Who John T. Reed's guru-rating Web page is for
Posted by John Reed on
My guru-rating Web page is for two groups of people:
- Intelligent, rational, open-minded investors and prospective investors
- News media
It is not for:
- Ignorant, dishonest, gullible, true believers
In 1956, when he was running for president for the second time, one of Democrat Adlai Stevenson’s supporters told him, “You have the support of every thinking person.” “That’s not enough,” he said. “I need a majority.”
I know exactly how he felt.
Unfortunately, the ignorant, dishonest, gullible, true believer group is the majority. These people believe fervently in one guru or another and are outraged at any criticism of him, no matter how well documented. They have a so-what attitude about unethical, illegal, or immoral behavior by their guru.
If you love your guru, and you are going to continue to love him no matter what facts I cite to disprove what he says, spare yourself the annoyance of reading my writeup on him. And do not waste your time or mine telling me what a great guy he is in spite of the fact that his material contains numerous false statements, inaccurate advice, and dangerous advice. Or that I should “get a life” or “get over my jealousy.”
I have been in the public eye since 1976. As anyone in the public eye can tell you, we get letterslots and lots of letters. About 2 to 3% of the people who read something I have written contact me. So for every 1,000 visits to this Web site I get about 20 to 30 emails or other contacts. Same is true for every 1,000 books I sell. As with any human being, some people like me and some dont. So I get support mail and hate mail. The ratio of support mail to hate mail is quite constant over time.
If you have constructive criticism like pointing out an error or omission in my facts or logic, I am eager to hear about it so I can correct italthough I may disagree after considering the criticism. If you think I am doing something well, I appreciate the encouragement. But I am not interested in hearing that you don’t like me. I’ve heard it all before thousands of times.
President Eisenhower said, I never think about people I dont like. Thats good advice for both my supporters and critics.
| You probably will NOT appreciate my material if you... | You probably WILL appreciate my material if you... |
|---|---|
| Buy reading material at the grocery store checkout counter | Subscribe to a daily newspaper and magazines like the Wall Street Journal or Forbes |
| Regularly buy lottery tickets or buy them when the jackpot gets unusually large | Know lottery tickets are a waste of money |
| Smoke cigarettes (which killed both my parents) | Heed the Surgeon Generals warnings |
| Judge people by their bedside manner | Check people out no matter how reassuring their bedside manner |
| Believe having bad credit just proves youre human or not perfect | Believe not paying your bills on time is disgraceful |
| Believe everybody does it when it comes to breaking the law or being unethical | Believe you can and must use only legal, ethical means to make money |
| Think black helicopters are proof the U.N. is trying to take over the U.S. | Think the military paints helicopters black to make them hard to see at night and private companies paint helicopters black to make them look cool |
| Think JFK was killed by a vast conspiracy | Think JFK was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald |
| Believe saving is impossible | Believe saving is crucial to becoming financially independent |
| Wear a wife beater (tank top) white undershirt or no shirt at all in hot weather | Wear a polo shirt in hot weather |
| Live with your parents and pay no room or board | Do not live with your parents or, if you do, you pay market rates to your parents for your room and board |
| Do not fasten your seat belt because you think its better to be thrown free of the vehicle | Buckle up |
| Were a guest on the Jerry Springer Show or would like to be | Click to another channel whenever you come across the Jerry Springer Show |
| Believe its smart to use convoluted asset-protection schemes | Protect your assets by behaving yourself and carrying a reasonable amount of liability insurance |
| Consult psychics. | Think psychics are bunk. |
| Think horoscopes are accurate forecasts. | Think horoscopes are bunk. |
| Think a persons warmth and personality reflect the validity of his financial advice. | Regard personality as irrelevant and judge financial advice on its merits. |
| Think the federal income tax is unconstitutional. (See the IRS pamphlet The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/friv_tax.pdf .) | Know that the XVI Amendment explicitly authorized that income tax and that constitutional challenges to the income tax are invariably dismissed as frivolous and penalized by all federal courts. |
| Think earth has frequently been visited by visitors from outer space who are invisible to both radar and human eyes until they appear in a remote area and that the military knows about this, but has been covering it up for 50 years | Figure visitors from outer space would be less shy and more curious about visiting populated areas and that the military would love evidence of visitors from outer space because it would greatly increase their budget. |
| Drive a pickup truck even though you rarely have anything to pick upespecially if you have four wheels in the back so you can carry really heavy loads and a camper shell so you cannot get a really heavy load into your truck bed. | Drive an enclosed car, van, or SUV, or a pickup truck that you really need. |
| Think the way to lose weight is to take a pill that speeds up your metabolism while you sleep. | Think the way to lose weight is to eat less and exercise more. |
| Think wearing magnets improves your health | Don’t wear magnets because they might interfere with the garlic in the sheepskin bag around your neck that wards off evil spirits. |
| Think wearing a belt that electrically stimulates your muscles will give you abs or biceps. | Think the way to gain strength and muscle mass is weight training. |
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