I’m in trouble with Racial Discrimination Act, apparently

Last week’s column on gold generated a lot of, well, gold in my inbox.

Like passive-aggressive Paul:

Hey mate,

You ramble on with such garbage. Who has time to read your anecdotes?

Paul

Obviously not you, Paul!

However, by far the shiniest nugget came from a woman who threatened to dob me in to the feds ...

You’re a Misandrist, Barefoot

Scott,

You really do have a way with you to regularly throw backhander insults at mainly ageing, bald white males. Last week you wrote: “Secondly, you’re 71, mate — where are you getting your income to pay for things from?”

Really! Be careful, young Scott — although not so young anymore — for one day you too will be 71 and some cocky young person will make a mockery of you and the money you have made. Please stop being ageist and misandrist in your writing or you may find yourself in court charged with an offence under 18C(1)(a). 

Your otherwise useful Barefoot Investor book, which I have bought for my teenage grandchildren, is littered with similar offensive, misandrist, ageist statements. They need to be removed. 

Karen 

Hi Karen (well, that’s the name I’m giving you),

Thank you for writing, and for teaching me a new word/insult:

‘Misandrist’.

At first I thought you were calling me a citrus fruit, but then I looked it up in the dictionary and found that it means “a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against men”.

Boom!

I’ve been called many things, but never a misandrist!

It was news to my wife, who in the past has complained that I “spend far too much time in the shearing shed”.

(Click go the shears! The truth is that white, wealthy, middle-aged men — of which I’m one — screw most things up when it comes to finance. Really, how often do you hear about conwomen?)

Anyway, thankfully my counselling studies (and now practice) have helped me understand, appreciate and connect with people from different backgrounds at a much deeper level.

Even you, Karen.

You’re totally entitled to feel offended, to insult me, to even threaten me with the Racial Discrimination Act.

Heck, I’m publishing your complaint about me to millions of my readers!

However, I stand by the quote you pulled out:

The fact is that a 71-year-old (Jimmy, who described himself as an ‘old, and not a very bright bugger’) was considering investing in gold, which pays no income.

So I asked a very simple question: “Where are you getting your income to pay for things from?”

Questions like this are universal, and it’s my job to ask them.

Tread Your Own Path!