Tag Archives: The 4th of July

Jul 17 2024

Does a Near Death Experience Change You?


Posted originally on Jul 17, 2024 By Martin Armstrong

Trump is alive, for he turned his head to his right just a couple of inches. Had he not done that, the first shot of this patsy would have killed Trump. He said he “‘feels very fortunate” to be alive. Already I am hearing people what independent balisticsand the bullets. With the FBI investigating, there is just no credibility left anymore after what people have seen with the investigation into the JFK assassination.

Babylon BeeTrump_Indicted_For_Inciting_Assassination_Attempt

What I hear is that people are claiming it is Trump’s fault for his rhetoric. Now I hear that Trump will realize he is wrong and will suddenly repent and become a Democrat, I suppose. Let me explain something since I have personal experience with being the target of assassination. This is nonsense!

1 Attack Coma 3 days

Many assume that near-death experiences completely alter a person’s views regardless of how devout they may have been. I can say after the attempt on my life that I survived, to their dismay, when I awoke from a coma days later; it did change me, but not in the way I have read that people assume. In my case, it took the fear of death from me rather than making me more devout and afraid of death. But it also strengthened me as I knew my purpose was to stand up and fight.

Near Death Experience

There has been a recent review of the research into near-death experiences. The most common result seems to be a loss of fear of death, a reinvigorated sense of purpose, and increased compassion for others. Where I had restricted our services mainly to institutional pre-1999, it did make me realize that to create world change for the better; I had to share what I had learned and try to demonstrate to the world that there is a better way if we live with the cycle instead of trying to manipulate it for political gain.

Maralago

I went to dinner at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, and I posted about it on March 13th, 2020. However, it was at that dinner when Trump said he wanted to withdraw the troops from Afghanistan. He was the first head of state ever to really impress me from a human perspective. He said he was tired of writing letters to the parents of a soldier who had died there. He said:

“What are we doing there? These people have been fighting over borders for a thousand years. What difference are we going to make?” 

I find CNN and MSNBC vile. All they ever do is demonize Trump. I was told that people at CNN were upset because this suddenly “humanized” him after so many years of deliberately trying so hard to dehumanize him.

I got to see that Trump was concerned for the soldiers who were dying only because the Neocons, like John Bolton, constantly wanted to convert the United States into an imperial power that dominated the entire world with his endless wars. Let’s make this very clear about Bolton. John Bolton was a fervent supporter of the Vietnam War, yet he managed to avoid combat through a student deferment followed by enlistment in the Maryland Air National Guard. He is always willing to send American boys to their deaths but sought a deferment for himself.

Bolton John Neocon

Bolton openly supported the United States’ interference in other countries under his philosophy that, somehow, we have the right to carry out regime changes worldwide. That is precisely what got JFK assassinated by the CIA because they were engaging in regime change, assassinating leaders, and he wanted to terminate the CIA.

Nevertheless, Donald Trump said on his social media site Truth Social on Sunday that ‘it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.’ He was already against war. I believe he will take the path I did and see that he is here for a purpose. Perhaps that purpose is to try to mitigate this mad rush into World War III.

This is more than just the hatred of Rachel Maddow and all the LEFTIST that should be expelled to some island where they can create a world of communists. They seem to prefer where nobody may say or do anything that they disapprove of. These people are outright traitors to everything that America was intended to be. They espouse nothing but hatred, and this is the very reason the United States will break up.  These people have no respect for civilization, and I refuse even to call my “mother” and birthing person because the term “mother” offended them. They will NEVER change their ideology; any call for unity will quickly fade as the days pass. They will NEVER live under Trump, who they have so demonized with raw hatred.

7 4 24 BBC_presenter_David_Aaronovitch_tweets_if_I_was_Biden_I_d_hurry_up_and_have_Tru

These comments of having Trump killed have been worldwide by the LEFT. David Aaronovitch, who presents Radio 4’s Briefing Room show, and the Daily Mail reported that on July 4th, he put out on Twitter: “If I was Biden, I’d hurry up and have Trump murdered on the basis that he is a threat to America’s security.”

I believe Trump has been stripped of any fear of death, and further, I think he now sees that his saying, Make America Great Again, will form an even more profound sense of purpose. Perhaps this will contribute to the political changes that must come post-2032. Yes, civilization requires unity. But the cancer is on the LEFT where they always present themselves as victims for they do not have what others have and so on. They constantly try to force their way of life upon everyone else right down to punish anyone who has more than they do. the LEFT will never change – it is in their DNA. That is why nations will no longer be able to stand united.

Jul 7 2024

Saturday Speculations


Posted originally on the CTH on July 6, 2024 | Menagerie

Spoiler alert. That might be my $20 (inflation!) word for a rant. And open season, nothing is off limits guys. Whatever’s on your mind.

I will start with truth. After a few things I’ve observed lately, let’s start with the basics. Apparently people on both sides need a primer.

True

Inoun

1. The quality or state of being true.

2. That which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.

3. A fact or belief that is accepted as true.

Let’s discuss. 1. Too vague. 2. Okay, agreed. 3. Absolutely not.

I found something worth a little thought from Webster’s 1913 online.

1. The quality or being true; as: — (a) Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been; or shall be.

It also goes on to expand the meaning of truth, and I’d like to come back to that later.

Fidelity; constancy; steadfastness; faithfulness.

There is truth, and it isn’t fungible. In the real world, we don’t have my truth and your truth. An orange is an orange and a man is a man. Vows are vows, and you don’t get to interpret them after the fact. If you make a commitment, pledge a vow, sign a contract, then you go into knowing and accepting the reality as is, not as you think it should be.

Everyone who has been married understands that we all bit off more than we thought, and reality is different from romance. Most of us buckle down, put in the work, and deal with that, with varying degrees of success.

But suppose your spouse decides they don’t like fidelity and want an open marriage. Nope. Not what you pledged. Suppose your husband decides he wants to be your wife. Again, no.

Those are the easy ones. Let’s do harder. Suppose you work at a low paying job, your boss is abusive, and you are really in desperate straits financially. You begin to take small amounts from the cash register, never really missed, and after all, you are underpaid, and asked to work off the clock.

Again, no. It is a truth that theft is wrong. A truth that is not subject to your interpretation.

I have had people I really do not like offer me good counsel, telling me things that might be difficult to take, especially from them. Some of them had my best interests at heart, and some of them had their own best interests at heart, but helping me in some way suited that interest. My feelings about them, and about whatever difficult truth I was being challenged to face didn’t change facts.

I like this person, it’s easier to agree with their course of action. I hate this one, therefore every thing they do is wrong. Not valid, nor is it productive.

Moving on.

Every American, right, left, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, really ought to unite in digging through muck and filth and coverup for answers about why the government has been run by proxy, and who is running it.

And yeah, for us, we saw this way back, before Obama even, but let’s just deal with today and the “wink,wink” crowd who just got outraged. Okay, man up, own it, walk back from the brink and fix things.

I can’t calculate that infinitesimal percentage of chance.

For the love of little green apples, climate cultists, EVs are not immaculately conceived. They get here by way of petroleum based manufacturing. But before that, look into lithium mining. The process, the human labor, the precious CO2 emissions in the process, water used. You know, stuff.

Why aren’t parents trustworthy enough to teach reading, writing, and math to their own kids at home, but they know enough medicine and psychology to “understand” that their non verbal 18 month old baby is transgender?

And may I return, yet again, to one of my perennial questions.

Young ladies, why would you enter into a relationship with a man who is more effeminate than you, wears more jewelry, styles his hair, and, Great Aunt Gertie’s garters, wears skinny jeans. No man belongs in skinny jeans. And have you seen the suit pants men wear now? I don’t want them to look like leggings, and I don’t want to see your socks.

Someday life is going to slam you with a level 5 tornado you didn’t see coming, and man bun skinny jeans boys will fold and buckle.

If you’re using buttermilk, it should never be low-fat.

I’ll save the rest for another fine day. Your turn.

Oh yeah, big add. Okay, I consider liberals stupid, to say the least. But pass the popcorn. They finally have to own up, on the international stage, no less, to poor decision making and irresponsible, dangerous actions having unavoidable repercussions. Even for them, epic stupid.

Jul 5 2024

LIVE: GLOBAL POPULISM SPECIAL WITH BEN BERGQUAM AND RAHEEM KASSAM


Posted originally on Rumble By Bannons War Room on: July 04, 2024 at 05:00 pm EST

May 12 2024

Reflections on Motherhood


Posted originally on the CTH on May 12, 2024 | Menagerie 

Updated from last year’s post

Motherhood. Contrary to ridiculous claims otherwise, it starts with being a woman. Which starts with XX chromosomes and can never be changed.

It didn’t take God long at all in his creation process to get to the male, female, mother, and father part. I can see nothing confusing in his words. From Genesis, Chapter 1:

And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.  27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth…

So, I am a woman, a wife, a mother, a grandmother. A daughter, daughter in law, sister, sister in law.

My pronouns are not she/her. I am a she. I am a her. I am his wife. I am Mom. I am a grandmother to six boys and three girls.

I was never a birthing person and I’ll probably smack you with my cast iron skillet if you call me one.

In dignity and love we women were created unique and with tremendous life bringing gifts by God the Father. You know, the Creator who identified himself, among many other things, as Father. Which gave meaning to what being a man, and a father, and a woman, and a mother, would all come to mean.

My identity comes from God Eternal. Truth. Unchanging.

Ladies, congratulations. Your were gifted from the moment of your creation with a share in God’s own life giving creative abilities. Celebrate who and what you are. Celebrate life, femininity, nurturing, love, and the ability to pair colors and patterns, carry two squirming kids under two years old, five grocery bags, a purse and diaper bag, and open the door without letting the dog in or the cat out.

Celebrate that you loved a man, also created in God’s image, enough to create that most precious and endangered of things, a family. It doesn’t matter whether your family is yours by blood or by love. I have eight grandchildren. Four are genetically related to me, but eight are mine.

Your family, your children, your grandchildren, and everyone else’s are under attack. Your motherhood is one of the biggest weapons against the evil coming against us. You have influence, respect, opportunity, and abilities. Use them for good in word and deed, in action and prayer. In faith, in hope, in love.

As a mother you learned early on, I hope, that love requires hard choices. It is not best for your crying baby to be given something just to shut him up. Your cranky toddler shouldn’t get to watch TV just because. Don’t buy your kid a toy every time you’re in a store. Teach even your little kids to work, and take care of themselves, according to age and ability.

And for goodness’ sake moms, a subject near to my heart, don’t be overprotective of those kids, especially teens, and especially boys. Men and women are meant to do hard things. We have to be survivors, we have to endure hard times, no money, illness, loss of work, and political madness.

Failures and troubles of all kinds are going to come fast and hard at your kids. Your job is NOT to protect them to the best of your ability. It is to prepare them to survive those hard knocks and failures on their own.

Every single time you remove the burden from the shoulders of your sons and daughters and place it on your own, you lessen them. Every time you try to stop your husband from making the kids, again, especially the sons, do something you are afraid of and nervous about, you interfere with his duty and gift of fatherhood.

Boys especially need dads to show them how to be men. To my way of thinking, and evidenced by the crap going on in the world, we have a serious problem with manhood in this world. People can throw out all kinds of causes, from women’s lib gone wild to trans and gay advocates taking over the mindset of weak people, to lack of moral and religious teaching in the home. Lots of others, most valid to varying degrees.

But I submit to you that nothing is more damaging to kids, and especially to boys (cut me some slack here, I only had boys!) than a mother who undermines the strength, power, leadership, and resolve of the father of her children. Encourage him when he’s hard on them. Stand united against the whines.

I have one particular well loved grandson whose default mode right now is sing song whiney. Whenever he comes to visit and asks me for something, a treat, a special privilege, whatever, I never give him a yes until he asks with a strong whine free voice. I digress, but it’s a good example!

Make them do the hard things. Show them how, encourage, lead, push, shove, but don’t do it for them. Your job is to raise your kids to fly the coop on their own, as wise as youth can be, as strong and untested life can be at that first foray into the world. To do those things with hope, confidence, and the strength of doing things for themselves.

Never bail them out of failure. Cry your mama tears behind your bedroom door when they fail, but let them fail. And get back up. And fail.

I have come to believe that one of my most important jobs was letting go and not stopping my sons’ failures, just as much as celebrating their successes. It’s still sometimes hard to do that now that they are grown.

One of my sons recently made a comment about a boy’s failure at a certain undertaking. His observation was that the boy had done everything asked of him and nothing above that, which guaranteed his failure.

It was a very proud moment for my husband, and for me. That’s the kind of boy he was, and the kind of man he is, and the kind of father he is.

Each of my sons learned to do the hard things early on in life. One of them has three children, two with autism. He’s a wonderful and loving father to them, but he does not see their autism as an excuse for them to do less than every thing they are capable of, and then more.

Another other son refuses to abandon his step children in the face of barriers, blocks, and hardship after a divorce. Because he knows those kids need him more than ever, and he loves them. Lots of biological fathers would quit.

I am proud of my boys. They did not get those great strengths from a protected childhood. I could never have been that strong on my own. My husband taught me to let them fall, to let them hurt, to help but never do for them.

Although I never had the responsibility and blessing of having a daughter, I’d like to add something here about parenting girls as well. We now have a twelve year old granddaughter, and right now, that sometimes seems harder than raising all three sons! Hats off to all of you who have raised those stubborn, dramatic, hardheaded, beautiful young ladies.

Circumstances in our family, especially the autism of her two younger brothers, have us often involved in helping out with these three grandchildren, especially since I homeschool her brother.

As we strive to help her through pre-teen travails, I am also keeping in mind the examples of the many women I’m seeing today, and not liking it. At all. From the protestors on college campuses to the women who lead Ivy League schools, and those who are business leaders and politicians, I am not seeing much I feel good about in the news.

Many women seem to have lost their way, and further, for reasons I’m not wise enough to explain, society in general has let them drive the train full speed toward the cliffs too often. We parents and grandparents have a mighty task ahead of us, helping our precious girls find their gifts, strengths, kindness, and beauty in the midst of so many terrible examples and pressures.

Today, as we offer you heartfelt good wishes on this  Mother’s  Day, I tell you, your job isn’t done. Be strong, be an example, and encourage the young parents in your own family to do the hard things. A lot of things, most things, that are wrong in this world started with bad parenting. They need to be fixed the same way.

Almost every day here at the Treehouse people ask what they can do to fix the problems in our country specifically, and the world generally.

My own answer is to be the best mother and grandmother you can be. Just like childhood requires perseverance in the face of struggle and failure, so too does motherhood. Be strong. Be tough. Don’t quit.

You’ll never get the thanks and recognition you deserve and even if you did, you know that’s not what you want. You want the best of life and love and hope and eternity for your kids and family. Fortunately, you have a mighty, mighty power over the outcome. And you will, until the day you die.

The world needs you to use it.

May 12 2024

MOTHERS DAY


A very special Day

May 5 2024

#004 Exploring the Mind ft. Sean Webb – Squaring the Circle: A Randall Carlson Podcast


Published originally on Rumble By Randall Carlson 0n May 4, at 06 00 am EST

Mar 1 2024

Young Ladies Beware, All That Glitters Is Not Gold.


Posted originally on the CTH on February 29, 2024 | Menagerie

Sometimes it isn’t even safe.

I saw a post at Ace of Spades about women who love feminized men. They are calling them babygirl, and apparently both the young women who are attracted to these guys, and the men themselves consider it a compliment.

Here’s a quote I lifted from the Ace post, which I believe originates from his link to the NY Post.

A man who is “babygirl” comes across as sweet, charming, a bit bashful and seemingly in touch with their feminine side, ready to talk about their feelings or carry a purse to brunch at any point.

It’s exactly what women want and men want to become — the antithesis of toxic macho masculinity.

They are presenting it as “mental health.”

First of all, let me say without sarcasm, beware anything presented these days as mental health, and especially consider the sources.

I would like to make some comments which I hope will be shared to young women of dating age. I appeal to these young ladies to stop and consider, to think about what is important.

Not everyone you will date will be someone you want to consider for a long term commitment, or for marriage. That is as it should be. A wise young woman will spend some years learning what type of young man she will be most happy, content, and compatible with, and learning to judge people, especially men, who are trustworthy, loyal, and reliable, and those who are not.

But imagine yourself at the point of seeking a long term commitment leading to marriage. Let’s look only at the personal, most selfish aspects of the potential relationship first. Believe me, they have much wider implications.

No matter what kind of woman you are, your professions, education, race, religion, or politics, if you have the brains God gave a goose and some common sense and self awareness, you want a partner who isn’t high maintenance and doesn’t require undue effort and work.

In other words, you are looking for someone who will give as much as they take. And please note, this is a mutable, changeable, flexible give. There is no static 50/50 in a relationship. Some days it’s close, but other days, it’s all on one side, and then things swing back to a more centered relationship. Ah, and then there are, in committed, long term, stable relationships that build people, families, the world, the weeks, months, and years of one sidedness.

Those are the ups and downs of life, and not to be confused with selfishness or the shallowness of people who won’t commit.

For example, almost four years ago I had a serious fall which left me with a long term injury. Last year I had to have an ankle replacement because of it. These past years have been a trial for me, physically and mentally, and my husband bore a greater load because of it. I see that, appreciate it, and am so grateful for it. And I can honestly say, I’d bet he’s never even had that thought. We don’t have a running tally, a measuring system.

When our kids were young, it was necessary in the job he had and loved that he work and be away from home long, long hours. Sometimes there was travel. That put the burden of the day to day home life, kids, school, cooking, almost all of it, on me during the week.

A lot of men and women I know today measure that stuff rigidly, and boy, it’s important to them, but it was a way we had to live, especially since we needed the money so much. I saw it as a sacrifice on his part, not selfishness.

And so we went, year after year, back and forth, giving, taking, living, loving, sharing.

Back to your dating life. I hope that personal example illustrated my point. If you are just dating and having fun, it’s unlikely that you want to be the one who does all the work, compromising, and giving, even in a casual relationship. A babygirl, by the very definition of the word, needs to be pampered, cared for.

If you are looking for a partner for lifelong commitment, and allow me to say that if you look for a long term partner and don’t expect permanency and everything they have to give, stop there. You have some work to do on yourself. If you’re looking for real commitment, no one wants a loser, a user, a poser, a lightweight.

Let’s break this down into simple word pictures. Life is hard. Some days it throws the kitchen sink and the toilet at you. And then comes the bulldozer while you’re down. You’d better have a partner in those moments, those days, especially if you have kids. One who can stand his ground and push back hard at challenges.

One of the best feelings in the world is going to bed after an awful day and having the man you love, whose strengths see you through hard times, put his arms around you, settle you against his chest, make the world go away for a few precious hours in the shelter, yes, by golly, shelter, of his arms.

He’s stronger than you, bigger than you, harder than you. And that is reassuring, it’s a deep to the bone salve that tells you he won’t ever quit, give in, or whine when things get even harder. No, you won’t think these thoughts, more important, you will feel them.

And let me tell you this also, acknowledge it or not, you need those things. You were created to share those things with him, just as he was created to give them to you.

Throw them aside as toxic masculinity at your own peril.

Cute little harmless “babydoll” men are small fish, not big enough to be nourishing. Smile when you catch one, but throw it back in the pond because he isn’t a keeper. If you value men who overly share their feelings, who look so cute in their skinny jeans, man bun, and with their hollow chested androgynous figures and soft everything, including morals and character, then upon you will come misery, heartbreak, financial ruin quite possibly, and a lonely, lonely walk through a burden filled life with no one to share the load.

You’ll be expected to support him, emotionally always, and financially just about guaranteed during months and years when he’s finding himself, or really mentally ill. Or fired, addicted, cheating with who knows who or what, or just being his selfish, irresponsible babygirl self.

No man worthy of the title would give you a second shot if you came looking for whatever fluff sticks together such a missed the mark in every way male as this babydoll creature, nor should he.

Ladies, if you’re looking for merely pretty, for an entertaining toy, then go for it. Indulge yourself and go into it knowing the cost. Because really, you’re trying to combine two very different things. You need a best girlfriend, or several of them. That’s where you can make another type of deep emotional connection, share your fun times, your secrets, your hopes, and learn about life, guys, makeup, clothes, and yes, sex.

But if you have plans and dreams that involve marriage, babies, building a good, strong, happy, rock solid life, you’d better also look for a real man to build the foundation with. Anything less is your immaturity combined with imagination, fairy dust, and being so insecure that trooping along with the parade is more important to you than your own future.

Wanting a man secure in his own wonderful masculinity to share your life with does not make you less than him, weaker than him, though your own incredible, wonderful strengths are different than his. It doesn’t make you needy, selfish, immature, or, if you must, not a feminist or a modern woman.

It makes you a woman who knows her own mind and her own worth and demands her equal, and her due.

Nov 30 2023

Henry Kissinger Dead at 100


Posted originally on the CTH on November 29, 2023 | Sundance 

Every person reading this has been impacted by the policy agenda of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Dr. Henry Kissinger, a respected American scholar and statesman, died today at his home in Connecticut.

Henry Kissinger was born in southern Germany in 1923, where his father was a teacher. His family fled Nazi Germany and came to America in 1938. After he became an American citizen in 1943, Dr. Kissinger served in the 84th Army Division from 1943 to 1946. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his “meritorious service.” Dr. Kissinger subsequently served in the Counter Intelligence Corps in occupied Germany. He was in the U.S. Army Reserves until 1959.

Dr. Kissinger earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees at Harvard University, where he taught international relations for almost 20 years. In 1969, President Nixon appointed him National Security Advisor. He subsequently served as Secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Ford, in which capacities Dr. Kissinger played central roles in the opening to China, negotiating the end of the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East, and helping to bring America’s role in the Vietnam War to a close. He worked to set the former Rhodesia on the path to representative government and negotiated key arms control agreements with the Soviet Union.

Dr. Kissinger has written 21 books on national security matters. Considered one of America’s great statesmen, Dr. Kissinger was regularly consulted by American presidents of both political parties and scores of foreign leaders after he finished government service in 1977. In May of 2023, he celebrated his 100th birthday and remained active well into his 100th year. Most recently, Dr. Kissinger focused his attention on the implications of artificial intelligence. He was a frequent guest with media and on panel discussions, writing, and traveling abroad. Additional biographical information about Dr. Kissinger and his writings can be found at www.henryakissinger.com.

Dr. Kissinger is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Nancy Maginnes Kissinger, two children by his first marriage, David and Elizabeth, and five grandchildren. (link)

President Gerald Ford, then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller discuss the evacuation of Saigon, on April 28,1975, at the White House.

Dec 10 2022

The Discovery of Intelligence Most Never Expected


Armstrong Economics Blog/Nature Re-Posted Dec 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

https://youtube.com/watch?v=tGlUZWNjxPA%3Ffeature%3Doembed
Feb 14 2022

How Valentine’s Day Became a Lucrative Holiday


Armstrong Economics Blog/North America Re-Posted Feb 14, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Some believe Valentine’s Day originated as a way to offset the Pagan holiday of Lupercalia, which History described as “a bloody, violent and sexually charged celebration awash with animal sacrifice, random matchmaking and coupling in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility.” Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day during the 5th century. The Catholic Church recognizes three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all who suffered horrific deaths in the name of religion. During the Middle Ages, people began to believe that bird mating season began on February 14. English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day as a day of romance in 1375 when he penned the poem “Parliament of Foules,” writing, “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s [sic] day / Whan every foul cometh there [sic] to choose his mate.” Hence the phrase “love birds.”

In modern days, Valentine’s Day is an opportunity for businesses to use the rhetoric of pathos to convince people to spend money to express love. The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects Americans to spend $23.9 billion on the holiday this year, an increase from last year’s $21.8 billion spent. Valentine’s Day shopping peaked in 2020, one blissful month before the depths of the pandemic began, with a record $27.8 billion spent. Around 53% of Americans state that they plan to celebrate the holiday, with 76% stating it’s important to spend this year due to the state of the pandemic. Romantic.

The average US consumer is expected to spend $175.41 per person, up from $164.76 in 2021. Candy (56%), greeting cards (40%), and flowers (37%) are the most popular gifts. Around 31% state they plan to go out this year, up from 24% in 2021, which should add $4.3 billion to the recovering hospitality sector. Around 22% said that they plan to purchase jewelry and the NRF predicts $6.2 billion will be spent, marking the highest amount spent on jewelry in the survey’s history. These figures only represent what will be spent in the US, but Valentine’s Day is celebrated by consumers across the world.