TreasurePirate69
Hero Member
- Jan 20, 2012
- 589
- 196
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Signing off for a while - I'll check back next year.
It has come to my attention (by reading between the lines) that my dissenting posts are making people uncomfortable out here. I can understand that and quite frankly, it isn't unexpected. I have not gotten a particularly warm welcome with many of my posts. At the same time, absolutely no one has been nasty or demeaning to me. I truly hope that you do not feel that I have been nasty or demeaning to you either. If that is the case then I sincerely apologize as it was not my intention.
I assure you that my intention was not to "troll" this board or stir up trouble. I am also quite aware of the bullish leanings of this forum. My assumption was that this forum was open to all views as long as those views were not destructive to the good nature of the board. I think that many of you have grown accustomed to the idea that this place was mostly a forum for bulls to give each other affirmations of their belief system. I have no problem with that. I had just hoped that perhaps a dissenting view would be accepted and potentially debated without making others uncomfortable. However, I can understand that when a forum has a majority opinion it is hard for people who hold a different opinion to fit in without making others feel like the forum is going downhill.
My views on silver and PM's have changed significantly over the past few years. Several years ago I bought into the silver mania "hook line and sinker". I gladly accepted claims like the "inflation adjusted silver price since 1980 should be $100+" and "all fiat currencies throughout history have failed" without giving them much thought. I mean, if these things are repeated over and over again by people who are supposedly "in the know" then how could they possibly be suspect? After a while I started doing a lot of reading about our banking system, gold/silver standards, inflation prices, and fiat currencies. I came to the conclusion that although a lot of what is being said by silver bulls is generally true, a significant amount of it is questionable in my mind. That doesn't mean that I am right. It just means that I have different views than many of you have.
After about a year of researching and deep thought about my silver beliefs, I came to the conclusion that my current success in the silver market was basically nothing but luck and timing. I decided that I really didn't know anything. Silver prices could go up and silver prices could go down and I wouldn't be able to guess which way they were going with any regularity. I didn't feel that I should be telling people NOT to invest in silver. But I also felt that it was good to give a fair and balanced view on the "silver facts". My goal was never to convince anyone that silver was going to go down. Instead, I simply wanted people who were 100% sure to take a step back and consider the possibility that they might be wrong. Considering that your belief system may not be 100% correct is always a difficult and uncomfortable thing to do. It is one of the reasons why so many people die in the same religion they are born into. I believe that being able to pick apart your own belief system regularly is very important. If you find that your beliefs are solid then no harm was done. But perhaps, like me, you will find that several of your beliefs are rooted on shaky ground. At that point you have a decision to make. Each of us has to deal with that situation in our own way. Some will continue with those same beliefs and others will change them. Neither method is right or wrong. Just different.
So I'm going to take a leave of absence. I might check back some time next year to see how things are going. Hopefully, we are all millionaires. I sincerely hope that I have not been responsible for any hard feelings.
Take care.
It has come to my attention (by reading between the lines) that my dissenting posts are making people uncomfortable out here. I can understand that and quite frankly, it isn't unexpected. I have not gotten a particularly warm welcome with many of my posts. At the same time, absolutely no one has been nasty or demeaning to me. I truly hope that you do not feel that I have been nasty or demeaning to you either. If that is the case then I sincerely apologize as it was not my intention.
I assure you that my intention was not to "troll" this board or stir up trouble. I am also quite aware of the bullish leanings of this forum. My assumption was that this forum was open to all views as long as those views were not destructive to the good nature of the board. I think that many of you have grown accustomed to the idea that this place was mostly a forum for bulls to give each other affirmations of their belief system. I have no problem with that. I had just hoped that perhaps a dissenting view would be accepted and potentially debated without making others uncomfortable. However, I can understand that when a forum has a majority opinion it is hard for people who hold a different opinion to fit in without making others feel like the forum is going downhill.
My views on silver and PM's have changed significantly over the past few years. Several years ago I bought into the silver mania "hook line and sinker". I gladly accepted claims like the "inflation adjusted silver price since 1980 should be $100+" and "all fiat currencies throughout history have failed" without giving them much thought. I mean, if these things are repeated over and over again by people who are supposedly "in the know" then how could they possibly be suspect? After a while I started doing a lot of reading about our banking system, gold/silver standards, inflation prices, and fiat currencies. I came to the conclusion that although a lot of what is being said by silver bulls is generally true, a significant amount of it is questionable in my mind. That doesn't mean that I am right. It just means that I have different views than many of you have.
After about a year of researching and deep thought about my silver beliefs, I came to the conclusion that my current success in the silver market was basically nothing but luck and timing. I decided that I really didn't know anything. Silver prices could go up and silver prices could go down and I wouldn't be able to guess which way they were going with any regularity. I didn't feel that I should be telling people NOT to invest in silver. But I also felt that it was good to give a fair and balanced view on the "silver facts". My goal was never to convince anyone that silver was going to go down. Instead, I simply wanted people who were 100% sure to take a step back and consider the possibility that they might be wrong. Considering that your belief system may not be 100% correct is always a difficult and uncomfortable thing to do. It is one of the reasons why so many people die in the same religion they are born into. I believe that being able to pick apart your own belief system regularly is very important. If you find that your beliefs are solid then no harm was done. But perhaps, like me, you will find that several of your beliefs are rooted on shaky ground. At that point you have a decision to make. Each of us has to deal with that situation in our own way. Some will continue with those same beliefs and others will change them. Neither method is right or wrong. Just different.
So I'm going to take a leave of absence. I might check back some time next year to see how things are going. Hopefully, we are all millionaires. I sincerely hope that I have not been responsible for any hard feelings.
Take care.
