> For some personal background, I do come from a financially stable family. My parents could have covered the $16k to help me follow my dreams. But I didn't ask them (and neither did they offer). The financial pressure and responsibility of my startup was to be fully on my shoulders.
Even though he wasn't accepting money from his parents, he was implicitly using their financial security to shoulder this risk. If everything had really gone to hell, they would have helped him back on his feet. (Much like some banks could take huge risks knowing the government would probably bail them out, even if there wasn't an explicit agreement or exchange of money beforehand.) Other people, like maybe his friend, don't have such a financial safety net and so can't take on those kinds of risks.
Credit card debt is, in most states, entirely dischargable in bankruptcy. So while it would be unethical to take on all this debt specifically with the purposes of squandering it, the CC companies are extending you an unsecured loan. It's really not all that bad of an idea, provided you can survive a bankruptcy and a few years of exceptionally poor credit.
This is like saying no American ever takes a risk because there is unemployment benefits, free healthcare clinics, and homeless shelters.
In Jason's case, remember, shit did hit the fan and he couldn't pay his debt. Instead of running to his parents (or bankruptcy, for that matter) he scrounged for some consulting gigs and short-time jobs to pay it back.
Frankly, that part of the story is among the most inspiring, since in the middle of that, we started FlightCaster.
Even though he wasn't accepting money from his parents, he was implicitly using their financial security to shoulder this risk. If everything had really gone to hell, they would have helped him back on his feet. (Much like some banks could take huge risks knowing the government would probably bail them out, even if there wasn't an explicit agreement or exchange of money beforehand.) Other people, like maybe his friend, don't have such a financial safety net and so can't take on those kinds of risks.