I do not have any prejudices because I would lose 3/4 of the human race to talk to. But I believe people are the best things God ever made and, if he doesn’t force them to a certain viewpoint, why should I think I have the right or the power to make them change their ways? I can only love everyone and hope love can change some of the.

EXACTLY.

Nobody is saying we should shove our heads in the sand and pretend that bigotry doesn’t exist. But don’t mix the bigotry in with other things stir it up and then slap it on the web in a personal finance blog as if the bigotry actually belongs there or is relevant.

If the tour guide cursed like a drunken sailor would JD have repeated all the cursing verbatim? No I don’t think so. Thats an example of applying a reasonable filter to what you report. Preferring that personal finance articles aren’t laced with 2nd hand curse words for no good reason isn’t shoving our heads in the sand, being hyper sensitive and pretending that cursing doesn’t exist.

Unless the point is to relay how your tour guide was kind of a bigot, relaying his bigotry verbatim isn’t necessary and is at best confusing. It doesn’t add to the story. Removing the comment about Jews doesn’t detract from the story about the work ethic and monetary views of the Aymara people any more than removing random curse words would.

I lived in Boston for 3 years and loved being a pedestrian there – you get to be fearless/insane.

OH and I was a passenger in the Dominican Republic – where you can still drive up to a booth and get some drinks for your driving pleasure (at least that was true in 1999). The roads there are mayhem.

His response was rude and cruel.

Stop trying to defend the inclusion. Take your licks. Be a gentleman and apologize to your readership and especially your Jewish readership.

While you are doing all this world travel to expand your mind (as if you were some teenager), you might want to stop at a Holocaust museum.

I’ve experienced foreign racism of various types. When encountering it, I don’t fight it. Though I have often be rendered speechless. I wouldn’t casually perpetuate racist language by passing it on to others without comment. It gives the impression that this is something appropriate. It’s not.

Unless of course Roth approves of the comment. Maybe he does. Who knows?

Racial stereotypes and biases (especially antisemitism) exist in the wide world beyond our tidy suburban enclaves. It’s out there, and it’s been out there for all of human history. To try and turn a blind eye to it, to just not speak of it doesn’t accomplish anything.

You have to face the fact that the rest of the world isn’t as “enlightened” as you are, and in some places using the word “Jew” as an adjective is just something that happens. Reporting on something said by someone else doesn’t condone what they say. It is merely repeating a conversation that happened that was trying to describe a cultural issue that the tour guide felt needed to be said.

This head-in-the-sand approach to things that aren’t politically correct frightens me to be honest. We’re all so geared up to be offended by everything these days, so ready to pass negative judgement on everyone else for saying things we find offensive, that we’re just isolating ourselves further and further from the rest of the world. And feeling too smug about it in the process.

The world is out there. It’s dirty, sometimes mean, at times smelly, and often enough it can be down-right different. It’s not all bad. Jump in and try to experience it with an open mind before declaring issues, words etc taboo.

But, by quoting it, you did indeed choose to “use it in the US”, since your blog is based in the US. By the way, Jew takes a capital “J”. If you’re going to be “politically incorrect”, at least use proper usage.

That comment saddened me greatly. I expected more from you JD. Looks like maybe you can expand your horizons even from home.

Personally I think one of the primary joys of travelling is to help dispel prejudices and clichés, not to perpetuate them.

The comment about Jews doesn’t really add to the article. It could have easily been omitted. Its clearly offensive.
I don’t see a good reason for including it.

If we want this blog to retain J.D.’s authentic voice – which is probably what attracted most of us to this blog and what separates it from many other blogs – we need to allow his vision for this site to grow, expand and yes, maybe even change. I would much prefer to read a blog that has an authentic voice. I’m not interested in reading a blog that is artificially restricted to repeating the same topics.

Maybe this blog is becoming about more than just personal finance. I am more than okay with that as long as J.D. continues to have a voice here.

You could argue that the article is about conscious spending, but that topic has been done to death lately. JD, please try to write an articles without using this term for a few weeks, because at the end of the day conscious spending is still about SPENDING. It is like a weightloss blog constantly talking about desserts.

I understand that you have achieved your personal finance goals and are now enjoying the results, but the original goal of GRS was how to get rich, not what to do if you are already there.