Point of View October 29, 2026 – Hour 2 : Thursday’s Top Stories

[00:00:04] Across America, live, this is Point of View. And now, Liberty McCarter.

[00:00:20] Welcome back to the second hour of Point of View. Would love to take your calls and comments. So 1-800-351-1212. That's 1-800-351-1212. Don't forget that you can also find that number online at pointofview.net. So I did want to take some time to talk about some of the things that have been happening in Europe. We've addressed it before the last couple of times. I've wanted to have a chance to talk about this article in particular.

[00:00:48] And so I'm going to take a few minutes to do that today. You can read it at pointofview.net, but it's from the Free Press. And it is written by Jemima Sheila. She is an immigrant who has made her life in France since childhood. And she said, I came to France with nothing. My bakery in Paris was destroyed by rioters. The reason I want to highlight this is because one, it's really important to, I think, hear this perspective in the midst of everything that we've heard in the media.

[00:01:17] I mean, there's so many aspects to this. We heard that it started out as student protests over really bad educational conditions. There has been Gen Z protests breaking out all over the world. And so it's part of that trend as well. Also, you have the problem of uncontrolled migration in many parts of Europe. This turned from kind of a student protest into an anarchy protest. And then you had a lot of, you know, you saw just so much violence.

[00:01:47] And so there's so many things coalescing here. But her perspective is really important. And I think she really hits the nail on the head with some of the root causes behind it. So first, just a little of her story again, Jemima Sheila. She immigrated to France in 1999 as a child from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her mother was actually executed for political reasons.

[00:02:11] And so she left a war-torn country, came to France, had to stay by herself often while her dad was off at work. Then as she got older, she had to work her way through college, struggling to balance classes and all of the jobs that she had to work to pay for those classes. But she worked hard in order to get an education for herself.

[00:02:33] As an adult, she met the man who is her husband today, and she joined him as a business partner in the bakery that he owned. And that has been their life ever since. They have been married for a long time and built their business together slowly over time and have a successful bakery with many employees. And as you might imagine, it was one of the targets of a recent riot in France. And so she tells her perspective.

[00:03:00] She was not at the shop when this riot in particular that she's writing about was occurring, but her store manager was there. And so when she first heard the news, she said, hey, if there are panicked people going by, you know, let them in, offer them something to eat. Well, quickly, she received phone calls that her storefront had been smashed with sledgehammers and that stones were being thrown at the police. And she quickly realized, OK, this is actually a very drastic, very dangerous situation.

[00:03:30] Her employees that were at the bake shop at the time actually had to take cover and hide from the rioters at a jewelry shop next door. She said whenever she was able to finally visit her destroyed shop, it felt like the middle of a civil war. It's mind boggling. I lived in the Congo. I have known civil war. But in France, what justifies such barbarity?

[00:03:55] And then you see young people laughing with their phones, bragging about what they have just done. And she went kind of viral because there she did confront some of the rioters that were still there and didn't get into any physical altercation with them, but confronted them angry about what they were doing. And then she went on a TV show in France to talk about what had happened to her shop and her reaction.

[00:04:20] And they had, I guess, a representative of some of the so-called student protests there that was making fun of her on the show and diminishing her and just kind of sweeping away her concerns as being part of the privileged elite in France. Again, this is a woman who immigrated from a war-torn country in Africa, worked her way through college and owns a business with her husband to have made a lie, a free life, what she thought was going to be a free life.

[00:04:44] And so one of the things that she points out is how in many of the riots that you've seen, and this is not just in France, by the way, but this has happened all over the world. We've even seen examples of it in the United States. Violence becomes justified. And here's what she said. There is a hatred of the Republic, the French Republic, in large swaths of our population. She's talking about France, of course. But violence does not stem solely from poverty.

[00:05:09] And that's what you will often hear from the far left is that, well, this is the only way that people can get attention, that violence is somehow justified. Words are violence, but actual physical violence is justified. But she said this doesn't come from poverty. It comes from far left leaders who tell angry citizens that violence is the only answer to poverty or any form of social demand. She says this, and I love this line. It's so true.

[00:05:37] She says it also comes from the government's laxity and from the erosion of parental authority. Wow. I think a lot of people need to hear that today. But she does go on to acknowledge that there are real problems in France. There are some legitimate complaints. France's debt exceeds its gross domestic product, its GDP. Unemployment is rising. People are struggling to make ends meet. She says 70,000 businesses failed in one year. And she says these are real difficulties, but they do not excuse violence.

[00:06:07] And again, she goes back to her own background. I grew up in poverty. She says I lost my mother and sister, arrived in a foreign country and built myself up from nothing. You didn't see her rioting. You didn't see you didn't see violence on her part. But she says today, all of that may come crashing down in the name of what. And so she says she ends with this note, which I think is a very important question.

[00:06:33] She says in the name of what political and social demands was my shop smashed and looted? None. All I see are the deliberate acts of people who reject any form of social contract. That's a really important point. Social contract. People are angry. There are some legitimate complaints rather, you know, when you're especially in Europe and you're considering the economic problems and like uncontrolled migration.

[00:06:59] There's legitimate complaints that are often touted on the far right and the far left. I mean, everybody in the middle. But again, this doesn't excuse violence. Why is this happening? Why is the hatred for their own country, for their own neighbors, for immigrants who came there to build a better life and actually did that? Why the hatred? Well, let's ask the question. What keeps people tied to a social contract? This is a philosophical question that people have been asking for centuries, for millennial.

[00:07:28] What makes people decide to act like neighbors? What prevents people from taking out their frustration with with real issues and turning that into violence, with rioting, with revolution? Well, here's a big thing. It has to do with the morality of a people. And that is why our founding fathers said that the Constitution of the United States was made only for a moral and religious people,

[00:07:56] because they knew if you're going to have a free society, if you're going to give people a lot of freedom to be able to conduct their own affairs and live their own lives, then you're going to have to have people who can behave, for lack of a better word. And when you lose that, then you lose any internal incentive that people have to maintain any kind of social contract.

[00:08:22] If there's just hatred, if people are turning their complaints into hatred against their fellow countrymen, then why would they care about a social contract? They want to tear everything down. This is not just a problem in France. It's a philosophy and a mindset that is infecting people around the world, including in the United States. Let's talk a little bit more about that when we get back from this short break.

[00:09:00] This is Viewpoints with Kerby Anderson. Many years ago, a presenter at an international conference compared the printing of currency to alchemy. Centuries ago, alchemists tried to turn base metals into gold. The idea goes all the way back to Aristotle, who believed that all matter combined the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. He guessed that these elements could be changed by the action of heat and cold or dampness and dryness.

[00:09:29] So why did alchemists want to create more gold? Well, gold has been the store of value for thousands of years and has been used as money in so many civilizations. The science of the alchemists was flawed, but so was their economics. If they had been able to create gold, they would have ruined its value because it would no longer be scarce and would decline in value. The story of gold and alchemy is an apt illustration of what central banks and governments have been doing for centuries. Instead of creating gold, they have been creating currency out of thin air.

[00:09:59] Although we talk about cranking up the printing presses and printing more dollars, the reality is that the Federal Reserve or the U.S. Treasury merely changes numbers on computers. You know the result, inflation and a devalued dollar. In previous commentaries, I've posted the picture of the declining value of the dollar since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. $100 back then would only be worth a little over $3 today. The government will be printing many more dollars.

[00:10:27] Therefore, we should expect the devaluation of the dollar to continue. Alchemists tried all sorts of experiments to create gold. The modern-day alchemists create currency instantaneously with no cost. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my Point of View. Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net.

[00:10:55] That's pointofview.net. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Why do you think people don't want to hold to any form of social contract? We're just talking about what's been happening in Europe and in France over the past few weeks in the riots.

[00:11:16] And this article written by somebody who actually came to France to build her life from and fled civil war in the Congo, it says that in France there's just such a hatred for their nation, for their neighbor, and people don't feel tied to any sort of social contract anymore. So we ask the question, why is that? So you can answer if you have an idea, 1-800-351-1212.

[00:11:46] But I wanted to point to somebody from France who was observing the United States of America a long time ago, and that is, of course, Alexis de Tocqueville. And I think it's important to, you know, as we're talking about more riots happening in France and other places around Europe as well, and whether or not that could happen here in the United States, then let's go back to when you had somebody who was in the United States for a long time closely observing what made our constitutional republic work.

[00:12:15] Of course, I'm talking about democracy in America. And instead of lugging the big, you know, copy of the book and trying to flip through things that I read back in college, I just decided to look up this report from the Heritage Foundation that they actually published 10 years ago analyzing what Tocqueville wrote about the United States, but it's as relevant as ever. And so here's something that you may not know. Tocqueville, and this is a quote here from this report, does such a great job summarizing his writings.

[00:12:44] Tocqueville explained more thoroughly than anyone else why religion, though in some ways a pre-modern and pre-democratic phenomenon, is nevertheless essential to the health of modern democracy. In fact, this is one of the key themes of democracy in America. He observed how devout Americans were, how devoutly religious they were, and talked about and wrote about why that mattered for democracy in America.

[00:13:14] Okay, so he said that modern democratic freedom developed as a result of Christianity's influence on European civilization. Recently, Marco Rubio was in Greece talking about Western civilization, so this all ties in. And he also talked about the Puritans' influence on American civilization. And he noted that political freedom requires an unshakable moral foundation that only religion can supply.

[00:13:43] That is why John Adams said that our constitutional republic is made only for a moral and religious people. Okay, so you also have to have a solid religious foundation for not just democracy to appear, but for it to persevere. I mean, this is something that the founding fathers in America recognized as well. This was often the topic of the Federalist Papers and the debates that they were having about the Constitution,

[00:14:10] is what exactly would the role be, because they acknowledged human nature, and they knew that, you know, the different uglier aspects of human nature would need to be controlled without trampling freedom, and how would be the best way to do that? They acknowledged something that the report says here, again, summarizing what Tocqueville wrote. Quote, democracy fosters intellectual and moral habits that can be deadly to freedom. For instance, the tyranny of the majority. Individualism.

[00:14:38] Man, America is very individualistic, and a lot of times we talk about the benefits of that, but that can also be a vice. Materialism and democratic despotism. So these are dangers that can emerge from a democratic society. How do you guard against that? Christianity. Christianity. And that's what Tocqueville observed, was that American Christianity was keeping these problems at bay, allowing the good parts of democracy to actually flourish and thrive.

[00:15:06] And so he wrote that religion should be considered the first of America's political institutions, and that it was necessary for Americans to maintain Christianity at all costs. That is a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville. And so see how far we've come today. Now, we've talked a lot about whether or not religion is really in decline, but I think that whether you want to parse numbers and statistics about how many people say they're Christian or go to church,

[00:15:34] clearly there's been moral decline in our nation. And I think the fact that a lot of people in the United States still do identify as Christians and actually mean it more so than, for instance, in Europe, that's why we haven't seen some of the decline happening so fast. But it is happening. And we can't be free if we can't avoid having a tyrannical government if we can't, like I said earlier, be trusted to behave. So what motivates people to behave, to engage in what you call a social contract?

[00:16:03] In fact, it's a sense of internal morality, an internal check and balance on your soul and your behavior and your ethics. And when people don't have that, what do they do? They destroy. And so that's another topic that I think we really need to talk about because a lot of people may be looking at what's happening in Europe and saying, could that happen here? And so there's an article that was published in World Magazine. You can see the link at pointofview.net by Carl Truman.

[00:16:30] And he says, yes, it can happen here, too. And this is so important. You know, we're looking at what's happening across the pond. And he says, we need to be careful not to adopt the stance of the Pharisee. We thank you, Lord, that we're not like other men, that, you know, we're not those crazy Europeans who are destroying everything good and beautiful about their culture. Yeah, we don't want to do that because we have to be honest and acknowledge human nature is the same anywhere. So we really we do need to know, OK, what are the factors over there versus over here?

[00:17:00] And we have seen pockets of that same kind of problem of rioting, of destruction happening in major cities like Portland that have been seized by violence and destruction. Think about 2020 and the riots that we saw. I mean, think about I mean, even the attitudes and the demonstrations that we've seen after October 7th and people supporting terrorists and Hamas. So we've seen examples of this in the United States.

[00:17:27] We are not immune and we need to acknowledge that and not to say, well, thankfully, we're not like Europe. No, we may be in many instances or just a few years behind. So he wants to explain, you know, why? Why do you see this red green alliance? Why do you see something that doesn't make sense? For instance, weird alliances between the hard left LGBTQ activists and groups like Hamas.

[00:17:53] And again, he's talking about to like he's tying all of this into what's happening in Europe and whether or not it could happen here. And he talks about something called the spirit that negates. It's the spirit that negates anything that is good. It is only concerned with destruction. It is only concerned with being contrary, with tearing things down, not building things up. Another word, nihilism. Nihilism is the philosophical belief that nothing matters.

[00:18:23] And if nothing matters, then why does it matter if you're violent? If you're not getting what you want, if you're not comfortable, then why does it matter if you tear everything down? If you are only if you only have a spirit that negates, then you can only see the bad in anything. And I think that's actually so insightful because you have both the you know, you have these extremes that ideologically don't really mesh at all.

[00:18:45] But for instance, they can unite in their hatred of Israel because they can they can't see anything good about it. It's only negation. It's only negative. And you can't see. I mean, I think that's why you see like here in the United States, you've seen people tearing down monuments of the founding fathers a few years ago and trying to reject any any patriotism or sense of pride in our nation or Western civilization is somehow like a bad word is a bad thing. Why?

[00:19:14] It's a spirit of negation saying that we there's nothing good. We can only see what's bad. And it stems from nihilism. And he knows that you see this on the far right, too. And I've talked about the what I think is a big problem that we need to be aware of, of the rise in anti-Semitism on the right, the emergence of Hitler fandom on the far right. It's the same spirit of just everything is bad. There's nothing good. There's nothing worth salvaging. And so people are then drawn to these extremes.

[00:19:43] And when you look at these different studies of Gen Z and what they believe, we've talked about this before. Barna has a good report on this. There's no absolute moral truth that you can't trust anybody. Gen Z is the least trusting generation. You can't know for sure what's right. I did a No Why podcast episode on this a few months ago that so many members of Gen Z say they don't know what their purpose in life is. Now, if that's not nihilistic, I don't know what is.

[00:20:12] And it's very sad. But it's not enough to just say, oh, I see what's happening over there and I don't like it and it's concerning. And what's wrong with these young people? We need to say, well, what's the core of what they believe here? And the answer is, in many cases, nothing.

[00:20:27] It's just they're being fed the same outrage machine on social media or algorithms or they do have legitimate complaints, maybe about things like affordability and the cost of living and schooling conditions or corruption in government or whatever the case may be. But instead of any sort of momentum or motivation to build and go about things in a productive manner, then it's just hatred. It's just tearing everything down. And again, it ties back to what Tocqueville wrote about.

[00:20:57] If we have a worldview that is rooted in who we were made to be, people who reflect God's image and what our purpose here is on Earth, then we can deal with problems. We can cope with things that are disappointing. We can cope with legitimate frustrations and we can respond to problems. But we respond like the founding fathers did with the spirit to build something better rather than merely tear everything down. So I hope that gives you some things to reflect on.

[00:21:26] You can check those links at pointofview.net and we'll be right back. 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.

[00:21:57] Marx sought to destroy religion, the family and everything the Bible supports. 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?

[00:22:18] 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. 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.

[00:22:49] Point of View will continue after this. 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 Liberty McCarter. You guys have been quiet today, and that's okay.

[00:23:18] But if you want to make any comments about affordability particularly or anything else I've talked about, don't forget, you can call in 1-800-351-1212. I do want to look at a couple different perspectives here, particularly regarding the affordability topic. We are just a few days out from Election Day. Many people have already voted or maybe are heading to the polls today because of early voting in the midterm elections.

[00:23:45] And the buzzword that we keep hearing and keep talking about is affordability. And this is something that I really want to treat carefully. And to be honest with you, sometimes I don't really know what the answer is because on the one hand, you know, we hear certain things about the economy and the struggles that young people are facing. On the other hand, there are parts of the economy that are doing well. You know that though the crisis is real in the sense that people really do feel it.

[00:24:11] But there are also some cultural factors and belief systems that I would believe that have kind of invaded people's minds and expectations a little bit too. So whenever we do have an opportunity to have a Next Generation Roundtable, I love it whenever I have my Gen Z co-host with me because they can offer a lot of perspective on this. Something that Charlie Kirk was so good about, and I noticed he was talking about it more and more before he was taken from us, and that was this issue of affordability.

[00:24:38] And he was warning conservatives that if we didn't talk about this and acknowledge it and deal with young people's frustrations, then we would lose them. And I've had people ask, why the interest in socialism? Why that wave of socialism? Why are people falling for the DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America? And I think a lot of it really does boil down to some of these frustrations that many people are feeling.

[00:25:04] And so I want to try to talk about maybe both, a couple different perspectives on this issue. And I know that it won't be the complete story, and that's why I encourage you to call in if you have a perspective to share. 1-800-351-1212. And if you're a young person listening and you want to talk about, you know, what it's like in this economy for you, then please call. This is from The New York Times. It's called Can't Afford a Home, Can't Afford a Baby, Can't Afford Life. This is 30.

[00:25:32] Now, 30-year-olds are right at the top of the Gen Z generation. Early 30s are kind of like the bottom of the millennial generation. So we're talking, you know, right on that, you know, borderline there in the younger generation, people who are young adults. And so in this report, you had the reporter speaking to more than two dozen economists and experts on adulthood and people in their early 30s, many people who are in that age cohort. And so here's how it opens up.

[00:26:02] A young woman in Queens celebrated her 30th birthday with cake, champagne and an existential crisis over still living paycheck to paycheck. A 30-year-old in Manhattan felt ready to consider marriage but knew he couldn't afford a wedding. And in Brooklyn, a couple, age 32, confronted a generational conundrum, stay in their hometown as their parents age or move away to start a family.

[00:26:27] It goes on to quote a generational researcher saying, 30-somethings really feel like they have missed out and been left behind. And we have talked about whether or not the American dream is dead. And many young people feel like it is. And they don't have a lot of hope. Now, here's where that all sounds very bleak. But again, we're looking at New York here. This is the New York Times. So they're specifically reporting on what it costs to live in New York right now.

[00:26:52] And as I read, this is where I engage some of my, I guess you could call, middle America skepticism here. Get this paragraph. Many of these 30-year-olds that are being interviewed work full time and earn enough to cover the cost of basic groceries, even if it means trips to three stores. I'm not really sure what trips to three stores has to do with it. But growing up, my family always went to multiple different stores because there were certain things certain stores had. And we were living in the country.

[00:27:21] So it was like a big thing to go to town once a week and, you know, you hunt for the best deal. Anyway, I'm going to go on a tangent there. But, you know, even if they have to go to three different grocery stores, they are making enough to cover the cost of groceries. Well, that is good. But their salaries are losing ground to inflation. We know that's a fact. And their health care costs are skyrocketing. We know that's a fact. They're cutting back on salon visits, social activities, and fresh fruit runs. And they feel priced out of adulthood.

[00:27:49] Okay, look, I love fresh fruit. Going to the salon is great also. But, again, this is where I'm kind of like, okay, we talk about the American dream is dead. And in the very next paragraph, I can't afford to buy as much fruit as I want. And I get a little bit skeptical of like, okay, where are our expectations here? Because if you grew up middle class, lower middle class, you grew up maybe where your family did live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to make ends meet. Then you probably know that it's okay.

[00:28:19] Like, you can survive. It's not always fun. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you're also living in absolute poverty either. I mean, sometimes you just go without some of those luxuries. But, again, the concerns of whether or not people are getting married, being able to buy a home, that's a big one. Feel like they can afford to have kids. Like, those are all legitimate concerns. And we see the fertility crisis happening. So we need to be able to address these things.

[00:28:46] And, again, the share of Americans who say raising children is unaffordable jumped to 20 percentage points during the last decade. So more Americans are saying that it is not affordable to have or raise kids. And this is another quote from the article. While people in their 30s today are more likely more highly educated than earlier generations, they are more than twice as likely to remain saddled with steep student loan payments. Now, that is a huge concern. And I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in a moment.

[00:29:15] So you have people who, again, just on paper, salary looks good. But when you look at, depending on where they live, cost of living and some other items that have shot up in cost, plus how much education has shot up in cost and student loan debt, then it can be very hard to get ahead. And so I sympathize with that greatly.

[00:29:38] But I do think that sometimes we have created false expectations about what life has to look like or what you have to get accomplished, for instance, before marriage or having kids. And when in reality, it's it can be more simple than people make it. I don't want to downplay, you know, how hard it can be to, you know, start a family. But I also we don't need to overcomplicate it either. So, again, trying to find that middle ground here.

[00:30:06] And just to be fair, there is another link that you can see this at pointofview.net, too, really that looks at these numbers. Because in response to this article that I just quoted from, I did see some people on X and online saying, hey, not to be callous, but like, have they considered moving away from New York? Because the cost of living is insane. I think the like the medium rent in Manhattan, I think it was like six thousand dollars a month.

[00:30:33] So no wonder people can't afford to buy a house or even get a two bedroom apartment as opposed to one. And of course, you know, a young couple doesn't want to start a family in that environment. And even though many people do, it doesn't seem ideal. So it's just it's insanely expensive in certain places like that. And so but I also understand, again, like people's extended family in there is there and their aging parents are there, then it can make it hard to move away. And you feel like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. So I want to sympathize with that.

[00:31:02] And so this is another interactive article. Actually, it's pretty fun to scroll through and it just takes numbers. It's pure numbers. It's from The New York Times. But it's just looking at how cost of living has changed. And it says, is life feeling too expensive? It's not just you. And it's not just inflation. So I'm going to get my laptop here and scroll through some of these things. And you can look at it yourself. And just let's go through and say, OK, maybe sometimes we get a little skeptical when we read these, you know,

[00:31:29] stories about complaining about having to go to a few different grocery stores and not be able to go to the salon as often or something like that. And I remember when I was young, people would say, you know, stop getting your lattes and eating your avocado toast. And, you know, it's there's more to the story than that. So I don't want to just dismiss it as that. Let's look at some of these numbers. OK, in 1986, a four bedroom house in the suburb of Chicago would be two hundred and forty four thousand dollars.

[00:31:57] Now, let's see if we adjust for nothing but inflation today. That house would cost six hundred and ninety two thousand dollars, almost seven hundred thousand dollars. So up from, you know, around two fifty to almost seven hundred. That's with just inflation. That's a lot. But in 2026, they actually have a picture of this house here, four bedroom house. And it's not a mansion.

[00:32:24] OK, in a suburb of Chicago sold for over a million dollars. OK, so it's one point eight times as expensive. It's not just inflation. It's increased more. Let's look at some other aspects of life. So today in today's economy, you know, is pretty much built around to two working parents. That's just the way that it is. And so people a lot of people need child care. And when people are thinking about starting a family and having children that is.

[00:32:51] And I know from, you know, having friends that are in this season of life, like that's one of the things that you immediately start calculating. In 1986, a week of daycare for a single child would have cost on average sixty four dollars. Adjusting for nothing but inflation. That same care today would cost one hundred and eighty one dollars for a week of child care. But in 2025, a week of daycare cost two hundred and fifty two dollars.

[00:33:15] So it was one point four times as expensive, more than what is covered just by inflation. We're about to go to a break and I'll go through a few more of these examples when we get back, because, again, I do want to really take this issue of affordability seriously and look at just how much more expensive things are today. Even when you're not talking about the expensive, most expensive place you could live like New York City all around the nation. Prices are going up. We'll be right back.

[00:33:44] You're listening to Point of View, your listener supported source for truth. I want to go over a few more of these examples of just how much different things a cost of living in the United States has increased even above and beyond inflation.

[00:34:13] But speaking of inflation, we do have a caller. So let's go ahead and get Kathy from California calling in, listening on KNLB on the line. Kathy, thanks for calling. Yes. I was wondering, is the inflation nationwide, and they're taking research on that, but then if you were to take it state to state on that, what is the inflation rate of those states?

[00:34:39] I know the Democrats, they promise, well, we'll get, we need to health care again and we need to do this, but they never offer any suggestions on any of how they're going to pay it.

[00:34:54] And it kind of seems like that this is like going down the same road that Obama, Biden, and then I'm not saying that Trump hasn't created some of those problems and you're not going to turn some of this around because you, right away, because you have what happened in the Obama administration and then what happened in the Biden administration.

[00:35:17] And it's been bouncing down the road and you have this war over in the Middle East and stuff and there's people that are unhappy about that. But my question is, it seems like we're a record player and we have a record and the needle is stuck in the groove. Yeah. Kathy, such a great comment. Thanks so much for listening and calling in today. And she makes a really good point. When you look state to state, is there a difference?

[00:35:45] And I think that that's worth looking into. It reminded me of a conversation I had with Melinda Preston here in the studio a few weeks ago. And she's the chair of, I believe, Denton County GOP here in Texas. And we talked about this issue of affordability. So specifically, since so many young voters are concerned about it. And I asked her, like, what is your response as the chair of the Republican Party in Denton County? What's your response to that concern?

[00:36:13] And she said something that is exactly what Kathy was saying. Look at the individual states. And we were just talking about New York. And so, of course, there is rising costs, as I've been going through, in all parts of the United States. But a lot of it, when it comes to the cost of living, really does come down to what state you're in, how much economic freedom they have. I mean, why are you seeing so many people move to Texas, for instance? And I see it all the time because everybody's moving to Texas.

[00:36:42] My town is exploding. This North Texas area, the Dallas area, everybody wants to come here. And it's like, oh, it's getting crowded. But I get it because there's so much economic opportunity here. It's a good place to live. And people are moving. I mean, I can't count the number of neighbors I have from California. And they're coming here because they love Texas. And it's so much more affordable.

[00:37:03] So that actually leads me to something else I wanted to mention, which is just how there are people who are acknowledging that. And instead of staying where they are in a very expensive place, they are actually deciding to move. Just a couple more numbers real quick. I did want to mention education. Get this. In 1985, one semester of in-state tuition and fees at the University of Tennessee cost $375 one semester.

[00:37:33] If you adjust for nothing but inflation, that same semester of school would cost $1,100 today. But it's now over $7,000. So and that's for in-state tuition at a state school in Tennessee. So, I mean, gosh, I'm a proponent of college education. But it is just ridiculous. And the student loan debt is such a huge problem for my generation. But let's go back to talking about what Kathy mentioned, which is the states.

[00:38:03] As I was looking at these affordability headlines in the New York Times and thinking about all of that, I was reminded of a piece I read in the free press last year, talking about how some members of Gen Z are actually reinventing what they believe the American dream is. And I won't really say reinventing. I think maybe it's rediscovering because they are deciding to move to places where the cost of living is more affordable.

[00:38:31] So example, they feature a young couple. I think they were 24 at the time that they were interviewed, who they were both college educated. And the wife in particular is the subject of the interview here. She had always dreamed of moving to Los Angeles to do screenwriting. But it was so expensive. And she realized that it was going to be impossible for her to make any sort of money or with the kind of job that she wanted to do in that location.

[00:39:00] And she and her, they were high school sweethearts. And so they stayed together after college. They wanted to have a family and they wanted to have kids while they were in their 20s. And so they discovered a program called Make My Move. I actually have it pulled up here. Makemymove.com. It is a program that incentivizes young adults to move to places that are more affordable to small towns in Middle America that actually need to increase their population.

[00:39:29] And they have all kinds of incentive packages that are basically trying to lure young people away from these big metropolitan areas or on the coast to say you can actually afford to live here. So she and her husband decided to move to southern Indiana. And they were able to actually buy a house on three acres for $215,000. They got pregnant. She was due with twins at the time this article was written.

[00:39:58] So and she said that she's living her dream. But here's what's sad. Here's what's sad is that when they started to consider moving away from L.A. And moving to a small town in Indiana where they could actually afford to buy a house out of college. She said we thought we were better than this. We wanted to move away and prove ourselves. And this gets into some of the messaging. And I know it's not just about this. I know as we just went on inflation is crazy.

[00:40:27] Cost of living has risen beyond inflation. All of those are legitimate problems. But we do need to address this perception of what success means to my generation was told go away, go far, reach for the stars, get out of here. What do we see among millennials and Gen Z? We see isolation, disconnectedness, loneliness epidemics.

[00:40:48] We see people vulnerable to real danger from, for instance, turning to chatbots for medical advice, as I talked about earlier in the show. We're seeing a lot of these problems. Also affordability. And people were told that their only path to success was one particular version of that. One path became the only path. Go to college, get a four-year degree. Oh, now you also need a master's because everybody has a four-year degree.

[00:41:14] By the way, it's extremely expensive and you're going to be in debt for forever, but you don't want to stay in your small, you know, racist, backward hometown. You need to get to the city and you need to really make it and prove yourself. And don't start a family when you're young. You need to wait until you've accomplished all these things and then start your family. And if you do any of that out of order or you don't follow that path, well, then you're a failure. And that is what we were told. That's what my generation sadly believed.

[00:41:37] So I'm so glad that this couple and more people, according to this report that was in the Free Press last year, realized that actually they can be happy. She is using her skills. She's writing grants for schools in her area. They actually have a community that they enjoy being in. They're able to start a family when they're younger and actually own their home, which is something that a lot of young families are struggling with today. And we need more homes that are built for young families like that.

[00:42:06] But anyways, it's interesting. Just something to think about. You can check out makemymove.com. It's pretty interesting how they are highlighting all of these towns in Middle America that need to be revitalized and actually offering incentive packages for young people who may want to move there and invest in the community and actually be able to afford a home. But we're running out of time now. We're about to end our show today. But I do want to remind you that tomorrow is the weekend edition. Kirby will be here in this chair and I'll be in the studio as well.

[00:42:35] As Jeff Mateer, we're going to have a great conversation. But before I go off the air, I just want to remind you to pray for America. This week, we are encouraging you to pray about the midterm elections, which are, of course, Election Day is on Tuesday and voting is already happening now. So if you want to join us in praying for our nation every week, and I really hope you will go to pointofview.net.

[00:42:57] You can click on the banner that says Pray for America and sign up to get one email a week that just gives you some things that you can pray for to encourage you to pray for our nation. Anyways, join us for the weekend edition tomorrow right here on Point of View. The Bible tells us not to worry. And yet there is a lot of worrying stuff in our world today. Thankfully, the Bible doesn't stop at telling us not to worry.

[00:43:26] God gives us a next step. He says we need to pray. But sometimes even knowing what to pray can be difficult. And that is why Point of View has relaunched our Pray for America movement, a series of weekly emails to guide you in prayer for our nation. Each week, you'll receive a brief update about a current issue affecting Americans, along with a written prayer that you can easily share with others.

[00:43:56] We'll also include a short free resource for you in each email so you can learn more about the issue at hand. Will you commit to Pray for America? Go to pointofview.net. Click on the Pray for America banner at the top of the page to subscribe. Again, that's pointofview.net. Click on the Pray for America banner.

[00:44:23] Let's pray together for God to make a difference in America. Point of View is produced by Point of View Ministries.