groups like the heritage foundation and bold leaders from our elected class everywhere we can surely recapture what is great about america. restore this nation to preeminence in the world as a beacon of individual liberty and economic prosperity and there is no greater cause in our time than that. thank you all for coming and allowing me to direct you. [applause] >> i will be happy to attempt to

answer any of your questions and then we'll sign books. >> good. let's make sure that when you stand up with a question you get a microphone before you speak. you identity few yourself and if you're with an organization here in town, please let us know what organization that is. all right. i think we've got -- we can start over here and then i'll just let you. >> yes, sir? >> i write for the pakistani spectator and it was so refreshing to hear you a couple days ago but my question is, do you feel any backlash -- by not lumping all muslims together and not trashing islam? you give very positive feedback that we are all american and ve we have to work together and we have to bring people who have traditional values together and it was very refreshing.

>> i think i use the example of my friend -- not only a person who is a very dear personal friend but also a businessman of some note in texas. i'm sure there are a lot of ladies in the audience that know his products but he is a great businessman and we were talking about the issue of ground zero and he said i know how to take care of this. we build a synagogue a mosque and a church. and we have a great muslim community in texas. businessmen and women who are dear friends and supporterers a substantial number of, whether it is the india house in hous n houston. very large pakistani population that we have across the state of texas. i mean, and working together to build our space.

i think it is very important whether you're democrat, republican, independent or you don't want to be associated with any of those political parties, that the future of our country clearly lies into finding the things bring us together and not separating ourselves by culture or religion or what have you. recognizing clearly those that would use the religion in the wrong way those radical islamists who would use that and that they are the enemy of all. yes, ma'am? >> the tea party has been you know, someone credited the tea party for the republican tsunami. i'm just wondering how do you see the movement going from here

and now that they've got some centerists in, how do you think they're going to be working with the republican party the relationship between the two blocks i would say >> i give the tea party great credit for number of things. one is there have been more people read the united states constitution until last 18 months than maybe read it in the last 50 years. and i absolutely give that credit to the tea party and if for no other reason their engagement has been a very positive impact on our country. politically i saw the tea party, went to many of their events focussed on fiscal conservatism and small government. that was the mantra day after day. a very diverse group of people from all i cross -- all across

the political spectrumly suggest to you. so i suspect that their engagement will be still positive and i hope they will stay engaged for a number of reasons the least of which is to really hold the feet of these elected officials to the fire when it comes to the constitution respecting the 10th amendment and allowing these states to become the laboratory of innovation to compete against each other. i'll share with you one little anecdotal story i think crystal iedzs it very well -- crystallizes it very well. cnbc does a yearly ranking of the state. they have a matrix of which they measure and then they rank the states for business climate the best state in america to do business. well, in august it came out texas was number one. and rightfully so.

but number two was virginia. the first phone call i got was from bob mcdonald and bob was very upbeat and gracious and he said perry he said i just want to tell you congratulations on being ranked number one in that cnbc poll. enjoy it because we're coming after you. and that's the type. that's exactly the type of competition and the spirit that should happen in all of 50 states. not having washington, d.c. mandating from on high this one size fits all whether it is healthcare or education or transportation policies. those can best be addressed at the state level. frankly they can be done more efficiently, more effectively and we can help save washington substantial amounts of money in

that process as well. yes, sir in the back? >> hi, my name is sam stein, i'm with the huffington post and george w. bush is doing a round of media tours for his book right now and i'm wondering if you could reflect a little bit on the man who was your predecessor at the governor's office and also head of the republican party for 8 you talk about need to reclaim from the past -- >> i want you to read the book first off. so i'm going the refer you to that. >> i will. >> republicans are not unscat d unscathed. democrats, republicans the supreme court they all get on my radar screen and the torpedos have been launched. i mean, they hit those targets. look, there's nobody perfect in this and nobody walks away out of fed up unscathed and up

aprotoyatly. -- inappropriately so. there hasn't been anybody done it perfect yet >> what about the medicare prescription drug program. >> read the book. >> okay. let's go back over here. over here? >> hi governor. i'm jennifer daniels, i'm a texan and more importantly fighting texas aggie group. so welcome to d.c. we're proud to have you here. >> it's wonderful to be ranked in the top 25 in both polls. [laughter] >> wonderful football game saturday night. i wanted to ask you about the healthcare bill. of course we're hoping that soon to be speaker boehner will lead the effort to repeal and replace and of course i'm glad to see so many ags are going to court over the bill, but it is not going to happen overnight so what can you and your like-minded governors do in the meantime to help slow or defer the implementation and all the burdens that have been put on you by this federal legislation? ..

>> i think that's a great role governors can play in leading that conversation because the fact is many of us would like to be in charge of those pension programs. medicaid or excuse me, yeah, medicaid is a good example of just last week right after the

elections, and our texas house had a study group on how to better deliver those health care costs. we think we can save the federal government over the next six years $40 billion in health care delivery costs if they will let us do it in the state, and frankly, we'll have more people covered and deliver the health care better. we feel very comfortable that we can do that, and saturday night, speaker or presumptive like speaker and i, boehner, and i had a discussion about how the governors can be more engaged with this process. the message from john boehner is very clear that he was listening tuesday night, and that finding the solutions to for the states

and there's going to be a real partnership there like we vice president seen possibly in decades and decades. yes, sir? >> good morning, governor, i'm james reed from california, a freshman at george washington university, disputedly one of the most political schools in the country. what advice would you give to inspiring leaders of integrity? >> i would suggest that you find some campaigns to work in. go actively involve yourself in public policy, and find out if it's really what you think it's going to be. find a campaign to work in as well as an office somewhere that, you know, whether you're interning or -- find those places where you're

passionate. i tell young people on a regular basis, give back. this is a great country, and we're different from any other country in the world because people who came before us gave back. it doesn't matter whether you join the peace corp. or the marine corp., give back to our state, our country, our communities, and in that, you will find your place. yes, sir? >> this is going to be the last question. >> i'm caleb from massachusetts, intern here at heritage. we know that when president bush proposed reforming social security to try and save it, he couldn't get a hearing even in his own congress. >> he got hung out. >> right. so how do you think republicans on the state scene can reform entitlement programs without scaring people who can't invest a lot of time in looking into

it? >> good point, and standing up and basically telling the truth about it and not being afraid to, you know, i tell people, i said if you need a reason, exhibit a that i'm not running for the presidency of the united states, i wrote this book. [laughter] i love this country. i love texas. i want it to be a powerful and a great place to live for my children, and for it to be that way, we have to address these issues, and not be afraid and tell the truth and push back on those who do nothing more than be fear mongers for the standpoint of oh, they're going to take your social security away. they don't have to tell that to my children. they already know that. there will be no social security for them if we don't stand up as a people and address this issue, so that is the powerful message, i think, that the 20-something

and the young 30-year-olds, they want a country that is economically sound and on good powerful solid foundation. to do that, washington has to stop spending money that we don't have on programs that we don't want. god bless you all, and thank you for coming out and being with us today. [applause] >> for more information visit governor.state.tx.us. >> we are pleased now to be joined by ben, the author of the accidental billionaires, the founding of facebook. how did you find this story? >> you know, i got an e-mail out of the blue in 2 in the morning on february 8, 2008. it was a harvard kid, a senior who said my best friend co.

founded facebook, and no one knows about him. he and his friend had cofounded the company, and he got kicked out in his words. he was very angry, felt betrayed, and i wanted to tell the story, and that's where it started. >> who is that? >> they were two soft -- sophomores, socially inept kids who couldn't meet women, were on the outside, and they met at harvard, and mark came up with the idea of facebook and said if you put up $1,000, you get 30% of the company. that's where it started. there's more to the story than that. if people see the movie, it's intense of what happens. >> what happened? >> it was a college prank. it was late one night. mark was drinking, he had been on a bad date and pulled up

pictures of over girl on campus, and you could vote on who the hottest girl in harvard was. it leeked out, got 22,000 hits, cashed the servers, mark almost got kicked out of college. instead, he went to his friend, if people put their own pictures up, we might have a cool website, and that's the birth of facebook. it started as a prank. there were other characters, the good-looking cool guys at harvard, the studs on campus. they had been working on their own website, a dating site for harvard men, and they hired mark to do their welcomes. he blue them off and launched facebook, and they claimed it was theirs, and they ended up suing. there's two separate students and a lot of fun. >> this all came to you via an e-mail? >> randomly out of the blue, got an e-mail. i had a book called 21, which a

lot of college kids saw. they thought i was the right guy to tell the story. i'm not a journalist or a dark writer who tells dark stories. they wanted me to tell it because it was brilliant kids doing something incredible. he wanted someone to tell his story, but it grew and gru from there. i found all the elements, talking to everyone i could, and that's where the story come from. >> the numbers are on the screen in case you want to talk with ben about the accidental billionaires. why and how did they fall out? >> well, i mean, it happened pretty fast of the they started the company together. they were college kids. halfway into the college year, basically a smeaser later, facebook explodes, takes off. mark moves off to california, and ed war doe stays behind. when mark hits california, he

meets sean parker, which justin timberlake plays in the movie. he's the cool kid, cofounded napster, the crazy kid. he found mark. they didn't need ed anymore. he freaked out, froze the bank account, and essentially that got rid of him. >> what is he doing today? >> he cut off all contact with me. my book proposal leaked out on the internet on a bunch of websites. everybody freaked out. he was in the midst of a legal battle and mark has settled with $1 billion -- >> a billion? >> a billion. >> these kids were 19 years old at the time. he said he could never speak to me again. cut off all contact, so i don't know where he is. i've heard rumors he's in singapore or taiwan. he's an amazing guy.

i'm sure he's doing something in business. he got what he wanted. he's been reinstated as cofounder of facebook so, yeah, i have lost all contact with him. >> what about the wink l vos twins? >> they are rowing for the olympics. they are nice guys. when you meet them, you think they would be the bad guys, and they said to me, you look at us, and you think we're the bad ones wearing skeleton outfits, but they are nice. >> did they get settlements? >> $65 million in a settlement. >> each? >> together. they feel they deserve everything. they are very upset, and they feel like the idea was stolen from them. >> did mark talk to you? >> no, he refused. >> have you met him?

>> no. i'm the jackie collins of silicon valley. he refuses to read it. i heard he saw the movie and loved it, but i have no way of knowing. >> have you been sued over this book? >> no. you know, it's a true story. it's not a negative story. everybody makes it out to be a negative attack on mark. he is the genius behind facebook. i always said that all along. he's just done things that upset a lot of people, and they are the people who will talk to me. there's nothing in the book that's not true. as much as everyone wants to say it, you can't find anything fact chiewlly incorrect other in the movie. i think that's an interesting thing, so, no, nothing like that. >> where do we learn about mark's personality because in the book you say he cut off some relationships because it was all about facebook? >> well, he was determined. he believes in facebook in almost a religious way. he believes everyone in the world should be on facebook.

he think he is changing the world. he's socially awkward. i don't know if you have met him. he shakes and sweats and can't have a normal conversation. he's just an odd guy, but he's truly a genius and he's good with the computers and has a hacker personality. >> where did he grow up? >> upstate new york, and his father was a dentist, his mother was a psychologist, and went to prep school. he was an outsider. >> ben is our guest, the accidental billionaire, the founding of facebook is the book. first call from new york, go ahead with your question. >> caller: hi, i was wondering if you could elaborate with mark being involved with a jewish history group or something at harvard. can you tell us about that? also, do you know anything about his politics? has he expressed anything or

care about what's happening in israel and palestine or what's happening to the palestinians. can you tell us about that? >> all right. got the point. >> he and ed met in an underground jewish fraternity. that's where they met, but he was not -- they are not religious. it was more of a social club kind of thing where everyone in it is jewish, but really a reform kind of -- you know, i would just say he's sort of a regular kid who grew up -- he was jewish, but not, you know, really religious. >> not necessarily practicing? >> you know, practicing as much as reformed jews practice. holiday jews i guess. >> what about the politics? >> you know, i don't know particularly much about that. i wrote about that founding first year. i believe he is -- he tries to keep his politics

out of facebook. i really believe that. they see facebook as a world-changing thing to open everything up. they believe in knocking down all the barriers in the world, but in terms of uses facebook as a political tool, they want the users to use it. they like people getting together on facebook to make changes, but i don't think mark himself is effecting change. >> do you facebook? >> i do. my wife got me on facebook. i was not a part of facebook about a month before. my wife was an add vid facebook user. we have a page for the book. we have, you know, there's a lot that happens on facebook, and so i do use it. i think it's fun. >> next call comes from new jersey. go ahead, new jersey. >> caller: good morning. i do have a facebook account at full disclosure. i'm also seeing the movie. i was interested in the character that mark went out to california to hang out with, the

napster guy that seems to be in the film and was really kind of the splinter. you know, an interesting character, but i was curious about the gentleman who i can't remember -- >> sean parker. all right. ben? >> great question. sean parker is the kid who cofounded napster, the ultimate idol and he the ultimate hacker. he ended up having to leave facebook after getting caught with cocaine. sean is a great guy. he is an absolute genius. one of the smartest people i met. he's truly a genius. i think the movie makes him out to be a villain than my book.

you'll see, he's not a villain. he's just a guy who really sees right to the core of something. he's the guy who said you don't need it in facebook. it wasn't this nasty thing like we have to get rid of edwardo. everything is here, we need it here. why do you have this guy who is not here? you know, you can understand his point of view. he is the one guy in the whole story interested in turning this into a multimillion dollar business. measuring just wanted to prove something, but sean saw this as a milt million -- multimillion dollar company. sean's a wild man, that character. he's jibing justin timberlake. >> he seems to have a lot of sex, drugs, and rock -- >> you know, he's one of those

guys who is out there, a true genius. he's just a real rebel, you know. he's one of the those people who make a great movie in himself. >> is he involved with facebook today? >> he still owns 7% of the company and he'll be a billionaire because of it. he's part of a founders fund in new york and california, still good friends with mark, i understand, and i don't think he's talking to me anymore either. i don't think anyone is talking to me anymore. >> well, booktv is talking with ben, the accidental billionaire. on the air. go ahead. >> caller: i wanted to find out do you participate or do you have a hand in making the movie, social nerks, and i want a book

signed by you. >> you've got a website. >> just go to ben and e-mail there and i'll sign books for people that way. the movie. what happened was aaron, a brilliant screen writer, he wrote the west wing and a few good men. he found my book proposal when it leaked and he came to boston, and i handed him the book. i wrote a screen play, and i was on set. absolutely genius. i've been a part of the movie from the beginning. scott is an unbelievable producer, kevin spacey, and i hope they all win oscars. >> how accurate is the movie? >> i think it's very close to the book. i know i've read a few articles here and there that say they are different, but every chapter in the book is in the movie. what aaron did very brilliantly

is also add the courtroom scenes. you go back and forth from the chapters of the book into the courtroom where the kids are arguing. it's in their own words. these were these kids own words. they talked about everything, and you have mark talking about, you know, what he did as he did it, so it's pretty amazing. i think what he did was brilliant. >> good morning to you. >> caller: good morning. i was wondering how the fond r founder of facebook would handle jimmy kimbell's national unfriend day were they were unfriending people, and he just kind of pointed out how useless facebook really is to a lot of us. i mean, i don't get it, and i know a lot of other people who don't. i think it has to do with your age. >> right. well, i mean, it's very interesting.

facebook -- there's a massive backlash against facebook like we don't need it, it's a waste of time k and yet a million people join every week. more and more people are joining. the more people talk bad about facebook, but the reality is it's a big part of everyone's lives. there is a generational thing, but right now the largest growing numbers are in 35 and over. i talk to a lot of adults and ask why are you joining, and a lot say so i can spy on my kids. you want to know what your kids are doing on it, but you have to join. the reality is facebook is here to stay and become more and more a part of our lives. there's always a movement here or there like let's stop doing facebook, or 30,000 people leave, and then 1 million people join. the reality is whatever you want to say or do about facebook, it's growing in massive must numbers, and there's a point when everybody will be on facebook. >> did you still follow facebook policies? >> you know, i do.

i'm not -- i'm an author. i go from story to story. i tell stories about young people doing things. i'm not a journalist who sits there and studies whatever it is after the fact. i pay attention to facebook because i've been talking about it for the past year, but i -- i like it more than as entertainment. for me it's entertaining. i find facebook fun and enjoyable as long as you use it correctly. i think it's dairmings if you put too much information on it. if you call up a television show and give your telephone number or put your number on facebook, you're being foolish, but if you want to stay in touch, it's a wonderful thing. >> when is it going public? >> i don't think markments to go public. he is no interest in money, and never has, but the people behind facebook, these guys really want to go public. i think it's going to be worth

$50-$60 billion when it does. i don't think it will be this year or next, but i think there's a lot of pressure from the public, so it will happen. >> orlando, you're on with ben. go ahead, please. >> caller: this is calling from orlando, and i i wanted to ask you, what similarities do you see between mark and the founder of apple? >> right. great question. i think there's a lot of similarities between mark and both bill gates and steve jobs. i think that mark's personality is similar to gates. i think he has that awkward kind of sense of his personality, a difficulty talking socially, but also he is going to give a way a lot of money like gates does and do philanthropy because he doesn't care about money, but

there's like jobs who wants everyone using apple products. i think there's a similarity in vision in making the world simpler, but i think there's more brief in openness and less in privacy from mark than jobs. i think you need to be a certain type of person to succeed. you have to be willing to cut people out if they are not doing anything for you, and you have to have that in you. i think that's where it comes from. >> this is from the miami book fair, and we're talking with ben, the author of the accidental billionaire's, new movie out, social network out. it is windy here, so if you see us blowing away, just stick with us. summerset, new jersey. go ahead. >> caller: yeah, hi. i was interested to moe if you -- to know if why he chose to give

$100 million to schools in new jersey. it was great and surprising. >> he gave $100 million to the newark school system which is a wonderful thing. whenever you decide to do something like that is wonderful. i don't sit back and figure out why mark does what mark does. he gave it away to help kids out. i think the timing with the movie, you know, it was what it was, but i think he did it because he felt it was something he wanted to do, and good for mark. i hope he gives it all away. >> seattle? seattle? >> caller: yeah, can you hear me? >> yeah, we're listening. >> caller: hi, you keep saying -- you mentioned this guy is a genius and this guy is a genius. i'm not saying they're not smart, but wouldn't something like facebook, wouldn't somebody had done something like facebook eventually? isn't it inevitable in the history of the computer medium

that obviously social networks like this would develop, and again, i know, to mark and everything, but if you look at the facebook page, it's a simple thing. wouldn't someone else come up with something similar that probably would have taken off? >> seattle, may i ask you, are you involved in the tech world at all being in seattle? >> >> caller: no. >> okay. thanks. >> people did to it. there's myspace and friendstrks ter. it's not the first or the last, but i think what the genius is the site was simple and so perfect. it didn't have the mistakes of myspace and moved and lived with society. it started out exclusive, rolled out college to college, and did a lot of brilliant things that allowed it to reach this level.

it's not the first or the lastment you're correct in that, but the genius is in what the site is or isn't. it's not a free-for-all like myspace or a glitchy problematic thing like friendster. facebook is actually usable, and it does what it's supposed to do, and his genius is not like something we've never seen before, but it's that facebook is the perfect version of what we've seen. >> is it changing the world? >> yes. if you wanted to meet a girl, you had to go meet her and talk to people. now did to facebook, look at your friends, friends, find someone, and say hi. it changed everything we do, our social lives, how we date, fall in love, break up. everything. >> what's the coalla eating story? >> it got a lot of attention, but didn't make the movie.

when mark and the with the of facebook takes off and everyone comes to harvard to get the guys to go sell the company to them, somebody took them on a yacht and sent them a koala, attempting to woo them. i guess it's illegal to eat that in australia. it got the attention. >> caller: hi, i'm just curious about sean's standing in where he fits into this because he was actually the first person that i saw, you know, on tv associated with napster, and from what i understand, i didn't see the movie, but one of my good friends saw it and talked about sean parker. where does he fit in? >> this is why sean parker should love me.

napster was founded by two seans. sean parker went to be the first president of facebook. he cofound it with his friend, both high school dropouts. it's an amazing story in itself. sean fanning was the main guy behind napster. parker is the character that is in this story because he goes on to facebook. they are both hacker kids who changed the record industry for good. >> nobody is talking to you from the book now? >> you know, the twins love me still, i think, even though i don't have a relationship with them. mark never talked to me, ed is not talking to me. i think he should. i think mark would like me. parker, you know, every now and then we run into each other, but i love sean, so hopefully we'll talk again, but, yeah, you know, with the mit kids, i still go to

vegas with them. >> do you really? >> i do. we're friends. >> are they spotted? >> they can't play blackjack. we'll get kicked out. everybody is nice about it now, but they don't want us playing blackjack. >> you are a nonfiction author who has written two number one best sellers, but also two number one movies; is that correct? the only one in history. >> both number one for two weeks in a row in the u.s.. it's been good for the people who made the movie. >> all right. go ahead. >> caller: hi, ben, i didn't read your book unfortunately, but i did see the movie, and i'm curious about the girl that he was broke up with or she broke up with him and throughout the whole movie there was a girl, and at the end he