Bye For A While

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by PRICEPLUS

You don't fully own your home..the government does. Don't pay taxes(rent) to the government and see who really owns your home and property!

Based on this and numerous other recent posts about absurd political viewpoints, unlikely impeachments, and other topics that have little or nothing to do with frugality, finances, or money management I can only conclude that the "pre-election stupid season" has arrived and those of us who have no interest in politics will soon be unable to read any threads at all without finding somebody's political viewpoint shoehorned into.

In the famous words of Rhett Butler, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." So I'm leaving till the madness dies down in February or so. See you guys then.

[PRICEPLUS]

No offense taken. I am upset about my property taxes and was venting. Paying outrageous taxes upsets me. Thank you for implying that I am "stupid". I am sure many agree. Blessings and all good things to you and yours.

I truly hope you will come back in February. God Bless!

[tinapbeana]

mathew, it's a shame to to see you leave (hibernate?) through the election season. perhaps the blog area would be more to your liking this time of year: i've not seen a lot of political mumbo jumbo on it so far.

[Broken Arrow]

I don't think you're stupid, Price. Quite the contrary, your presence here is one of many reasons why this board has been such a positive experience for me. Furthermore, I don't think there's anything wrong with venting or expressing your views in any subject matter as you wish. Nor is it wrong for anyone of us, including Matthew, to ignore threads or even leave if they do not agree with certain subject matters.

Only the admins and the moderators can dictate the direction of the board, and unless they something about it, I think pretty much anything is kosher.

[Ima saver]

We love you Price!! Mathew you will be missed!

[sweeps]

Sorry to see you go, Mathew. I think you'll find this board is one of the tamest out there. Considering that the administrators and moderators censor very little here (except for spams of course), the discussions are quite civil. Sure, there's a blow up now and then (myself included! ), but the rhetoric tones down pretty quickly and we get to the real issues.

PricePlus, I thought your comment about renting your home from the government was pretty clever.

[Bookie]

There are a couple of internet boards that I frequent regularly. They all seem to have off-topic threads and opinions that I find odious.

These boards also offer me the freedom to read selectively, to skip the chaff and to winnow out the grain. I take what I can use and leave the rest. It's not all that difficult.

Mathew, I would encourage you to reconsider the decision to withdraw. It makes for a nicely dramatic gesture, but I don't see that it benefits you or the forum. You're a valued contributor here, and I would hate to lose the benefit of your perspectives because you find a small percentage of the postings annoying.

Whatever you decide, I wish you well, and I'll look forward to reading your insightful posts.

[pearlieq]

Do you expect people to beg you not to leave or something???

I've never had much patience for grandstanding, dramatic gestures like this.

If there's something you don't want to read, skip it and move on! This entire board was not set up to cater to your preferences.

[ChimbleySweep]

I really don't like 'leaving forever' posts. It further propogates the drama that you claim has put you off.

It's really easy to not reply or read threads that might offend you or don't interest you.

[Ima saver]

I just don't read the posts that I am not interested in. I think it is wiser to stay out of politics and religion!
Paul, I am feeling a little stressed about my property taxes too. They just doubled the appraisal of my house, so my taxes will probably double this year. I also hate the fact that they are due on Dec. 20th, right before christmas.

[greedy4chips]

I read many threads on here and comment on those that I feel strongly about. I have strong convictions and so do others here. I respect them and hopefully they respect me. Afterall we all cannot have the same opinion on every subject or else this board would not exist.

[Thrifty Ray]

Matthew is just exercising his freedom of choice and freedom of speech..Matthew, I hope you enjoy your reprieve and we will see you if/when you come back!!

I, for one, enjoy the fact that we can discuss pretty much anything here. I think it adds flavor and variety to the site. I enjoy the different topics- but there are some that I simply avoid because they arent important to me.

Opinions, arguments, heated discussions are part of any family...and I enjoy the diversity that this blog family has.

[Thrifty Ray]

Originally Posted by greedy4chips

I read many threads on here and comment on those that I feel strongly about. I have strong convictions and so do others here. I respect them and hopefully they respect me. Afterall we all cannot have the same opinion on every subject or else this board would not exist.

not to mention it would be pretty boring.

[Ima saver]

Actually, compared to the other forum I am on, this one has a lot of really nice people on here. We may not always agree, but we usually disagree nicely!

[poundwise]

I honestly don't have a comment specific to the OP or others' comments in this thread, however, I did want to say that I don't even bother to click on certain threads myself. If one wants to avoid the political, social, etc. discussion, it can be done quite easily in this manner.

I, personally, avoid it because (a) I am not here for that and (b) it almost always ends up being a pointless argument with no end as people bring their various levels of maturity (or lack thereof), knowledge (or lack thereof), and bias to the 'conversation.' That is my own opinion and my preference.

[Broken Arrow]

Do you expect people to beg you not to leave or something???

I've never had much patience for grandstanding, dramatic gestures like this.

If there's something you don't want to read, skip it and move on! This entire board was not set up to cater to your preferences.

I really don't like 'leaving forever' posts. It further propogates the drama that you claim has put you off.

It's really easy to not reply or read threads that might offend you or don't interest you.

Bingo.

[PRICEPLUS]

Thank you for the kind words Julie!

Thank You Sweepsplayer for your kind words.

Thank you Broken Arrow for your kind words.

[bjl584]

Unfortunately, politics and government are a considerable part of finances and economics. Decisions that our lawmakers enact often have a direct impact on our finances and our ability to make/invest/save money. Everything from tax rates to the maximum that we are allowed to invest in our retirement accounts are all decided in Washington. It is inevitable that people that are financially savy are going to have strong opinions either positive or negative when it comes to politics and government. It's just part of the game. I'm sorry to hear that some people would want to go away from the forum until after the elections, but that is their choice. They are free to do as they wish. Personally, I welcome a political debate just as much as I welcome a discussion about finances. Bring it on!

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by PRICEPLUS

No offense taken. I am upset about my property taxes and was venting. Paying outrageous taxes upsets me. Thank you for implying that I am "stupid". I am sure many agree. Blessings and all good things to you and yours.

I truly hope you will come back in February. God Bless!

I came back yesterday and today to lurk some of the threads I previously read and/or posted in.

I'll confess that I haven't read all of the replies in this thread and probably won't till much later. My decision to take a vacation is a personal one based on three things:

1. A low tolerance for certain types of political and social-reform posts that seem to increase before and after federal elections
2. Very limited free time at this time of year due to mandatory overtime
3. A feeling that the forums on this site are more "interesting" than "informative" for me

I'm glad that Priceplus chose not to take my remarks personally since, in hindsight, I shouldn't have named any specific thread because I hit four threads/posts that morning that made me wonder why I was here.

FWIW, everybody has at least a few stupid ideas, or idea that some other people will think are stupid. In another thread my ideas about a certain subject were called stupid, shortsighted, and foolhearty. I consider those mild personal attacks, but I also consider them a normal part of online or offline debate.

I apologize to Priceplus for singling him out and for any implication that he might be less intelligent than I am. After all, he must be smarter than the average bear or he wouldn't have found his way to these forums. Besides which, Priceplus and I agree on a great many issues. The post in question just doesn't happen to be one of them, and it caught me at a time when I was already cranky from working seven straight 10-hour days. So, like him, I was mostly just venting.

That, however, doesn't alter the fact that I need to be online less and into books more at this time of year, if only for reasons 2 and 3 and because there are always more books on my 'to read' list than I can possibly get to. So I'm still going to take a hiatus till February.

Pax Et Bonum,

Mathew Green

[tmango]

Post deleted, just keep my nose to myself, not in anyone elses business....