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I have no desire to oversee a website where folks work out their anger issues by posting snarky political comments. But lately, that anger has been on full display, and we all know why. Love him or hate him, Donald Trump clearly elicits strong emotions.
But here’s the thing: Those strong emotions may be justified—but they’re hard to justify on financial grounds, just as they were hard to justify during the Biden presidency. Consider:
My contention: Readers’ views of the economy and the financial markets are getting colored by their political opinions. Got strong political beliefs? Fine with me. I just don’t want to read about them on HumbleDollar, which is a site devoted to personal finance. And based on the numbers, matters aren’t so bad for investors right now, just as they weren’t so bad during the prior four years.
To be sure, if the current administration moves to revamp Social Security benefits, or revise the tax code, or takes actions that cause share prices to plunge, it’s hard to comment on such things without saying who’s responsible. But let’s focus on the details of what’s happening, rather than hyperventilating about the players involved.
Last week, I closed commenting on a Forum thread because it had deteriorated into political mudslinging. I did it reluctantly—but I’ll do it again if necessary.
By the way, political venting isn’t the only thing that’s verboten at HumbleDollar. I’m also anxious for the site to avoid personal nastiness. In the past, there have been folks who simply couldn’t restrain themselves, despite repeated warnings. Their comments now go directly to trash.
Hear, hear!!
As one of those who may have contributed to the
deleted thread I too apologize and pledge to “Do Better.”
I have always tried to live by this Winston Churchill quote, when irritated by those with who I am “in conflict,” and I offer it for consideration.
“The Truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”
Or said in a different manner, “Time will either promote you or expose you.”
Happy Investing, one and all.
I agree and I apologize for being politically aggressive with my post that got shut down. No excuse but I was in a desperate mood that day when the markets were down and with no end in sight. I respect Jonathan and readers of HD too much to do that again. As always thank you for the wisdom that is available here and nowhere else.
Thanks Jonathan
If you are an investor, you have to work with what is going on. Good investors can make money in nearly any circumstances. Naturally, you have to make changes, but your goal is still to make money, not to tell everyone how to live and what to do.
Ormode, exactly right.
You gotta play the hand with the cards you’ve been dealt. And not the ones you might want.
That first sentence says it all Ormode.
Great comment, Ormode, especially the part about if you are an investor, you have to work with what is going on. Chris
It’s a relief to be here for the insights and well meaning dialogue. We can get our politics and blood sports other places!
thank you for the efforts to keep us on track Jonathan.
Way to go Jonathan!
I will second everything you and the other comments have said. HD has for years been my daily “go to” site.
Though I look more for the financial questions and insight, I do enjoy the personal stories occasionally.
I have found myself over the last couple of months waiting for the Saturday newsletter rather than looking at the site daily because of the political commentary
Thank you, Jonathan. Could you tell us if your able to censor individual comments or are you only able to close entire threads? There have been times when a political comment has been made on threads that otherwise were civil and informative.
I can delete comments, which I’ve done occasionally. I can also edit comments, but I’ve resisted doing so. I don’t want to be putting words in people’s mouths, even if I don’t like the words they used initially!
I agree with deleting rather than editing comments FWIW. The only way I would edit a comment is to remove an entire sentence. But actually I think removing the comment is better. There’s no reason not to; your readers and commenters have been warned multiple times, so at this point there’s no excuse.
I’m a moderator for a blog and have sometimes deleted comments that violate house rules. I usually warn the individual privately and everyone collectively because I don’t want to be accused of censorship, but sometimes people are hell-bent on doing what they want no matter how much trouble it causes in the community.
In the blog I run, I do alter comments. But it’s a crossword puzzle blog, and the usual problem is that the commenter has revealed an answer in another puzzle that other people may not have tackled yet. Censored!
Thank you, Jonathan, for making your position for the purpose of HumbleDollar clear. I have been reading your works for many, many years and have learned a lot from you. This now includes financial and life experience insights from the many contributors to this Forum. What is not needed is political claptrap or personal attacks on contributors.
I read this column for its ability to keep thoughts on financial topics simple and personal; reflections on personal experiences not political views. We can read or watch or listen to political views 24/7 on multiple sites.Let’s keep this forum for the views that we all have come to enjoy reading, knowing that we are not alone in our life journey.
Thank you. I am of the opinion that much has been overblown, yet again! For years I’ve frequently read how resilient the investor and the economy are, but some would have us believe it has all fallen apart. But it hasn’t and if it is resilient then it will heal. There will be upheaval from time to time. This has been caused in the past by automation and manufacturing relocation. The consequences of large scale adoption of AI technologies is coming. The long-term numbers and even the short term market numbers aren’t all that terrible, unless one has concentrated on certain stocks or sectors. Inflation has moderated, too. There are some long term trends that I find to be disturbing, increasing wealth concentration for one. Nevertheless I’d prefer that posters stick to what they are doing when things get dicey and what real, true personal financial impact they are experiencing, if any. Frankly, how I or anyone feels in the moment isn’t helpful. I do find it is helpful to differentiate between our financial reality and our perceptions.
Here, here! Great comments, Norman!
What is that old saying about the most dangerous words in investing being, “This time it’s different?”
I looked up at the sky this morning, and contrary to the pundits and talking heads, The Sky was still there, and didn’t appear to be falling!
I appreciate your actions to preserve the ideas behind Humble Dollar. Thank you.
I agree with you Jonathan, and make sure it is always evenly applied to all politically charged posts.
Thank you
AMEN!
Agree 100%
I wonder how long it will take for a place like HD to succumb to Right Think if we go down the political snark road.
Do we really want to become a place where we can expect to see the same rotation of acceptable ideas over and over?
I must be missing something. I tried looking up “Right Think” and the definitions I am finding are certainly something not to be avoided, but rather embraced.
I couldn’t find your definition.
I had to look up Right Think to make sure you weren’t being political! I see it is non-political but not the best choice of description to use. Best to you.
My bad, I’ve seen it happen in other places. You go from robust open exchange to bullying and finally to there being only one set of ideas that ever get expressed. You go from interesting to boring very fast.
Ok…Now I understand, and I agree.
Not a place where I would want to spend time.
I hope your very reasonable plea has a positive effect. If it doesn’t, I’d support you cutting off threads much earlier than you did the one you mentioned. The same applies to deleting individual comments. We don’t need the snark/distraction from either side, and you don’t need to spend any more time than necessary wondering whether to cut it off.
Sorry you have to be the police.
I participate on another board that uses volunteer moderators in addition to admins. They mostly deal with spam, and now with posts that are obviously AI, but also delete or edit posts that stray into politics or personalities. There is a restricted forum for people who insist on talking politics.
Found the Nextdoor police! LOL
Wrong. Not NextDoor. Nor did I say whether I was a moderator.
Fully agree. The value of this website derives from members sharing their ideas and more importantly their actions around personal finance/retirement etc…without any agenda to sell anything to anyone. If the sight becomes a place where individuals air their political grievances and bias, those of us who simply want a place to learn and talk about retirement challenges will go elsewhere. Thanks for keeping true to your mission.
“But let’s focus on the details of what’s happening, rather than hyperventilating about the players involved.”
This is the key!! Thanks Jonathan.
Thank you, Jonathan! During a time of polarized American political discourse (sometimes even at the family breakfast table) one of the primary reasons that HumbleDollar has remained a daily must-read for me on issues involving personal finance has been the implicit understanding among HD readers that we can “agree to disagree…without being disagreeable“.
So may it be forever more.
Thank you, Jonathan. HD is not social media, we are a community here. I have gotten so much help from folks, even today. Politics doesn’t have a place here, I think. Chris