“I Think That the Opposition to the Criminal Stuff Is What the World Really Believes and the Support for the Get Rich Quick Stuff Is Just a Temporary Thing. So I Believe That I Am Acting in Concert With What the World Has Shown That It Wants.”

Set forth below is the text of a comment that I recently posted to the discussion thread for another blog entry at this site:

Your “sincere take” is delusional. It has no basis in reality. Pretty much everyone you know has told you that. But you won’t listen. So pretty much everyone has cut off contact with you.

Why do you not see being cut off from the whole world as a problem?

I don’t know why I bother asking, because I already know all your talking points, which are your answer to every conceivable question.

I do see being cut off from the whole world as a problem. A very, very big problem.

It is the world that has adopted laws against financial fraud and extortion and death threats. If I fail to speak up about those things when I am engaged in discussions of stock investing on the internet, I am cutting myself off from the whole world. So I don’t do that.

Now, I of course understand the way in which you mean it. You mean: “The rest of the world is willing to overlook the criminal stuff when it is engaged in as part of an effort to promote a pure Get Rich Quick approach to stock investing, why don’t you do that too?” I see that as a temporary thing. I think that we need to speak up in opposition to the criminal stuff even when it is employed in the service of a pure Get Rich Quick approach to stock investing. I think that the opposition to the criminal stuff is what the world really believes and the support for the Get Rich Quick stuff is just a temporary thing. So I believe that I am acting in concert with what the world has shown that it wants.

If the world is so down with Get Rich Quick approach to stock investing, why was Shiller awarded a Nobel prize? The world has mixed feelings re these matters. We do love us out Get Rich Quick/Buy-and-Hold investment strategies. That’s been shown beyond any reasonable doubt whatsoever. But we ALSO like the idea of permitting honest posting re what the research says. We have shown that with the laws that we have adopted and with the Nobel prizes that we have awarded. Right at this particular moment of time, we are trying to have it both ways. We have awarded the Nobel prize and we have acted in such a way as to keep the Get Rich Quick/Buy-and-Hold stuff coming fast and furious.

What about after the next crash? Will we then see the wisdom of our laws against financial fraud and against extortion and against threats of physical violence. I think we will begin permitting honest posting re the last 40 years of peer-reviewed research at that time. And then we will all enjoy an amazing learning experience together. A happy ending!

We will see, you know?

I naturally wish you all the best that this life has to offer a person in the interim, in any event.

Rob