Embarrassed by this blog

[EdwardjK]

About a week ago I started a new topic wherein I outlined a conversation that I had with Larry Swedroe at an investment seminar.  I did so to solicit opinions on his comments.  Instead, my entry was met with vitriol, one-upsmanship and attacks on those with a different point-of-view.

I have followed this blog for about two years and generally ignored the very occasional negative and ad-hominem attacks.  However, what followed my entry was just mean-spirited.

These attacks add nothing to the discussion on the Permanent Portfolio and only serve to discredit this blog and cast doubt on its credibility.  If you were new to this blog and read those comments, would you really continue reading?  Or would you just write this blog off as the rant of some disturbed people?

You have done a serious dis-service to Harry Browne's ideas and CraigR efforts to keep those ideas in the forefront of financial discourse.

[craigr]

I do not approve of personal attacks and felt I did not attack Larry. I do agree with a lot of his advice even if we differ on some aspects.

It is hard to judge over the Internet what people really feel when they are writing a post. A lot of emotional context is lost when they aren't face to face. I doubt some of the things would have been said by all parties involved if they were in the same room having dinner together for instance. As a moderator it becomes hard to know when to censure someone and when to just let it go.

But I will try to pay more attention to this in the future and ensure it doesn't become a habit here. 

[craigr]

Also please understand that the mods cannot read every post. I don't even claim to read a fraction of them. There just aren't enough hours in the day. If someone sees a post that is breaking the forum rules, please hit the report to moderator button at the bottom of it and we will look into it.

[AdamA]

About a week ago I started a new topic wherein I outlined a conversation that I had with Larry Swedroe at an investment seminar.  I did so to solicit opinions on his comments.  Instead, my entry was met with vitriol, one-upsmanship and attacks on those with a different point-of-view.

I have followed this blog for about two years and generally ignored the very occasional negative and ad-hominem attacks.  However, what followed my entry was just mean-spirited.

These attacks add nothing to the discussion on the Permanent Portfolio and only serve to discredit this blog and cast doubt on its credibility.  If you were new to this blog and read those comments, would you really continue reading?  Or would you just write this blog off as the rant of some disturbed people?

You have done a serious dis-service to Harry Browne's ideas and CraigR efforts to keep those ideas in the forefront of financial discourse.

What were the specific posts that you didn't like?

I very much enjoyed the entire thread and found it to be informative. 

[moda0306]

I saw two posts I'd consider ad hominim.

Machine Ghost made a relatively blunt, if not rude (I didn't take offense, MG... just saying) comment about Larry being ignorant.

I was the other one, but I didn't reall mean it directed to Larry like it probably sounded.  My post was referring to all the annoyingly dumb things I've heard about gold (there's plenty on the gold bug side, too, I'd definitely argue)... and while Larry's comment about gold (doesn't hedge inflation) was incomplete and a bit short on thought, I didn't mean for my tirade to apply to him so much as anti-gold advisors in general that don't know what they're talking about.  It was rushed and insensitive.

Edwardjk,

The rest of it was excellent banter and debate, and I'm not sure what you're talking about.  There's a lot of meat in those posts.  I've seen a lot of forums, and this one is not anything to be "embarassed" by.  Most of us aren't gold bugs here.  A lot of us spend our time here railing against the stupidity of a gold standard.  Yet, we advocate keeping it in one's home and maybe some in a tax-deferred ETF for tax purposes... having the only real currency that doesn't need goverment is a handy thing to have.

If you're embarassed by this forum, I'd really like you to point me one that you aren't embarassed by, because it doesn't get much better than this, methinks.  I've learned more here than I ever could have ever imagined a couple years ago.

[craigr]

This is not going a good direction. If someone is acting rudely, report it to a moderator. It's the Internet and we're all friends. It's easy to forget there are real people with real feelings reading the things you write. Diplomacy is usually a good idea. The complaint is acknowledged and I'm locking the thread.