Point of View February 10, 2025 – Hour 2 : National Marriage Week

[00:00:04] Across America, Live, this is Point of View Anderson. Quite often here we talk about marriage on Point of View and we're going to be talking now about the National Marriage Week which actually culminates on Friday which is Valentine's Day.

[00:00:32] For those of you men out there that want to forget these kinds of things, you might mark your calendar right now that indeed Valentine's Day is February 14th. To help us understand a little bit more about this marriage week and also to learn a little bit more about how to make our marriages more successful,

[00:00:52] we bring back to the microphone Arlene Pellicane, an individual I interviewed many years ago but about a year ago, Penna Dexter did an interview with her as well. Top marriage and parenting author, perhaps you've seen her on different programs, listened to her on other radio programs, and she has written such books as 31 Days to a Happy Husband, 31 Days to Becoming a Happier Wife.

[00:01:16] And just a week ago this new book which I'll hold up for those of you watching online, Making Marriage Easier, How to Love and Like Your Spouse for Life. Lots of great suggestions which we'll get to in just a minute. But Arlene, welcome back to Point of View. It's such a joy to be with you, Kirby. Thanks so much for having me. Well, I've had a chance to interview you. Penna Dexter has had a chance to interview you. And I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with you.

[00:01:43] But I think the new information before we get to your new book is this National Marriage Week which is already culminated. But there are all sorts of resources I wanted people to know about so they can go to marriageweek.org or simply go to the link that we have on the website. But give us some of the background and history. Yeah, it's an exciting movement to unify people around marriage. You know, if you say, oh, you know, what do you think about marriage? You might get blank stares.

[00:02:12] If you ask a 20 something, do you think marriage is still important? I'm not sure. So what National Marriage Week is all about is celebrating marriage, shifting the culture to see marriage as something good and beautiful. So National Marriage Week, it started in 1996 in the United Kingdom. It came to the United States in 2002.

[00:02:32] And now every year between February 7th to 14th, it's about mobilizing communities, churches, you know, people, city governments to say, hey, marriage is a good thing. We are for it. And so this year National Marriage Week is doing something completely new is we are doing virtual events every night of Marriage Week to help you with some point of your marriage. So, for instance, tonight is about coping with crisis and adversity.

[00:03:01] And, you know, whether it's children or literally like the fires or floods, et cetera, there's a lot of crisis around. So tonight that's what's being offered. And every night until Valentine's Day, you can pick a live stream. You can watch it when it airs or you can have access to it afterwards. But you do have to sign up. And that's at marriageweek.org. And tomorrow is about conflict. So, you know, who doesn't have that? So there's a lot of good subjects to look at.

[00:03:29] I just mentioned, too, that, of course, you have some community marriage initiatives. You can go to the little map on marriageweek.org and find that out. Also find some marriage initiative marriage leaders. But and again, I see these a lot of places located where we broadcast all over the United States. But whether you have something in your local community or not, there's a place where you can actually live stream some of this.

[00:03:54] But also one of the things I thought was so interesting is you have a way in which you can actually have couples download a couples connection program. They can download date night ideas, even a whole section that they can get at least a brief look at your new book, Making Marriage Easier.

[00:04:13] So talk about that, because in some respects, people should just even as we go to the break in a couple of minutes while they're not wanting to miss the conversation we're having with you can go and download all sorts of great material that's available there for them free. Yeah, that you never have to feel alone in your marriage like, oh, my goodness, I'm stuck. What do I do? Marriageweek.org. You can find, as you said, the couple connection plan, like you're out on a date, but you don't know what to do and you don't know what to talk about. You know, it'll help you. Just think of questions.

[00:04:43] You know, you've been together so long and you can't think of anything new. So get those conversation starters, date night ideas, and then my book, Making Marriage Easier. But you are not alone. You can go to marriageweek.org and the theme this year is Pursuing a Lasting Love. And we want to help you do just that. This weekend for just a minute before we get into some of your book and other resources, really make the case because you do have a section there on why marriage matters.

[00:05:09] And, Arlene, we've had this conversation before because first we saw that there were young women growing up, maybe influenced by the feminist movement, that said, you know, maybe a man really isn't that important to me and I'm just going to kind of go it alone. Or even so, maybe I will maybe raise a child. But, you know, men and husbands are kind of optional.

[00:05:32] Well, now we're getting to the point where a lot of young people, as you mentioned just a minute ago, the younger you are, the generation Y, especially the generation Z, saying, I'm not even sure marriage is all that important. And it seems to me that maybe it's time to come back and talk about why marriage matters. It's so true. And I think if we can model it and show it, you know, in 1960, 88% of young men, you know, age 25 to 35 were married. So, you know, almost 90%.

[00:06:01] And today that number is only 30%. And so there is this disconnect of men not wanting to get married, women of saying who needs them anyway. But if you fast forward, it's like, wait a minute, when we survey people, the happiest people are in long lasting marriages. And that's not what 20 and 30 somethings are hearing. They hear, oh, get a degree, be your own person, you know, single is fantastic.

[00:06:26] And to understand, wait a minute, if I want to be happy long term, this long relationship, a marriage relationship with one person really does matter a lot. Married adults age 25 to 50 are 17 percentage points more likely to be thriving than adults who are never married. So if you're married between 25 and 50, you're going to be much more likely to be thriving than those who never marry. And matter of fact, again, yesterday was Super Bowl.

[00:06:55] And one of the many commercials was where, and I don't know if it was commercial or news, they're asking individuals, you know, who's the happiest, you know, single man or married men? And they all go, single man. No, married men. Which one's doing the best financially, single man or married men? Married men. And you could see these people after a while, they go, okay, I guess I'm supposed to say married. But my culture is telling me that being married is actually a drag on my happiness.

[00:07:23] It's a drag on my finances and all sorts of other issues. So there's a lot of work to do, isn't there? There sure is. Because just like you're saying, Brad Wilcox out of the University of Virginia, the National Marriage Project, he's finding all the opposite, right? That if you want to be truly happy, you want that big boost in marriage, it's not being a college grad. That gives you a 29% boost, not having a higher income than most, that gives you a 51% boost. If you're just plain married, you get a 102% boost in happiness.

[00:07:52] And boy, this generation is all about being happy. But if you're happily married, you get a 219% boost. So we're sold that, hey, being single means you get to make your own decisions and you have all this freedom. But they don't show you that, oh, but look, you grow up and you're in your 30s, 40s, 60s, 80s, and you're by yourself. You know? So it really, having a lasting love. Yes. Someone to be with you. Children, that's very important. Well, again, she mentioned Brad Wilcox.

[00:08:20] Again, he is a professor of sociology, University of Virginia, and the director of the National Marriage Project. When we come back, though, I'm going to point you to a PDF, a nice one-page flyer that you need to get. And also, we'll spend a little bit of time talking about this new book by Arlene Pelican. We'll be back with her right after these important messages.

[00:08:58] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson. On his first day back in office, President Trump signed an executive order with the title Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. The goal, of course, was to eliminate DEI requirements and thus end what often has become a racially preferred treatment in the federal government. As we began to discuss it on my radio program, those around the table began to see the overall significance of this action.

[00:09:26] Essentially, the president's executive order removed most of the affirmative action and DEI protocols that have been added to the federal government going all the way back to the 1965 executive order by President Lyndon Johnson that first established affirmative action. Trump's executive order should also streamline the current government contracting process that has become so cumbersome because of the various DEI compliance requirements. They are not only cumbersome, but discriminatory.

[00:09:53] At this point in our roundtable discussion, a lawyer with the First Liberty Institute talked about how many of their Christian clients are discriminated against because they must agree to DEI requirements inserted in contracts. They could not in good conscience affirm statements about sexuality that are contrary to biblical principles. Trump's order also tries to bring some pressure on the private sector. The order directs federal agencies to compile lists of companies, universities, and foundations still using DEI practices.

[00:10:24] Universities will likely be the first target because of the recent Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that struck down racial discrimination in colleges. Now you might see why we concluded that this executive order might have been the most significant one he signed that first day. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my Point of View. For a free copy of Kirby's booklet, A Biblical View on Loneliness, go to viewpoints.info slash loneliness.

[00:10:53] That's viewpoints.info slash loneliness. You're listening to Point of View. Your listener-supported source for truth. Once again, talking about the National Marriage Week, which is taking place right now with Arlene Pellicane. We'll talk about her book, Making Marriage Easier in just a minute, published by our good friends at Moody. But let me point you to the website, first of all, and it is very easy to find, marriageweek.org. Scroll down a little bit.

[00:11:22] You're going to see a beige button there that says one-page fact sheet. I would highly recommend every listener to click on that. If you're a teacher or a pastor, you really need this because what it is is a one-page, very well-done fact sheet with lots of very good graphics about the benefits of marriage. For example, married adults live longer, have better health and greater personal happiness, and all the other things we can talk about. We can do better.

[00:11:50] We just mentioned a minute ago about the decline in married adults and the increase in births to unwed mothers. Then a whole section on children need both parents, some of those very resting statistics and very concerning. And then marriage reduces poverty. We'd have 25% less poverty today if we had the same marriage rates we had back in 1970. And then finally, what you can do about that.

[00:12:16] So five significant points as well as some other commentary. It's just very easy to print out, and it's available. And Arlene, whether you get it from the National Marriage Project, we just mentioned Dr. Brad Wilcox there, University of Virginia, or others. Of course, we've had other individuals on the program working in the National Marriage Project as well. Those are facts and figures that oftentimes people do not know.

[00:12:43] And as recently as some of the interviews they were showing yesterday running up to the Super Bowl illustrate that we've got some work to do to educate people about how beneficial marriage is, not only for the individuals but even for the next generation. Absolutely. Absolutely, because for kids, if they can be raised in a two-parent loving home, they are going to be significantly healthier, wealthier, more able to have a family of their own.

[00:13:11] And you just multiply that home after home after home, and you see the really, really big difference. So sometimes you can feel like, oh, it's such a big issue. What can I do just as one person? But as your home becomes a place of security for a child and people start seeing that, you know, your friends, the kids, the friends of your children and your grandchildren start seeing those things, we can see a lot of things reversed, I believe, in our culture. Well, let's for just a few minutes mention your book since it has just come out.

[00:13:38] I would encourage people to look for it in your local bookstore. But as you know, sometimes when it comes out early, a little difficult to find. So we have a link to it as well, so you can get it in paperback or Kindle. And it is published by our friends at Moody, Moody Publishers. And you talk about four decisions, play by the rules, give thanks every day, serve your spouse, take fun seriously.

[00:14:02] 25 chapters, because it is an illustration that if you just focus a little bit each day on one of these key issues, it's going to be helpful for you and your spouse. Then you even have a section on life lessons you might learn, how to make it easier, maybe questions to ask your spouse, even some prayer. So, again, you've actually put this together in a way to help couples at any stage of life

[00:14:29] really address some of the very important issues that need to be addressed early on and even as the marriage is going on in the future. It's so true. When you're a newlywed, you know, I had a newlywed pick it up. And we talk in the book about the power hour, which is eating together every day as a rhythm, right? You don't – and we get it. If you're out of town, it's not like, okay, you can't eat unless your spouse is there. That's not what I'm talking about. But on a regular basis, you eat together. And it's kind of like the light bulb went on and she went, so you know what?

[00:14:58] We're going to eat together because we're so used to just getting food and then everyone keeps working or doing whatever they're doing and, you know, to realize, wait a minute. So if you're newlywed and you just pick up a few key principles from this book, it can really change the trajectory of what your marriage will be like. And then if you are an empty nester, you are celebrating your 50th anniversary, and you pick up this book and you say, hey, you know what? Look at this activity page. We need something new in our life.

[00:15:27] Let's circle what activities we want to do and whichever ones are circled by both of us, let's go give it a try. You know, it's never too early, never too late to do something to strengthen your marriage. One of the chapters, which I thought was intriguing, is turtle on a fence post. And, of course, anybody who's ever heard that before, you know, you're not on that fence post. If you find a turtle on a fence post, you know they didn't get there on their own.

[00:15:51] And the goal here is to recognize the difference between gratitude and entitlement. And that seems to be a bigger issue. When we talk about depression, when we talk about anxiety, we talk about some of the corrosive effects in marriage and even relationships, a lot of that goes back to this entitlement mindset and the need for us to develop gratitude, which the scriptures encourage us to be engaged in every single day.

[00:16:22] This is huge because if you go through your marriage thinking, well, you owe me that. And what have you done for me today? I did this for you. What did you do for me today? You go through that and you compound that day after day after day. And that is not making marriage easier. Right, Kirby? That's making marriage a lot harder. But if you will realize, through a lot of fence posts, you know what? I'm grateful that I'm here. I'm thankful for the spouse God gave me. I'm thankful for the place that he's put me in and I'm going to give thanks.

[00:16:52] And instead of thinking, well, you owe me this, I think, wait a minute, maybe I owe you something. The scripture talks about a debt of love and we are serving one another. And again, this is not talking about being abused or just that's not what we're talking about. We're saying the attitude of, hey, I'm here to help you versus, you know, what are you going to do for me today? So instead shift that to, hey, honey, is there anything I can do for you today? Is there something I can pray for you about? Hey, is there just one thing I could do to make your life easier today?

[00:17:20] And your spouse probably will be so happy and just say, I could use a hug. Like they're probably not going to ask you for this huge thing. Right. So having that, you're right, shifting from that entitlement to, wow, I could, you know, my spouse could be deceased or we could be divorced. And I have this, I'm grateful. And you enter that way and you enter with a heart to serve and you're going to have a much, much different environment in your home.

[00:17:46] One of the things I appreciate about your book and other books as well is, of course, you're the fun lover. And I think you would be fun at any party or any gathering. But you also get into some of the serious issues. And I'll just pick out one before we take a break. And that is a Harvard study done by sociologist Alexandra Killewald, which found that, for example, when a wife loses a job, there's usually no consequence to the marriage. But when the husband loses a job, the risk of divorce goes up to about 33%.

[00:18:15] And so it does, I think, illustrate the fact that at a time when we're facing all sorts of challenges, turmoil, job changes, health changes, and the rest, there's a real need to make sure that you are really kind of thinking through the possible consequences. Because there are going to be some bumps in the road. There are going to be some bumps. And to expect them.

[00:18:40] And I think when you can have that mindset, like we are going to go through challenges, you know, you see a friend go through a hardship, a cancer diagnosis, a lost job, a burnt down house, whatever it is. And to realize in your mind, you know what, that could be us. And we should mentally be prepared. So when and if that thing happens, you're like, okay, I knew this was happening. Because just the knowledge that trouble will come, it helps you prepare.

[00:19:07] Like how can we make our marriage stable now so that when trouble comes, we're more ready? How can we save today so that when trouble comes, we're more ready? And just thinking about it, talking about it, being open, and supporting each other through all those hard times, it's a big deal and it's really helpful. Let me just mention before we let you go that we do have a link also to ArlenePellicane.com. Don't even have to know how to spell that because it's on the website there, but it's very easy to find.

[00:19:35] And as a result, there is a free webinar. There is a podcast that you do if somebody would like to get some of your other books, maybe even schedule you to speak, learn a little bit more about what you're doing. That is there. Then you scroll down. We also have a link to the National Marriage Week, marriageweek.org. And then if you scroll down a little bit further, you've got a link to Making Marriage Easier, How to Love and Like Your Spouse for Life. So just simply go to the website, pointofview.net.

[00:20:04] Click on that button that says See More, and you will find all the links necessary. And Arlene, thank you for being with us so many times here on Point of View. And as always, look forward to the next opportunity. Thank you so much, Kirby. Let's make those marriages easier. And again, National Marriage Week. If you're a teacher, I'm recommending that maybe you might want to even talk about it on Sunday. You might say, well, Valentine's Day was a couple days ago, but it might be good to come back and talk about marriages.

[00:20:32] Some of these facts and figures, the fact sheet, the material, not to mention the book. I'll hold it up again, Making Marriage Easier. These are resources we want to put in your hands. When marriages and families are strong, the nation thrives. When actually families and marriages fall apart, the nation struggles. And so it is so important for us to build strong marriages, build strong families. We're certainly dedicated to doing that at Point of View.

[00:21:02] When we come back, we've got a few things to talk about. I want to give another perspective on tariffs. You heard one from, of course, Dr. Merrill Matthews. I want to talk also about TikTok. TikTok is back, but there are certainly some dangers. And just a couple other news stories that we need to cover today. If we don't get to all of them, well, there's always tomorrow. Let's take a break. You can find everything we've been talking about on our website, pointofview.net. We'll be right back.

[00:21:31] In 19th century London, two towering historical figures did battle. Not with guns and bombs, but words and ideas. London was home to Karl Marx, the father of communism, and legendary Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon. London was in many ways the center of the world economically, militarily, and intellectually. Marx sought to destroy religion, the family, and everything the Bible supports.

[00:21:59] Spurgeon stood against him, warning of socialism's dangers. Spurgeon understood Christianity is not just religious truth. It is truth for all of life. Where do you find men with that kind of wisdom to stand against darkness today? Get the light you need on today's most pressing issues delivered to your inbox when you sign up for the Viewpoints commentary at pointofview.net.

[00:22:27] Every weekday, in less than two minutes, you'll learn how to be a person of light to stand against darkness in our time. It's free, so visit pointofview.net slash sign up right now. Pointofview.net slash sign up. Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:57] You are listening to Point of View. The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station. And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson. Back once again, if you'd like to join the conversation, 1-800-351-1212. Let me just real quickly just mention the fact, as I said at the outset,

[00:23:21] that Donald Trump posted the fact that we're probably never going to be printing and making pennies again. For those of you that ever watched the TV show The West Wing, there was an interesting episode where they were talking about, well, why do we make pennies in the first place since it costs more to make a penny than the penny is worth? Back then, I think it was worth two cents to make every one-cent penny. Now it's up to almost three cents to make every one-cent penny.

[00:23:50] So, obviously, it costs a lot to make pennies. And the argument back then, I think the argument for many years has been the fact, well, who's on the penny? Abraham Lincoln. Where is he from? Illinois. Illinois would still like to have pennies. But, nevertheless, Donald Trump posted this. I have to smile. He apparently sent this during the third quarter of the Super Bowl, which by that time, I guess, doesn't make any sense. The game was over after the second quarter. But can you believe this?

[00:24:19] While I was sitting in the box, I think he even left early, that, indeed, for too long, Donald Trump said, the United States has minted pennies, which literally cost us more than two cents. I think it's now three cents. This is so wasteful. I've instructed my secretary of the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rest in peace, the waste of our great nation's budget, even if it's a penny at a time. So, of course, I've had a few people say, well, then maybe I should save pennies because we'll be able to show our children and grandchildren.

[00:24:49] These are the coins we used to have. But it illustrates a bigger point, which maybe we'll get to tomorrow, and that is the fact that Doge is attempting to try to cut some costs. But some of this happened long before Elon Musk or even before people like Rand Paul, even before that Tom Coburn or even before that Dr. Merrill Matthews was with us on Friday,

[00:25:18] talked about the fact that we are actually spending more money than we're taking in, and that is due to the fact that the value of the dollar has dropped precipitously. Secondly, you've probably seen some of my viewpoint's commentaries, probably seen the chart that goes with it, and showing that pennies aren't worth anything because, frankly, nickels and dimes aren't worth anything compared to where we were. I don't want to be one of those old guys that say,

[00:25:47] I remember a time when it used to be that you could get a candy for a penny, but it is true, probably more true for my parents than myself, but nevertheless, there was a place where you could put down three pennies and get three pieces of candy, and now just think about that one. And it's a sad commentary on the constant devaluation of the American dollar because we spend more than we take in, so we print more than actually is justifiable, and so the value of the dollar decreases.

[00:26:17] And so that is something to think about when we now are probably going to actually retire the copper, actually it's not even copper anymore, penny. Matter of fact, the copper is worth quite a bit. Copper itself was worth more than the penny. So there you go. And so a new era is upon us, and all the more reason to think carefully about some of these economic issues. Which brings me to another article that I've posted

[00:26:44] because I always like to try to be fair. Sometimes we leave a point off here or there in the interest of time or ignorance or whatever, but one of those issues is simply this. The tariffs. We talked about the issue of tariffs with Dr. Merrill Matthews. He was, of course, pretty hard on the president. Let me give a different perspective so that you can hear both of those, and that is you can find the article by Dr. Matthews on Friday, the article today by Victor Davis Hanson.

[00:27:13] Are Trump's tariffs really tariffs? Because he points out that obviously the typical reaction, and I gave that the other day when the tariffs were there, is that these are counterproductive, oftentimes they're unfair, and as a result we really would like to have free trade. Yes, we would. Do we have free trade? Nothing of the sort. And so some of what is being explained here by Victor Davis Hanson breaks down into five points.

[00:27:40] So some of you that have access to something to write with, you might number one to five, because I think he's done a very good job in a short amount of time explaining that when you are dealing with countries that are trying to get an unfair advantage, these exporters to the United States are propped up by their own government. And although sometimes it looks like they're being competitive, they're actually wanting to dump their products on the United States

[00:28:09] in order to capture market share. So he takes on how these tariffs were implemented in five different ways. Number one, Mexico. He says Mexico was threatened with tariffs by Donald Trump for three reasons. First, it refused to address the cartel's illegal multibillion-dollar export of lethal fentanyl into the United States. Number two, Mexico, he points out,

[00:28:37] it had stonewalled all the American efforts to stop the export of millions of illegal aliens into this country, 10 to 12 million just in the last few years alone. And then third, Mexico grows its American trade surpluses each year, and the imbalance now is $170 billion. So that's why Donald Trump implemented tariffs for Mexico.

[00:29:06] Number two, Canada. Trump threatened Canada because it has so far refused to police its side of an open and increasing dangerous border. And that is something that is being changed supposedly with the movement of troops to the northern border there. But also, Canada has refused to even pay into NATO what it promised. It promised to spend 2% of its GDP on defense, and it isn't.

[00:29:33] Most of the world is actually depending on the federal government to fund the defense of the world. If the United States did not exist, first of all, I think many of these free countries would not exist, but more importantly, they would, if they did exist, have to spend a lot more on defense. So that's number two. Number three, we'll just look at Southern America, South America. And so he talks about both Venezuela and Colombia. We'll lump those together.

[00:30:01] Both, he says, are communist nations that have deliberately emptied their prisons to send hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens into the U.S. Most of them have become violent felons. And he gives you some of the facts there as well. Number four, China. Now, he says China really is a special case. I would agree. He points out that its entire 20th century ascendance was based on stealing U.S. technology,

[00:30:30] dumping its products on the U.S. market below the cost of production in order to capture market share, and then forcing America corporations to relocate offshore, outsource, leaving our industrial hinterland a rust belt. And we did talk about that Friday with Dr. Matthews. The carving out of what used to be the rust belt, the steel belt, now the rust belt, is of real concern. And the implications of all of that.

[00:31:00] No one perhaps understands that better than Donald Trump, than J.D. Vance, who has actually written about that in his Hillbilly Elegy and has talked about that in numerous occasions. So, again, we've talked about a number of different countries. We've talked about Mexico, Canada, of course, South America, in particular Venezuela, Colombia, China, and the last one, the European Union. He then, again, points out that the European Union, he says,

[00:31:28] runs a gargantuan half-a-trillion-dollar surplus with the United States. How so? Because for nearly 80 years, Victor Davis Hanson says, the U.S. has subsidized its defense during the Cold War and afterwards. And so Europe continually acts as if it's still recovering from World War II and cannot afford to pay for its own defense.

[00:31:51] So it has hit up the, quote, rich Americans to actually deal with that. And then, on top of that, hit all of us with asymmetric tariffs. And so, again, what you're talking about here is tariffs that really aren't trying to protect industries. It's really, as he says, maybe a last gasp tool of American leverage,

[00:32:20] which has only been implemented now by Donald Trump after decades of trying to get some kind of success through bipartisan diplomacy, through various economic summits, through various treaties and entreaties, and all sorts of empty threats. And so, as I've pointed out before, the question about tariffs is a good question. You know, tariffs oftentimes are used to protect one industry over another.

[00:32:49] But the reason Donald Trump has tried to implement these in five different areas is because he believes we're not being treated fairly. And I recognize, as we did point out on Friday, because Dr. Merrill Matthews is right, oftentimes the individuals that pay the most for the tariffs are the American consumers. But at the same time, many of those tariffs have been a wake-up call to some of these countries.

[00:33:16] The example I used is, look what happened in Colombia. We're not going to allow your military aircraft to land. Okay, you get a 25% tariff. Okay, not only can you land your aircraft, we'll send one of ours to pick up some of the people from Colombia that are here illegally in the United States and have committed a crime. So, again, if you want to get a different perspective on tariffs, that's our next article on the website. We'll be right back.

[00:33:55] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. One of the things we talk about so often here on Point of View is the military. The military, of course, keeps us safe and strong. And there's been a bit of a problem, if you're not aware. And that is if you've gone by maybe a military recruiting office, it's almost like they need to put out a sign saying, help wanted or we're hiring at the end of 2023 under the Biden administration,

[00:34:23] the Pentagon missed its recruiting goal by 41,000. And then you get this tweet that comes from the newly confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who actually said on X, breaking in December 2024, the U.S. Army had its best recruiting number in 12 years. Best recruiting number in 12 years in December.

[00:34:48] Well, then in January of 2025, the Army hit its best recruiting numbers in 15 years. Now, I don't know if there's any reason for that, but he seems to come to one of those conclusions. Because in the tweet it said, bottom line, America's youth want to serve under the bold and strong America First leadership of Donald Trump.

[00:35:11] So anyway, we've seen a time in which it has been very difficult to be a military recruiter to a time now where we're breaking records. This is in December, the first time in 12 years that you have that many people recruiting. And then come January, the first time in 15 years. So we will see what happens at the end of February. But I suspect the trend will continue. And it might just be a coincidence.

[00:35:41] But I think, again, Pete Hegseth has it right. And that has changed a lot in the military. Let's get to our last article here because I thought since we don't talk about this issue very often, this issue of social media is really important. And that is the issue of TikTok. I might just mention that there is a very good book that reminds us of that. And I'll hold this up for those of you watching online.

[00:36:08] It is a book written by an individual we've had on this program before, Jonathan Haidt. The Anxious Generation, How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Health. I also have a couple other books here. One by Josh Hawley on the tyranny of big tech. And also Ken Buck's book last week called Crushed about the big tech issue. Because this is an issue. And it is illustrated certainly by a number of social media platforms.

[00:36:37] But in particular, Melissa Henson, in the last article we've posted here for you to read today, gets into the issue of TikTok. She points out that, again, there was supposed to be the closing down, the banning of TikTok. But ByteDance has been given a 75-day extension, primarily due to Donald Trump, to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner.

[00:37:01] And Donald Trump was willing to change course because he said, well, TikTok is largely about kids, young kids. And that's where Melissa Henson says, excuse me, the ban and president's remarks fail to recognize the most present threat posed by TikTok. The threat is needs to be taken seriously precisely because TikTok is largely about kids and young kids.

[00:37:24] She is the vice president, by the way, of Parents Television and Media Council, an individual that I've had on the program and Pentatextra has had on on a regular basis. She points out, and you can read this in its entirety, I'll just give you the thumbnail sketch or the CliffsNotes edition of it, that social media platforms aren't innocent. The reality is that predators target children online to sexually exploit or extort them.

[00:37:51] Social platforms also harm teens' mental health, just mention that from Jonathan Haidt's book, and expose teens to sexual harassment. Children and teens have been targeted by powerful algorithms that have actually caused problems of eating disorder and other harmful content. And they can also access sexually explicit and graphically violent content with just a click of the button.

[00:38:16] Okay, she's, of course, talking about more than just TikTok, but certainly that is front and center at the moment. She points out that now let's focus on TikTok. In the case of TikTok, she says kids, young kids are being targeted by a powerful algorithm designed to keep them hooked on the platform. Internal memos and documents reveal that TikTok executives knew exactly how many videos it would take to get young users addicted. And you have the number right there.

[00:38:43] Kids, young kids are falling into patterns of addiction, depression, and sexual exploitation because of the app, which is why 14 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against TikTok. Kids, young kids, some as young as 15, were being paid by adults to strip. I won't even go into the rest of that, but you can read it for yourself, since, again, there may be young listeners listening in one way or another.

[00:39:10] She goes on to say that kids, that is, young kids, were exposed to content, including the normalization of pedophilia, minor sexual solicitation, minor physical abuse, glorification of minor sexual assault, and some other things I probably can't read here, in part because of poor content moderation and inadequate parental controls.

[00:39:34] You might, if you live in the state of New Mexico, be aware of the fact that New Mexico sued Snap, which is, of course, Snapchat's parent company, allegedly about messaging things which facilitate the sharing of child sexual exploitation material. Meta, which, of course, is best known as the parent company of what?

[00:39:57] Facebook has been revealed by media outlets, whistleblowers, and lawsuits as fueling child sexual exploitation, providing a platform for pedophiles, enabling sexually explicit and other harmful content that targets teens, especially teen girls. By the way, if I can hold up one more time the Jonathan Haidt book, the damage to young girls is greater than even the damage to young boys,

[00:40:26] and that is well documented by an individual. By the way, you might say, who's Jonathan Haidt? Well, he was a co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind and a variety of other great books. He's not a Christian. We did have him on the program once. Coddling of the American Mind was written by a Christian with him, but Jonathan Haidt is really looking at this more from a liberal point of view, a secular point of view, and that's what he says. And, again, don't have to take his word for it.

[00:40:53] Don't even have to take the word of Melissa Henson. How about the Surgeon General under Joe Biden? Well, that would be Vivek Murthy, who actually was talking last year about adding warning labels to social media platforms. Why? Because he was citing mental health and other concerns. We perhaps will have, when their legislation is moving through Congress,

[00:41:19] maybe an action item because there are a couple of things we might want to focus on. One is, in Congress right now, the Kids Online Safety Act, as well as the Children and Teens Privacy Protection Act. So those may be some things. If we see enough movement out of a committee or maybe movement from the House to the Senate, we might identify those as action items.

[00:41:44] But for now, we may be, as she says, TikTok may be back temporarily, but parents, you really shouldn't let your kids be exposed to some of that, especially these young kids that we are talking about. And there are obvious dangers. And whether you're a liberal or a conservative, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent, there are just too many people saying this is of concern.

[00:42:12] It's a mental health problem. It's a danger. And that's, in some respects, why there are a lot of people that would be quite happy if TikTok would simply go away. But again, you can read it for yourself. It is our article that we've posted on the website at pointofview.net. I gave you a brief summary of three articles, three pages. And by the way, each time she makes a point, many times there's a link to find the actual research

[00:42:41] so you can read what she is quoting from for yourself. I think you'll come to the same conclusion. Probably about time for me to maybe do a Cliff Notes version on this book as well, The Anxious Generation. But we'll leave that for another day. First of all, I want to thank Megan for help engineering the program. Steve, thank you for producing the program. We'll see you back here tomorrow right here on Point of View.

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