But then I hit this post, and it just turned me off. Nothing frustrates me more than the “We love difference and individuality” dressing of a world view that divides Americans into three groups 1) “neo-hippies with dreads who take 2 minute showers, eat no meat, and are awesome and unique,” 2) “brown people who have values we abhor but are to be forgiven because they are oppressed,” and 3) “everyone else, with their conformist, selfish and ignorant ways.”

If you take the work of educating people seriously, you might consider showing less self-regard and more interest in and respect for the breadth and depth of people’s experiences. Personal finance is not a niche concern visible only to people who like Portland.

But I must confess I used to toss around words like “non-conformist” all the time…when I was 17. Now that I’m 40 I can’t imagine saying that without adding a “mannn!!!!!!!” at the end. This shows that I know I’m being self-indulgent.

The “In the face of overwhelming pressure to conform, how do we live remarkable lives in a conventional world?” line just has me laughing.

One of the reasons i like this site is because JD is not condescending and arrogant like other personal finance writers and bloggers out there. But this convention, from the title on down, come on.

How can you travel the world? How can you start a small business? How can you build a legacy project? The World Domination Summit is a gathering of incredible people from all over the world designed to answer these questions and more.”

The above paragraphs from the World Domination ‘un’convention convention website I like. The whole “oooo, we’re so unconventional and everyone else is so conventional and always trying to make us conform” … bleh. Perhaps I’m a party pooper but I tend to find stuff like this a little too self-congratulatory, too forced … just plain too pretentious.

LOL, or maybe that just says something about me. <>

I wish I could make it out to Chris’ summit! I’ll really have to consider flying cross country :/

How come so many influential people come from Portland? (the water)

Have fun!