Is America’s Moment of Unity Fleeting?

October 3, 2017 By E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Despite a brief moment of national unity following the terrible massacre in Las Vegas, Pat Buchanan questions whether or not the country can hold onto that for very long. Pat says that with a focus on identity issues like “race, religion, ethnicity, culture, history and politics,” America is being pulled apart. He writes:

We Americans may celebrate our multiracial, multiethnic, multilingual, multicultural diversity as our greatest attribute. But the acrimony and the divisions among us seem greater than ever before in our lifetimes.

Blacks, Hispanics, feminists, Native Americans, LGBT—all core constituencies of the Democratic Party—seem endlessly aggrieved with their stations in American life.

In the Republican Party, there is now a vast cohort of populist and nationalists who agree with Merle Haggard, “If you’re runnin’ down my country, man, You’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.”

A massacre of Americans like that in Las Vegas may bring us together briefly. But what holds us together when issues of race, religion, ethnicity, culture, history and politics—our cherished diversity itself—appear to be pulling us ever further apart?

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.

Latest posts by E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy (see all)

Interest Rates Your Dad Would Be Proud Of - September 18, 2024
The Size of the Fed’s Bond Holdings - September 18, 2024
Fed Reserve Loves Free Money - September 18, 2024
A Gold Standard Would Provide Discipline to Government - September 17, 2024
401(k) Blindspot for Rollover IRA Investors - September 17, 2024

Interest Rates Your Dad Would Be Proud Of

America’s debt load is the highest it’s been since the post-WWII era. Look at the interest costs to carry all that debt in the chart below, and imagine you had such a personal debt load. Wouldn’t you want to reduce it? Of course, you would. Now, throw in the fact that the government can print […]

The Size of the Fed’s Bond Holdings

When interest rates decline, bond prices increase. Now you see one of the motivations for the Fed and the federal government to cut rates. It increases the value of the Fed’s bonds and reduces the payments on interest for new borrowing to finance the government’s debt. Action Line: Click here to subscribe to my free […]

Fed Reserve Loves Free Money

Who said history doesn’t repeat? The Fed is firing up its old free money truck. It’s just a different driver. “The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost.” – Ben Bernanke Investment […]

A Gold Standard Would Provide Discipline to Government

Your Survival Guy doesn’t want you to be in the interest rate prediction business because the talking heads just might end up being wrong. Sure, the Fed funds rate may come down, but what if the buyers for the rest of the yield curve have a different opinion? Bond prices trade in anticipation of what’s […]

401(k) Blindspot for Rollover IRA Investors

When you roll over a 401(k) to a Rollover IRA, you need to remember the default is to put the money in cash. Greg Iacurci explains at CNBC: Many investors unknowingly make a costly mistake when rolling their money from a 401(k) plan to an individual retirement account: leaving their money in cash. Rollovers from […]

Why the Fed Needs Rates Lowered

Why does the Federal Reserve want so desperately to lower rates? It’s about servicing the debt. The United States has rapidly run up its debt load, and refinancing all that debt at high rates will be difficult to pay for. So even if it means additional inflation, the Federal Reserve plans to lower rates. Action […]

Don’t Invite Problems into Your Portfolio

When you’re looking at dividend-paying stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs, you want to be selective because, historically, it’s not the highest payers that have performed the best. And when investors reach for yield and buy those highest payers, they tend to invite avoidable problems into their portfolio. There’s a difference between the dividend-centric investor who […]

The Stock Market Woodchipper

There’s a lot of slicing and dicing going on in today’s markets. When you have more ETFs than stocks to buy, that’s a problem. In The Wall Street Journal, Jason Zweig wonders if there’s any asset left to make an ETF out of. He writes that “Good new investing ideas are getting harder to come […]

To the Media, Some Lives Matter More than Others

Once again, over the weekend, President Donald Trump was the victim of an assassination attempt. This time, the President was playing golf and was shot at by a man named Ryan Wesley Routh. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board explains: One question is how Mr. Routh knew Mr. Trump would be golfing on Sunday at […]

529 to Roth IRA

If you have a 529 plan that exceeds what was needed for education costs, there may be a way to roll it over into a Roth IRA. Laura Saunders explains in The Wall Street Journal: It happens more than you think, given the spiraling costs of college: People who save money for a child’s education […]

Do You Look Marvelous? See My Friend Marc

Your Survival Guy visited my friend Marc Streisand this week, owner/proprietor of Marc Allen Fine Clothiers, Custom Suits, and Imported Sportswear, to pick up my handmade, bespoke cashmere sport coat. It’s such a beautiful piece, I can’t wait to put it on when we hit Paris for three weeks in October. Every time I leave […]

Kitten Update This Week

Well, Fred (gray) and Phantom (black) haven’t settled down yet, especially at nap time. What’s funny is how much Fred outweighs his little sister Phantom and how she’s ruling the roost. He’s definitely bigger and stronger, but she leads the way. Investment Concerns? Save Money. Get My Friday Email. It’s Free Read more […]

Dershowitz Decries “Hard Left” Hijacking of Democratic Party

In The New York Sun, longtime Democrat Alan Dershowitz decries the party’s hijacking by the “hard left” and explains his reasons for leaving it after so many decades. He writes: I have been a loyal Democrat since the mid-1950s when I worked for local Democratic candidates at Brooklyn. Since 1960 I have voted for every […]

September RAGE Gauge: Win Friends and Influence People

Well, that was an interesting debate, wasn’t it? Not exactly a seminar on how to win friends and influence people. When I talk with you, you tell me it didn’t sway you one bit. And you feel the same way about the undecided voters—they weren’t compelled either way. When I think of Dale Carnegie’s classic […]

Stay Diversified My Friends

Investors are getting nervous about the stock market and are making moves to more traditionally defensive sectors of the market. Remember to stay diversified because it’s not what you invest in but how you invest that stirs the drink. Hardika Singh reports in The Wall Street Journal: Investors are playing defense ahead of the Federal […]