Oliver - I do not intend to imply that laws are irrelevant, but rather the definition of "free speech" is somewhat different on a controlled forum. Hate speech, for example, is protected in many public forums in this country, but is banned on SI.
I would actually tend to agree with your portrayal of this thread - some of the posters are idiosyncratic and ill-mannered, sometimes argumentative and overbearing, and we occasionally (more than occasionally if the last week is any guide) drift into discussion of irrelevant nonsense.
But that is what this community is about - the people who post here, and regularly frequent the thread, understand the tenor of the conversation and presumably adjust their perception based on the history of the other posters.
As far as "desperate criminals" - there are doubtless some people here and on other boards who are desperate - sometimes foolish decisions can cause financial reversals which drive otherwise sensible people to unacceptable behavior, and sometimes people have that behavioral trait to begin with. But I would doubt that this thread is a hotbed of such activity - I know many of the posters personally, and it seems more likely that they would be upset over a bad round of golf than by financial reversals in the market.
As far as looking in the mirror, physician, heal thyself. You are taking all of this WAY too seriously. You have no monopoly on truth. In my own situation, I realize that the good fortune which translated my modest initial stake into an 8-figure net worth was mostly the blind luck of an engineer who made a few good choices and rode the bull market. I have not changed my lifestyle significantly from the time when I worked for a living, and I could easily go back to living on a salary. In that sense, my investments are a hobby - they don't control my life, my interests or my future prospects. Sure, I have gotten used to being able to do what I want when I want, but that is a luxury I can do without if events dictate a different course.
Why don't you try spending your energy elsewhere for a while and see if this current fixation does not turn out to be a tempest in a teapot? |
