Point of View November 21, 2024 – Hour 2 : What the Trump Presidency Means for the Economy

[00:00:04] Across America, Live, this is Point of View, Kirby Anderson.

[00:00:20] Second hour today, we're going to spend some time focusing on some of the topics we've already addressed.

[00:00:25] Of course, we, this last hour, talked about this very important piece written by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramashwamy

[00:00:31] about the idea of trying to begin to limit the size, scope of government, which comes from the Department of Government Efficiency.

[00:00:40] Also, my commentary today is on debt and spending and some of the topics we've addressed as well.

[00:00:47] And of course, we recognize that no matter who the president was, we've had a staggering pace of new debt and increasing spending.

[00:00:56] So I really want to kind of get into that in more detail.

[00:00:59] And to do so, we bring back to the microphone David Bonson, who is a financial expert and a defender of the free market capitalist system.

[00:01:07] Under his management right now, I think about $6 billion in client assets.

[00:01:13] He's the host of the Capital Record podcast.

[00:01:16] Might also mention we've posted a video so you can watch him in action on one of the segments on Fox News.

[00:01:24] And of course, he's the author of such books as There's No Free Lunch, 250 Economic Truths.

[00:01:32] And most recent time, we had him on talking about full-time work and the meaning of life.

[00:01:37] David, welcome back to Point of View.

[00:01:40] It's wonderful to be with you.

[00:01:42] Thank you for having me.

[00:01:43] Listen, we can talk about the fact that we have potentially a new administration with potentially a new philosophy.

[00:01:51] I think we can pretty much assume that, even with all the uncertainty in our world.

[00:01:56] And as a person that looks at the business world, whether we talk about trying to bring about government efficiency,

[00:02:04] maybe trying to get the government to live within its means, those are going to be major tasks.

[00:02:09] But if we can begin to harness some of that, doesn't that provide some really positive outlook for the business community?

[00:02:19] Well, look, anything that can enable us to right-size government would be good for the business community.

[00:02:26] I think that there's a lot of questions as to what they're going to be able to do and what ought to be done and so forth.

[00:02:33] I am cautiously optimistic that there will be some marginal improvement.

[00:02:38] But I think it's important people understand that the reason why right-sizing government is better for the private sector is a tautology.

[00:02:47] And what I mean by that is it's intrinsically true.

[00:02:50] Any resources not going to the government get redirected to somewhere else, and in this case,

[00:02:56] to somewhere else is where people most know how to efficiently use resources.

[00:03:01] People with a profit motive, people that have time and place experience in their given sector,

[00:03:10] people that are more qualified with the knowledge and the incentives to build things and do things.

[00:03:16] And so you still need a government, and some resources have to go to fund it,

[00:03:21] but all of those resources are effectively coming from a more productive area.

[00:03:26] And how do we know this?

[00:03:28] Because by definition, none of those resources go to the government on their own.

[00:03:33] They only go because they have to.

[00:03:36] And if it were the most rational and productive and optimal use, it would flow there by gravity.

[00:03:42] But it doesn't.

[00:03:43] And so it's a long answer to your question, but I do believe that anything that can improve efficiency

[00:03:50] and limit the size and waste to government would be a good thing.

[00:03:54] I don't think this is going to happen easily, though.

[00:03:56] No.

[00:03:57] And again, one of the things I've said, and David, I've been kind of skeptical.

[00:04:01] I'm older.

[00:04:02] I'm as old as your father, who I knew very well as well, that I remember the Grace Commission in the 1980s

[00:04:07] and great publication, many recommendations, not much happened.

[00:04:13] There are a few things that are different.

[00:04:15] First of all, they want to make it transparent as they go along so people will be aware of that.

[00:04:19] Number two, they do talk about some of the Supreme Court decisions, one two years ago, one this year,

[00:04:25] that maybe opened the door.

[00:04:27] And also a Supreme Court and a president that want to focus on it.

[00:04:31] It's one thing to give lip service to wanting to bring about some kind of change.

[00:04:35] It's another to have some people like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramashwamy at a 6-3 Supreme Court that might uphold some of the actions.

[00:04:45] But again, I think we can be guardedly somewhat optimistic and see where that takes us.

[00:04:50] But you raised a good question, and that is every dollar that the government takes is a dollar that is not available in the capital market.

[00:04:59] And as an individual who is wanting to allow entrepreneurs to develop new products, new services, and the rest,

[00:05:08] in a sense the government is always competing with you to actually be successful in the business world, isn't it?

[00:05:15] Yeah, I mean, I do think that there is an optimal size of government where they don't have to compete for more resources,

[00:05:22] where those of us in the business world, for example, benefit from not being invaded by a foreign country.

[00:05:29] And so there's some sense in which the necessary funding to keep us from being invaded by a foreign country is a good cost of business, right?

[00:05:40] And so if the government were funding those things that we as a society agreed were the legitimate function of government,

[00:05:47] then I don't think it is taking from the private sector.

[00:05:50] It's sort of much like government itself is securing it.

[00:05:53] It's securing the rights that are necessary, and that's what our Constitution talks about.

[00:05:59] And those powers that we give the government are given by we, the people.

[00:06:04] The problem is when the government is doing things outside of its natural jurisdiction.

[00:06:10] Now, I have strong opinions.

[00:06:12] I have strong opinions about what that jurisdiction ought to be.

[00:06:15] The Constitution has opinions.

[00:06:17] And I certainly welcome the idea that there may need to be a societal conversation as to what kind of government we want to have.

[00:06:26] And yet I believe most people say that they think the government spends too much money.

[00:06:32] And what I don't understand is if people think the government spends too much money, what are all these things we're spending money on?

[00:06:38] If they're not things the people have asked the government to spend money on.

[00:06:42] And you mentioned being familiar with my late father.

[00:06:46] I will tell you this is one thing he said over and over and over again, and he's been gone from us now for almost 30 years.

[00:06:52] We have the government that we deserve.

[00:06:55] Yeah, that's right.

[00:06:56] We have the size government we deserve.

[00:06:57] And that's why from the Grace Commission to where we are now, people say, oh, government's gotten larger, more inefficient.

[00:07:04] Things aren't going well.

[00:07:05] We need more transparency.

[00:07:06] All that stuff's true.

[00:07:07] All the there's all kinds of things we can do to make it better.

[00:07:10] But the number one thing that hasn't changed is that the people still want a government to do things that are outside the jurisdiction of government.

[00:07:19] Yep.

[00:07:19] Everybody wants to reduce the size and scope of government, but they don't want to reduce that part of the government that they depend upon.

[00:07:26] So I want to take a break and come back and just maybe get into a little bit more because my commentary today was one where we were talking with Chuck Bentley about the fact that you have this idea of modern monetary theory.

[00:07:37] And I might even have once again, when we come back from the break, maybe my producer, Steve, will put up this staggering pace of new debt because it basically took two hundred and twenty one years to reach the national indebtedness of twelve trillion dollars.

[00:07:55] But since twenty twenty, we've added twelve trillion dollars.

[00:08:00] And no matter whether we can have a little debate about how big or small the government can be, I think almost all of us would agree that if you look at the chart chart that we are posting right now, for those of you watching online, it is unsustainable.

[00:08:14] And so I want to get into that and talk about what that can mean for the future.

[00:08:19] And of course, if indeed we are dealing with some very significant and almost seemingly intractical problems, what can be done?

[00:08:27] But if you'd like to know a little bit more about David Bonson, first of all, we have a link on the Web site to his organization.

[00:08:34] We also have, of course, one very interesting interview he did with the Wall Street program on Fox News.

[00:08:43] And if you'd like to know more about the Bonson Groups, all available on our Web site at pointofview.net.

[00:08:48] We'll be right back.

[00:08:58] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:02] Chuck Bentley is the CEO of Crown Financial and the host of the daily radio program My Money Life.

[00:09:07] He was on my radio program last week to talk about this question he received from a listener.

[00:09:12] That listener said, I am really concerned with what Elon Musk said about America headed towards bankruptcy.

[00:09:18] Do you think there's anything we need to do if he turns out to be correct?

[00:09:22] Well, Elon Musk was on a recent all in summit hosted by the all in podcast in which he said America is going bankrupt extremely quickly.

[00:09:32] And everyone seems to be sort of whistling past the graveyard on this one.

[00:09:36] Chuck Bentley attributes most of this problem to the promotion and popularity of what is called modern monetary theory.

[00:09:42] Now, the economists and politicians believe our currency is sort of like monopoly money.

[00:09:47] They argue that we can ignore deficits and ignore the growing national debt that the government will always be able to print enough money to pay its debts.

[00:09:56] But he warns we're headed for a downward debt loop.

[00:09:59] Now, during the program, I explained that we weren't the only people concerned about this.

[00:10:03] Chuck Bentley quotes from an individual by the name of Les Rubin in an article who admitted the government can pay their loans due to their unlimited ability to borrow for now or to print more money as long as other countries and investors will continue to buy our bonds.

[00:10:19] But then in the article, he warned that this will eventually stop and will have to default, leading to severe consequences.

[00:10:27] So both Chuck Bentley and I concluded that if Elon Musk and the proposed government efficiency commission cannot reduce spending, then the economic future of this country isn't very bright.

[00:10:39] I'm Kirby Anderson.

[00:10:40] And that's my point of view.

[00:10:47] For a free booklet on a biblical view on big data, go to Viewpoint.com.

[00:10:51] Viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:53] That's Viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:58] You're listening to Point of View, your listener supported source for truth.

[00:11:04] We've seen our conversation today with David Bonson.

[00:11:06] If you would like to know more about him, again, thebonsongroup.com.

[00:11:10] Of course, we have a link there as well.

[00:11:12] You might even want to go to one of the sections I'm going to quote from, and that is the Dividend Cafe, because in that particular area, you give David a comprehensive post.

[00:11:22] Post-election comment and a series of comments.

[00:11:25] And you're really dedicated, as you said, to calling balls and strikes as a citizen and a free thinker.

[00:11:32] That's kind of what you do.

[00:11:33] And yet, one of the things that I just alluded to a minute ago that nobody seems to be talking about.

[00:11:38] Neither presidential candidate talked about it in any of the debates.

[00:11:43] None of the moderators talked about the fact that we have a staggering increase of new debt.

[00:11:49] And that is unsustainable.

[00:11:52] And that should concern anybody, certainly you in the business world, but any American, because we seem to be adding more and more debt.

[00:12:00] And nobody seems to want to talk about it.

[00:12:02] Of course, you do.

[00:12:03] So let's see if we can get into what that might mean.

[00:12:07] Well, and I think a lot of it that is not said enough is the point I was making previously about how it cuts into other optimal resources.

[00:12:19] And what I mean by this is the thing, if you think about a family and they have a certain income and they're going to get a bonus in the future, but they go run up some debt now.

[00:12:30] So they buy some things, vacations, TVs, furniture, you know, things that are not adding to the productivity of the family, but they are enjoyable.

[00:12:40] Okay, and then you get the bonus later.

[00:12:44] You may feel like you got a bonus, but you're not able to grow from it.

[00:12:48] You're not any wealthier because you're just paying off debt you had.

[00:12:51] And yet the bonus should have been a good thing.

[00:12:54] See, what we're going to do as a country is we're going to do some good things.

[00:12:57] Because we've got 330 million people.

[00:12:59] We have a lot of, you know, productivity.

[00:13:01] We invent things.

[00:13:03] We create things.

[00:13:04] But all the debt we have is a lost future reward.

[00:13:09] Because when we have new growth in the future, it has to go to cover the old debt that we already incurred.

[00:13:16] Well, if you're running up your debt with the Hoover Dam, with winning World War II, with certain, you know, science, technology, productivity, enhancing things, some people might think it's worth it.

[00:13:27] Some people may not.

[00:13:28] But at least, you know, there's a pretty good conversation to have there.

[00:13:32] There's a productivity out of some debt.

[00:13:34] But when the debt is entirely unproductive, then you're setting money on fire.

[00:13:39] And this is the problem with the debt level is a lot of these guys have been screaming about the end of the world forever, would have said the same thing that we say now with 35 trillion in debt, $34 trillion ago.

[00:13:52] When we had $1 trillion in debt, they would have said the country's going to go bankrupt.

[00:13:56] And what my point is, is that even if you don't believe 35 trillion is a problem or 40 trillion is a problem or 50 trillion is a problem, because everybody who stays alive the next 10 years is going to see $50 trillion of debt.

[00:14:10] Think about what I just said.

[00:14:12] Think about what I just said.

[00:14:12] It's baked in the cake.

[00:14:13] There's no there's nobody who doesn't know this.

[00:14:16] The problem, if you if is not necessarily that we're going to go bankrupt and extinct, it's that we're most certainly going to grow less than we otherwise would.

[00:14:26] So I find it morally unacceptable for baby boomers to say, no, everything's fine when they're not planning to be here later.

[00:14:35] Where they benefited from a society from World War Two till about 15 years ago that grew over 3% per year net of inflation.

[00:14:45] So to say it's fine when you know you're leaving your kids and grandkids with 1% growth or 2% growth, if we're lucky, because Japan when 30 years was 0% growth.

[00:14:58] And so that's why I kind of bother everybody on this topic, because I'm not willing to say I think the world's going to end.

[00:15:05] I don't agree that we're going to default on the debt.

[00:15:08] But I do agree that what we do to avoid that comes at a cost.

[00:15:12] And that cost is paid by our kids and grandkids.

[00:15:15] And I find it immoral.

[00:15:17] Well, you're going to have to make some choices, too, because you get to the point where once your interest of the payment just paying the interest payments alone are comparable to the Defense Department.

[00:15:27] You get to the point where you say, well, eventually, unless we just keep printing money and debase the currency, we won't have enough dollars to pay Medicare, Medicaid, welfare payments and the rest.

[00:15:40] And as you said, from George Washington to actually George W. Bush, $12 trillion, that might have been a good investment because we're talking about World War I, World War II, actually the Civil War and all sorts of other things.

[00:15:54] And we're talking about the interstate commerce and transatlantic railroads and all sorts of things.

[00:16:02] But now you're spending money just simply to service the debt.

[00:16:07] And eventually, if you don't print some more money, you run out of money.

[00:16:10] And then you can't mean the obligations that you made through things like the entitlement programs, do you?

[00:16:18] Well, and that's the thing is that Japan's debt is 250 percent of their size of their economy.

[00:16:24] Yes.

[00:16:25] Ours is about 100 percent of the size of our economy.

[00:16:28] It's way higher than the 60 percent we've averaged.

[00:16:32] But look, Apple has more debt than almost any company in the world.

[00:16:37] And I think most people would love to be in Apple's position.

[00:16:40] The issue is that their revenues and their assets are so, so, so much greater than the debt.

[00:16:45] And that speaks to using debt productively versus unproductively.

[00:16:50] So that's why the debt to GDP, the debt relative to the size of the economy, is the most important thing.

[00:16:55] And for years and years, our national debt was growing, but our debt to GDP was not.

[00:17:02] Because our economy was growing at a higher rate than the debt was.

[00:17:05] And this is where everything changed.

[00:17:08] When the growth of the debt is happening at a faster clip than the growth of the economy.

[00:17:15] There you go.

[00:17:15] That is unsustainable.

[00:17:17] That's unsustainable.

[00:17:18] That's what's happening.

[00:17:19] And so then the interest will not end up being more than the amount of military.

[00:17:25] Because they will put downward pressure on interest rates as a means of controlling it.

[00:17:30] And that's what Japan has done.

[00:17:32] And that's most certainly what will happen here.

[00:17:35] And then people say, okay, well, then we're fine, right?

[00:17:37] No, because when you have artificially low interest rates, you distort what people do with their money.

[00:17:46] And it causes unproductive things to happen.

[00:17:50] When the whole point is we need productive things to happen.

[00:17:53] We need people doing smart things with their money, not dumb things with their money if we want to get economic growth.

[00:18:01] Let's see if we can talk about that for just a minute because I have a link to thebonsongroup.com.

[00:18:07] And people are starting to say, okay, I want to do smart things with my money.

[00:18:11] We have a lot of uncertainty that existed before the election.

[00:18:16] Now we have the election of Donald Trump.

[00:18:18] But we still have some uncertainty around the world.

[00:18:21] And we certainly want to make smart decisions about our money.

[00:18:25] So, again, if people go to your website, you have a podcast and you have all sorts of other resources.

[00:18:32] So people can begin to think a little bit more carefully about how to invest their money for the future.

[00:18:38] Well, and I believe it's important that people understand what they're doing when they're investing.

[00:18:44] And I happen to believe very strongly that God made human beings a certain way and made the world a certain way.

[00:18:51] And when I invest, I want to invest in what God made human beings capable of doing.

[00:18:56] So I don't get very excited about buying a government bond, but I get very excited about buying a business that meets the needs of humanity.

[00:19:05] And the goods and services that us human beings create on a daily basis because God made us to do so, it excites me.

[00:19:14] And to use that capital for growth and for it to then generate the return that meets our own needs, I think it's a very virtuous cycle.

[00:19:23] And so we try to build investment around that.

[00:19:27] And it's not just our firm.

[00:19:28] It's really what all financial markets are intended to do.

[00:19:31] Nobody is interested in investing in something, at least not sustainably, just because they hope another sucker will buy it.

[00:19:39] You have to have something that's sustainable.

[00:19:42] And the greatest engine of sustainable growth ever invented is free market capitalism and the production of goods and services and innovative things that come from that.

[00:19:52] It's really very exciting if you ask me.

[00:19:54] Well, again, I want to, just before I let you go, mention again that we have a link to thebonsongroup.com if people want to contact you.

[00:20:01] Listen to your blog and other posts that you have there.

[00:20:06] Lots of great resources.

[00:20:07] And most importantly, I just appreciate the fact that from time to time we do see you on Fox News or a variety of other venues.

[00:20:13] And appreciate the fact that first your father and now you have really stood up for a free market perspective.

[00:20:19] And it has been great to have you once again here on Point of View.

[00:20:23] Thanks so much for having me.

[00:20:24] Enjoyed it very much.

[00:20:26] Going to take a break.

[00:20:26] And if you'd like to know a little bit more, again, it's thebonsongroup.com.

[00:20:30] I think you can find it there.

[00:20:31] We posted, of course, that staggering pace of new debt.

[00:20:34] Also, we posted, of course, spending more than quadruples.

[00:20:39] The government is spending more and more.

[00:20:41] Of course, you can be somewhat guardedly optimistic about Elon Musk and Vivek Ramashwamy.

[00:20:48] But I think there is a lot more that needs to take place.

[00:20:51] And the sad reality is almost no one is running for Congress right now saying, you know, it's probably better for us to reduce the size and scope of government.

[00:21:01] Not many people win on that platform.

[00:21:04] Oh, there's a few.

[00:21:05] Certainly Rand Paul and a few others.

[00:21:07] But the bottom line is that's what needs to happen.

[00:21:09] And, of course, if you are concerned about the future, well, maybe it looks a little better because of who may be in the positions of power come January.

[00:21:19] But some of these, as we'll talk about just in a minute, are intractable problems that every administration will have to deal with.

[00:21:26] We'll talk about that right after this.

[00:21:30] It almost seems like we live in a different world from many people in positions of authority.

[00:21:36] They say men can be women and women men.

[00:21:39] People are prosecuted differently or not at all, depending on their politics.

[00:21:45] Criminals are more valued and rewarded than law-abiding citizens.

[00:21:49] It's so overwhelming, so demoralizing.

[00:21:52] You feel like giving up.

[00:21:54] But we can't.

[00:21:55] We shouldn't.

[00:21:56] We must not.

[00:21:58] As Winston Churchill said to Britain in the darkest days of World War II,

[00:22:02] Never give in.

[00:22:04] Never give in.

[00:22:05] Never, never, never.

[00:22:06] Never yield to force.

[00:22:08] Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

[00:22:12] And that's what we say to you today.

[00:22:15] This is not a time to give in, but to step up and join Point of View in providing clarity in the chaos.

[00:22:22] We can't do it alone, but together, with God's help, we will overcome the darkness.

[00:22:29] Invest in biblical clarity today at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151.

[00:22:38] Pointofview.net and 800-347-5151.

[00:22:47] Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:57] You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:02] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station.

[00:23:09] And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:13] Back for the final half hour, and if you would like to join the conversation, 1-800-351-1212.

[00:23:18] I thought for just a minute I would focus on one of those issues that would exist no matter who we elected in November.

[00:23:27] And I want to do these from time to time because I want you to understand that whether we elected Donald Trump or Kamala Harris,

[00:23:36] some of these problems don't go away.

[00:23:38] They are sort of rooted in our culture.

[00:23:41] In this case, it's rooted in our lack of fertility, which we'll talk about so many times we cover this issue.

[00:23:48] But again, it's an important topic to address because it affects so many others.

[00:23:54] And this piece by Edward Ring, I think, is a good example.

[00:23:57] But just before we get too far into it, let me just mention tomorrow we will have Penna Dexter and Kelly Shackelford with us.

[00:24:04] Penna has probably written more on this topic than anyone, so we might even bring this topic up again.

[00:24:09] Although we have quite a bit to talk about in terms of religious liberty, in terms of to vet or not to vet,

[00:24:16] that's a Cal Thomas piece about the vetting of some of these cabinet posts,

[00:24:20] what the government efficiency department may or may not be able to accomplish.

[00:24:26] And we did talk a little bit about that today, but we have another piece that will stimulate some of our discussion about that tomorrow.

[00:24:33] So I hope you'll join us.

[00:24:34] And, of course, as you go to the website, you'll find some of the articles we've posted for today.

[00:24:39] I already have sent off the articles we're going to post for tomorrow.

[00:24:43] And I hope that these are resources that you can read so that as we cover them on the air,

[00:24:49] you have an article that you can print out, maybe read a little more carefully,

[00:24:54] maybe take the time to send it to an individual that you're having a conversation with,

[00:24:59] and those are resources we want to put in your hands.

[00:25:02] But let me come back to this, because give me fertility or give me death.

[00:25:06] It seems like everybody's borrowing a quote here.

[00:25:10] That's, of course, give me liberty or give me death.

[00:25:12] But give me fertility or give me death is Edward Ring.

[00:25:15] And he first starts out by talking about this liberal feminist mindset.

[00:25:19] He says,

[00:25:50] Pretty strong words, but let's see what he has to say about that.

[00:25:53] He says,

[00:26:14] Because this has already happened, we've gone from a baby boom to a baby bust,

[00:26:20] and we've had lowering fertility rates.

[00:26:23] These don't change overnight.

[00:26:25] As a matter of fact, they don't even really change with the election of one president over another,

[00:26:29] or even with a different member of Congress over another.

[00:26:33] But he takes us to one of the studies that was done, according to Morgan Stanley,

[00:26:39] that estimate that by 2030, and recognize that we're about halfway there, almost,

[00:26:48] about 45% of women between the ages of 25 and 44 are projected to be single and childless.

[00:26:55] That's more than 21 million voters.

[00:26:58] He goes on to say,

[00:26:59] Overall, single women of voting age make up 25% of the electorate, more than 40 million voters.

[00:27:04] And according to exit polls, 60% of the single women voted for Harris.

[00:27:09] But the point is, is that whether you like Donald Trump or not,

[00:27:14] whether you like Kamala Harris or not,

[00:27:16] when you don't have children,

[00:27:19] and we don't have an increasing or at least stable fertility rate,

[00:27:23] and we have one that is declining precipitously,

[00:27:27] he makes the very obvious conclusion that we are a dying nation.

[00:27:32] You can see this if you've ever traveled with us.

[00:27:35] We are going to have a trip once again to Greece in May of next year.

[00:27:40] And we almost filled it out.

[00:27:42] We will probably talk about that sometime in the future,

[00:27:44] especially when I have one of my guests in studio to talk about this, Paul Boreca.

[00:27:49] But if you go to Greece, or you go to many of the countries surrounding it,

[00:27:55] whether it's Italy or Spain or a variety of others,

[00:27:58] you recognize that they have a fertility rate even further below the American rate.

[00:28:05] And as a result, they're not even replacing their population.

[00:28:08] You have a situation where there are more grandparents than parents,

[00:28:12] more parents than kids.

[00:28:14] And so he points out that we're not alone.

[00:28:17] The increasingly popular decision by literally billions of women is to opt out of motherhood,

[00:28:23] and it is happening throughout the developed world and most of the developing world.

[00:28:29] Perhaps the only continent where that is different is Africa,

[00:28:33] in which they have increased their population.

[00:28:35] And so if you take one of the countries in Africa,

[00:28:39] there each woman will bear about six children.

[00:28:44] In the United States, that number is 1.84.

[00:28:48] Now, I've never seen a .8 child.

[00:28:50] You haven't either, but you know how you get that number.

[00:28:52] And that is you take all the women of reproductive age,

[00:28:57] and then you divide that into the number of children being born.

[00:29:01] And you need about 2.1 to have a stable population.

[00:29:07] We have been below replacement value for many, many years.

[00:29:12] And as a result, if this isn't going to change,

[00:29:16] it might get worse because he then points out the 4B movement.

[00:29:21] Now, I mentioned this the other day, but it's worth mentioning one more time.

[00:29:25] This is a feminist movement that's come out of South Korea.

[00:29:28] And South Korea are the 4Bs.

[00:29:31] Now, the Bs are in Korean, so they wouldn't mean anything, so I'll translate them.

[00:29:35] One of the Bs is no sex with men.

[00:29:37] Another B is no dating men.

[00:29:39] Another B is no marrying men.

[00:29:41] And another one is not having children.

[00:29:43] And so if you look at that, that is something we're seeing,

[00:29:47] even in this country, being promoted.

[00:29:50] Especially we're going to hear about that after, of course, the election of Donald Trump.

[00:29:53] So then he goes on to say it's easy to imagine how this movement resonates with liberal American women

[00:30:00] who are horrified or angry about Donald Trump's victory.

[00:30:04] But he says South Korea is not exactly the nation we would want to emulate.

[00:30:09] I did a commentary a while back because the fertility rate in South Korea for South Korean women is .68.

[00:30:16] They are trying as desperate as they can to find enough even men to serve in the South Korean military

[00:30:23] because the population is literally collapsing.

[00:30:27] It's imploding on itself.

[00:30:29] So he concludes by simply saying this is the nihilistic consequence of a culture that rejects marriage, family, and motherhood.

[00:30:37] Whether mindful of the ultimate impact of their choices or not,

[00:30:41] this is the fate, he says, that liberal women are imposing on America.

[00:30:46] It is self-inflicted genocide occurring in what may appear to be slow motion from the perspective of our short lives.

[00:30:54] But in the context of human civilization, this is happening at a pace that is stunning and unprecedented.

[00:31:02] So again, he then goes into a piece, which you can read later because I'll ignore it,

[00:31:07] of a particular opinion column that was posted by a feminist.

[00:31:12] But in the conclusion, he says, you either start having babies again or you import people or you die.

[00:31:19] If we rule out option three and choose to live, the two choices remaining are equally clear.

[00:31:26] You stop celebrating a culture that stigmatizes masculinity and motherhood.

[00:31:32] And to the extent your population remains in decline, you screen every single aspiring immigrant to America for culture, character, intelligence, and work ethic,

[00:31:44] and only admit the best.

[00:31:46] The only thing I would add to this is the fact that we have found that, as we have said on this program many times before,

[00:31:53] conservatives have more children than liberals.

[00:31:57] Christians have more children than secularists.

[00:32:00] And the fertility gap is striking.

[00:32:04] I have a booklet coming out in the future, which I've already written.

[00:32:09] It isn't printed yet, but if you are one of the individuals that join with us financially,

[00:32:14] if you're part of the truth team, you'll receive it in the mail, probably January, February, whenever it comes out.

[00:32:20] But I talk about this fertility gap that we've had Arthur Brooks on the program to talk about.

[00:32:26] And the fertility gap last time I measured it was like 47%.

[00:32:30] In other words, you basically have many more children being born in Christian homes than in secular homes.

[00:32:37] Many more children being born, if you will, in conservative homes than liberal homes.

[00:32:45] And we're starting to see maybe some of the impact of that.

[00:32:49] The only thing that's changing that general direction is that a lot of universities are in the business of trying to convert conservative young children and young adults into liberals.

[00:33:01] But by and large, it is, I think, very striking that the one place where we see fertility, and you've probably noticed it when we talk about the decrease in fertility in America.

[00:33:13] Sometimes when you go to your church, you go, sure doesn't seem to be showing up right around here.

[00:33:18] We seem to have more babies in the nursery than ever before.

[00:33:22] And that's because Christians are having more children than secularists.

[00:33:27] Conservatives are having many more children than liberals.

[00:33:30] But this fertility issue is a big one.

[00:33:33] And it's going to exist long into the Trump presidency.

[00:33:38] And there are solutions.

[00:33:39] But we have to first acknowledge it's a problem.

[00:33:42] We'll take a break.

[00:33:43] Come back with more right after this.

[00:33:55] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:34:00] I thought I'd go down with at least something that might give you a little bit of hope.

[00:34:04] And this comes from John Stossel.

[00:34:06] Now, actually, he's fairly negative.

[00:34:08] But I'm talking about the fact that now with a change of administration, maybe some things will begin to move in the right direction.

[00:34:15] Because if you, for example, want to keep your smartphone, that requires various minerals.

[00:34:22] If you want to have an energy-efficient car, maybe even an electric car, that requires minerals.

[00:34:29] You can kind of see where I'm going with this.

[00:34:31] Because he points out in his latest video, but also we have the column that goes with it,

[00:34:37] that he's actually a bit critical, I think, of the National Resources Defense Council.

[00:34:43] And does an interview with the head of it.

[00:34:45] So we'll get to that in just a minute.

[00:34:47] But this is a very affluent environmental group.

[00:34:51] And it claims to use the law to confront the climate crisis.

[00:34:56] And again, that's using his quotes.

[00:34:58] But he's concerned about the very significant way in which they go to actually prevent us,

[00:35:05] if you think about this, from getting the minerals necessary for the 21st century that we find ourselves in.

[00:35:14] Let me quote John Stossel.

[00:35:15] America needs minerals like copper and silver to make things.

[00:35:20] Even President Joe Biden made a speech saying America will need 400% to 600% more minerals to make solar panels,

[00:35:28] wind turbines, and so much more.

[00:35:31] And an iPhone alone needs aluminum, iron, lithium, gold, copper.

[00:35:39] Well, there you get a pretty good list right there.

[00:35:42] And so here's the problem.

[00:35:44] When investors want to dig up materials and minerals in America,

[00:35:50] that's when the National Resources Defense Council objects and uses all sorts of political connections to stop them.

[00:35:59] And that is, the argument is, is that these mines would be a catastrophic threat to wildlife or a fragile ecosystem.

[00:36:08] Now, first, let me just hasten to say, we don't want to do anything that is going to harm the environment.

[00:36:14] And I recognize that sometimes strip mines have been terrible things in our culture and in our environment.

[00:36:22] But to say that we could never actually mine these minerals in this country leads us to then say,

[00:36:31] well, then we'll just let all these various minerals be mined in places like Africa.

[00:36:36] And I've talked about the mining of cobalt in Africa in one of my commentaries and some of the rest.

[00:36:43] And so here is the problem.

[00:36:45] So in order to try to kind of give a point counterpoint,

[00:36:49] John Stossel first talks with Mark Mills, who's a physicist.

[00:36:53] And he says, Mark Mills wonders why anyone would try to open a mine in America today.

[00:36:59] The physicist says, why in the world would you put millions, maybe billions of dollars at risk,

[00:37:06] spending those decades to get a permit, knowing there's a very good chance they'll just cancel the permit?

[00:37:12] How in the world do you build mines in America knowing that that's the landscape you have?

[00:37:18] And in the video, you can watch it.

[00:37:21] John Stossel talks about a place where there was an EPA veto against a mine.

[00:37:26] And then the Army Corps of Engineers studied the mine and concluded there wasn't an environmental threat.

[00:37:33] But then it was reversed again.

[00:37:35] So you can see that this on again, off again that comes from changing administrations, Republican, Democrat.

[00:37:43] Now we're going to Republican again.

[00:37:45] If you're a business person, if you're an individual who wants to invest in this,

[00:37:50] and you can't be sure that you are going to be able to get a return on your investment,

[00:37:56] you can see why we have the problem.

[00:37:59] So John Stossel then reports that America now ranks second to last in the time it takes to develop a new mine, 29 years.

[00:38:09] Only Zambia has a worse record than that.

[00:38:13] And so again, the physicist Mark Mill said, you start applying for permits,

[00:38:17] you're going to be waiting not months, not years, but possibly decades.

[00:38:22] And you can see why that's the case.

[00:38:25] Because you're going to be waiting while the National Resources Defense Council sues

[00:38:32] and raises all sorts of concerns about that.

[00:38:35] And so as a result, today's mines deserve, as he points out, a very small amount of the landscape.

[00:38:43] But nevertheless, that's the game that is being played right now to prevent mining, in many cases,

[00:38:50] from taking place in America.

[00:38:52] Okay.

[00:38:53] So then John Stossel talks with the spokesman for the National Resources Defense Council, Bob Deans,

[00:39:02] who actually was confronted by the fact that it seems to be killing mines and also killing people's opportunity.

[00:39:09] He comes back with kind of the typical platitude you hear before.

[00:39:12] We've created new jobs in this country by building wooden turbines, solar panels,

[00:39:17] even the next generation of energy-efficient cars.

[00:39:21] But again, I point out, you also need copper and gold, but we have to weigh the risk.

[00:39:27] But that's when he says, well, they don't seem to really be weighing the risks.

[00:39:31] As a matter of fact, he even asked whether or not the National Resources Defense Council can provide a list of any mines

[00:39:40] that the NRDC doesn't complain about.

[00:39:43] He says, sure, I'll send you some names.

[00:39:46] Never did.

[00:39:47] I asked again this month.

[00:39:49] Again, never any names.

[00:39:51] And that's where, of course, Mark Mills says, don't hold your breath.

[00:39:53] The mines that they are implicitly supporting are in, you know it, Africa.

[00:39:58] So, again, this is, I think, a very interesting irony.

[00:40:03] And on the one hand, there's a full court press for everything from wind turbines and solar panels.

[00:40:13] Of course, everybody wants their smartphone.

[00:40:16] But these minerals have to come from somewhere.

[00:40:20] And at the moment, we as Americans are quite content to just say, don't dig in this country.

[00:40:26] We'll just dig in Africa, even though we recognize it's exploiting some of the labor that is there.

[00:40:32] So, again, I think you would appreciate reading that piece.

[00:40:35] And just a good reminder once again of the fact that the issues are a little more complex than sometimes you're led to believe.

[00:40:43] Just before I go, I thought I'd also quote from Matt Taibbi.

[00:40:47] He's an individual we quote from time to time.

[00:40:49] I used to write for Rolling Stone magazine.

[00:40:52] But he points out the other day that the Washington Post was criticizing this particular doctor from Stanford University and talked about his fringe ideas on COVID.

[00:41:04] Matter of fact, they talked about the fact that he was a handful of prominent contrarian academics.

[00:41:10] But I love Matt Taibbi says, you know, only the Washington Post would use snobbish terms like fringe and contrarian to describe beliefs held by most of the population.

[00:41:24] And it's, again, one more, I think, very poignant reminder of the fact that you have to read carefully.

[00:41:32] You have to read widely.

[00:41:34] And in some respects, read with a great deal of discernment.

[00:41:38] Because the number of times words like fringe, far right, contrarian, of course, not to mention fascist and Hitler are used.

[00:41:48] You just have to pay attention to the fact that sometimes they're just name calling.

[00:41:52] They're not really engaging in the actual facts and figures and information.

[00:41:57] So I thought it was an interesting little piece that came from Matt Taibbi.

[00:42:01] He's an individual who on many issues probably would disagree with us as a liberal.

[00:42:06] But he's kind of had it up to his eyebrows with the dishonesty of the so-called mainstream press or the legacy press.

[00:42:15] And it's a good reason for us to encourage you to pay attention to facts and figures.

[00:42:21] And I hope that we can be your trusted source of news, information, and commentary right here at Point of View.

[00:42:27] Again, we have a banner there for Giving Tuesday, which is just around the corner.

[00:42:31] Hope you'll be thinking about and praying about how you would support this ministry.

[00:42:34] And hope that you will join us tomorrow.

[00:42:36] Looking forward to a very long and robust conversation with Kelly Shackelford and Penna Dexter.

[00:42:43] And, of course, we'll open up the phones for your comments as well.

[00:42:45] It's all part of our weekend edition right here at Point of View.

[00:42:49] You can find all the articles we're talking about here on the website at pointofview.net.

[00:42:53] Most importantly, I want to thank Megan for her help engineering the program.

[00:42:57] I'm Steve.

[00:42:57] Thank you for producing the program.

[00:42:59] And we look forward to seeing you tomorrow right here on Point of View.

[00:43:10] There is an old military saying, if you don't have communications, you don't have anything.

[00:43:17] Good information is the key to success, not only for those in the military, but for all of us.

[00:43:23] You can't take positive, productive, and helpful action if you don't have good information.

[00:43:29] Point of View Radio's main role is to provide good information.

[00:43:34] And we distribute that information not only here through our radio program, but online and through our various social media channels.

[00:43:42] You know that big tech isn't exactly a supporter of what we do.

[00:43:46] So you need to take intentional steps to keep in touch with us.

[00:43:50] Make sure you follow us on Twitter, at Point of View RTS, which of course stands for Point of View Radio Talk Show.

[00:43:59] At Point of View RTS.

[00:44:02] Also, make sure you follow us on Facebook, Point of View Radio Talk Show.

[00:44:07] We won't overwhelm you, usually just one post a day with information on our guests and what's important.

[00:44:13] The information you need when you need it.

[00:44:16] Point of View Radio Talk Show on Facebook, and at Point of View RTS on Twitter.

[00:44:27] Point of View is produced by Point of View Ministries.