During The Trump Era, Will Men Finally Start Acting Like Men Again? Posted: 24 Jan 2017 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

During The Trump Era, Will Men Finally Start Acting Like Men Again? Posted: 24 Jan 2017   Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG One of the primary reasons why Donald Trump is in the White House today is because he didn’t act like a typical wimpy politician during the campaign.  The American people were hungry for someone who is strong, someone who is a fighter and someone who will stand up for what he believes.  In other words, they wanted a man and not a wimp.  Yes, Donald Trump has done and said some things that are very regrettable over the years, but many Americans were willing to overlook those imperfections because at least he was willing to go to battle.  Now that he is president, will he inspire millions of other men to finally start acting like men again? Too many men today would rather go to the spa than pick up a shovel. Too many men today speak of the need for “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings”. Too many men today are living in a state of suspended adolescence and are putting off marriage and family indefinitely. Too many men today are more likely to be called a “snowflake” rather than a “warrior”. In an absolutely remarkable article that was published earlier this week, author Todd Starnes made some keen observations about modern “men”.  The following is a short excerpt… In today’s reengineered version of manhood, guys no longer have friends – they have bromances and they settle disputes by hugging it out. Men’s magazines are now filled with articles like, “Should a Man Show Nipple?” and “What Men Know about Wearing Eyeliner.” In America today, boys generally don’t do as well as girls in school.  And young women are far more likely to go to college than young men.  In fact, we have almost gotten to the point where 60 percent of the students in our colleges are women. And when they leave school, young men are far more likely to move back in with their parents than young women are.  In a previous article, I noted that the percentage of Americans in the 18 to 34-year-old age bracket that are living with their parents is now the highest that it has been in 75 years.  If young men were living independently at the same rate that young women are, this crisis wouldn’t even exist. And the truth is that young women are looking for young men that are willing to be independent.  A few years ago, Todd Starnes “conducted an unscientific poll to determine what the average American woman looks for in a man”, and this is what he discovered… 1. Has a job; 2. Drives a pickup truck; 3. Uses the bathroom standing up; 4. Eats meat; 5. And is willing to carry them out of a burning building. In other words — they want the kind of man made in God’s image — not the image of some effeminate intellectual stuffed in skinny jeans sipping chai tea with his pinky finger extended. And a more scientific survey that was conducted a few years ago found that 75 percent of all American women do not have any interest in dating unemployed men. Women want men that will love them, protect them and provide for them. Unfortunately, those kinds of men are being systematically demonized in our society today.  To the liberal mind, the “traditional man” has come to represent “male oppression” that must be eradicated at all cost. This may sound strange to you, but this is the kind of philosophy that is being pounded into the minds of impressionable young adults at colleges and universities all across the nation.  And some of these impressionable young adults buy into this philosophy to a frightening degree. For example, one very prominent feminist blogger has actually called for the eradication of all men… A controversial video blogger has suffered a social media backlash after a video of her suggesting that the male species be wiped out – including babies – re-surfaced. US vlogger Jenny McDermott, 33, made the bizarre ‘kill all men’ content in July last year and posted it on her YouTube channel. The 33-year-old, who’s Twitter bio describes her as a secular humanist and trans loving feminist, rants in the short video that she’s ‘sick of being a baby factory that produces more men, that in the future will subjugate me.’ Someone might want to tell her that the human race would cease to exist without men, because apparently she hasn’t thought that far ahead. But while McDermott may be on the outer fringe, the truth is that she is just a very small part of a very powerful “anti-male” movement in this country. If you can believe it, at this point even some divinity schools are telling their professors not to use male pronouns for God… Two prominent divinity schools have instructed their professors to use gender-neutral language when referring to God. According to National Review, the divinity schools at Duke and Vanderbilt Universities have told their faculty to give “consistent attention to the use of inclusive language, especially in relation to the Divine,” in an effort to be more “inclusive” and to “mitigate sexism.” Of course if men want to be respected, they need to start acting like gentlemen instead of like deranged animals. I often quote from two different surveys when I talk about the state of men in our country.  One of those surveys found that 64 percent of all Christian men in America watch pornography at least once a month, and another survey found that 68 percent of all Christian men in America look at it “on a regular basis”. That is not how men are supposed to behave. A gentleman is self-controlled, patient, strong, temperate and willing to make sacrifices for others. But how many men could be described that way today? In the old days, men dedicated themselves to God, family and country, but today many men appear to be self-obsessed narcissists that are constantly chasing whatever they think will make them feel good in the moment. If we want to make America great again, then men (and women) need to start dedicating themselves to becoming great again on an individual level. So ultimately the fate of this nation is not going to be determined by any politician. Rather, the fate of this nation is going to be decided by what goes on inside our own hearts.

First Official US Visit to Israel of the Trump Era - Israel Today

First Official US Visit to Israel of the Trump Era

Tuesday, January 24, 2017 |  Israel Today Staff

RELATED STORIES

• Can Israel Still Count on America at UN Security Council?
• Netanyahu: Doesn't Matter Who Wins US Presidential Election
• Americans like Netanyahu better than Obama

Topics:

America

The first official from the Trump Administration to visit Israel arrived on Tuesday for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a close adviser to President Donald Trump and new head of America’s cyber security program, was warmly welcomed by Netanyahu.

At a press briefing ahead of Giuliani’s arrival, the prime minister said:

“This is the time for responsible diplomacy and education with our friends, the time diplomacy which will strengthen our cooperation, and increase our trust between the State of Israel and the new government in Washington.”

Netanyahu rejected calls from right-wing members of his coalition to take the opportunity afforded by Trump’s inauguration to annex areas of Judea and Samaria where hundreds of thousands of Jews live.

“This is not the time for knee-jerk reactions, impositions, or surprises,” said Netanyahu, insisting that he prefers to work with Trump to achieve Israel’s goals.

Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates

After Raising Rates Once During The Obama Years, The Fed Promises Constant Rate Hikes During The Trump Era - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

After Raising Rates Once During The Obama Years, The Fed Promises Constant Rate Hikes During The Trump Era

Posted: 14 Dec 2016   Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Now that Donald Trump has won the election, the Federal Reserve has decided now would be a great time to start raising interest rates and slowing down the economy.  Over the past several decades, the U.S. economy has always slowed down whenever interest rates have been raised significantly, and on Wednesday the Federal Open Market Committee unanimously voted to raise rates by a quarter point.  Stocks immediately started falling, and by the end of the session it was their worst day since October 11th.

The funny thing is that the Federal Reserve could have been raising rates all throughout 2016, but they held off because they didn’t want to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the election.

And during Barack Obama’s eight years, there has only been one rate increase the entire time up until this point.

But now that Donald Trump is headed for the White House, the Federal Reserve has decided that now would be a wonderful time to raise interest rates.  In addition to the rate hike on Wednesday, the Fed also announced that it is anticipating that rates will be raised three more times each year through the end of 2019…

Fed policymakers are also forecasting three rate increases in 2017, up from two in September, and maintained their projection of three hikes each in 2018 and 2019, according to median estimates. They predict the fed funds rate will be 1.4% at the end of 2017, 2.1% at the end of 2018 and 2.9% at the end of 2019, up from forecasts of 1.1%, 1.9% and 2.6%, respectively, in September. Its long-run rate is expected to be 3%, up slightly from 2.9% previously. The Fed reiterated rate increases will be “gradual.”

So Barack Obama got to enjoy the benefit of having interest rates slammed to the floor throughout his presidency, and now Donald Trump is going to have to fight against the economic drag that constant interest rate hikes will cause.

How is that fair?

As rates rise, ordinary Americans are going to find that mortgage payments are going to go up, car payments are going to go up and credit card bills are going to become much more painful.  The following comes from CNN…

Higher interest rates affect millions of Americans, especially if you have a credit card or savings account, or want to buy a home or a car. American savers have earned next to nothing at the bank for years. Now they could be a step closer to earning a little more interest on savings account deposits, even though one rate hike won’t change things overnight.
Rates on car loans and mortgages are also likely to be affected. Those are much more closely tied to the interest on a 10-year U.S. Treasury bond, which has risen rapidly since the election. With a Fed hike coming at a time when interest on the 10-year note is also rising, that won’t help borrowers.

The higher interest rates go, the more painful it will be for the economy.

If you recall, rising rates helped precipitate the financial crisis of 2008.  When interest rates rose it slammed people with adjustable rate mortgages, and suddenly Americans could not afford to buy homes at the same pace they were before.  We have already been watching the early stages of another housing crash start to erupt all over the nation, and rising rates will certainly not help matters.

But why does the Federal Reserve set our interest rates anyway?

We are supposed to be a free market capitalist economy.  So why not let the free market set interest rates?

Many Americans are expecting an economic miracle out of Trump, but the truth is that the Federal Reserve has far more power over the economy than anyone else does.  Trump can try to reduce taxes and tinker with regulations, but the Fed could end up destroying his entire economic program by constantly raising interest rates.

Of course we don’t actually need economic central planners.  The greatest era for economic growth in all of U.S. history came when there was no central bank, and in my article entitled “Why Donald Trump Must Shut Down The Federal Reserve And Start Issuing Debt-Free Money” I explained that Donald Trump must completely overhaul how our system works if he wants any chance of making the U.S. economy great again.

One way that Trump can start exerting influence over the Fed is by nominating the right people to the Federal Open Market Committee.  According to CNN, it looks like Trump will have the opportunity to appoint four people to that committee within his first 18 months…

Two spots on the Fed’s committee are currently open for Trump to nominate. Looking ahead, Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s term ends in January 2018, while Vice Chair Stanley Fischer is up for re-nomination in June 2018.
Within the first 18 months of his presidency, Trump could reappoint four of the 12 people on the Fed’s powerful committee — an unusual amount of influence for any president.

By endlessly manipulating the economy, the Fed has played a major role in creating economic booms and busts.  Since the Fed was created in 1913, there have been 18 distinct recessions or depressions, and now the Fed is setting the stage for another one.

And anyone that tries to claim that the Fed is not political is only fooling themselves. 
Everyone knew that they were not going to raise rates during the months leading up to the election, and it was quite clear that this was going to benefit Hillary Clinton.

But now that Donald Trump has won the election, the Fed all of a sudden has decided that the time is perfect to begin a program of consistently raising rates.

If I was Donald Trump, I would be looking to shut down the Federal Reserve as quickly as I could.  The essential functions that the Fed performs could be performed by the Treasury Department, and we would be much better off if the free market determined interest rates instead of some bureaucrats.

Unfortunately, most Americans have come to accept that it is “normal” to have a bunch of unelected, unaccountable central planners running our economic system, and so it is unlikely that we will see any major changes before our economy plunges into yet another Fed-created crisis.