Rethinking Politics

18. Federalism vs Nationalism

As we get closer and closer to the 2020 election, it can become very difficult to have hope or faith in our national government. So we figured now is a good time to discuss a solution that does bring hope: Federalism. Federalism is an answer to the national partisanship we see every day on TV and social media. We address the straw man arguments against federalism that are normally found in textbooks and focus on the role of the civil war in those false narratives. Then we discuss how actions should always be done at the smallest possible level. It is more efficient and much more unifying. By restoring state authority and focusing on local and state politics, people would be free to have the governments they want without imposing them on people who don’t.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod

Photo: Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash 

 

 

17: Vice President Debate & Voting

In our second (and maybe last?) week of debate coverage we take a look at the VP debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. We analyse their performance in terms of both the game of politics and the substance we hope to see in debates. We then spend the second half of the episode answering a question we were asked by a listener that is on a lot of people's minds. Given the situation we are in as voters, what can we do this election to make a difference. To answer that question, we discuss concepts like: the lesser of two evils, throwing away your vote, the purpose of political parties, how parties determine their direction in the future, the role of third party voting, and more.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

16: First Presidential Debate 2020

In this episode, we discuss the first presidential debate of 2020 between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. As everyone knows who watched the debate, it wasn't pretty. But what people don't know is that even if it had been more orderly, it probably still wouldn't have been worth watching. We discuss how debates, debate analysis, and the ensuing fact checking are broken in ways that more decorum could never solve. Modern debates almost never actually discuss the issues, the ideas behind the issues, or explain the role of policies in those issues. Instead, the debates are a game of labels designed to undermine voting blocks. The good news is that we can still have real discussions about ideas and issues that matter and that's exactly why this podcast and many others take the ideas seriously.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod  
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

15: The Supreme Court

With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there is a vacancy in the Supreme Court. This vacancy, and whether it should be filled during an election year, has raised a whole world of controversy. But while everyone else focuses on this controversy, what we focus on is the make-up and evolution of the power of the Supreme Court itself. The Supreme Court is an extremely useful lens through which to understand the way the federal government and its powers are currently divided. We briefly outline the trend of the court towards legislating and why that’s inevitable through its selection process. We then talk about the current role of each branch and federal agencies and the most effective way to solve the broad structural problems.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod

Photo: Claire Anderson on Unsplash

14: Equality of Opportunity

Equality is a powerful rallying cry, which is why it has gained so much popularity this election season. While people generally know how they feel about Equality of Outcome, Equality of Opportunity is much less clear. Like so many issues discussed today, Equality of Opportunity has competing definitions that make it difficult to discuss effectively. To understand it better, we explore those definitions and the underlying ideas. To do that, we address the viral “monopoly” metaphor and the “life as a race” metaphor that are most frequently used to describe privilege and to illustrate the need for equality of opportunity. Fundamentally, this conversation is a critique of the idea that life ought to be understood fundamentally as a competitive, zero sum game.|

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod 
Photo: Hugo Aitken on Unsplash

13: Crime, Punishment, and Restorative Justice

Last episode we talked about violence in a crisis and how to think about the just use of force in emergency situations. This episode we talk about what happens after the dust settles - otherwise known as the criminal justice system. With massive prison populations, an upcoming election, and incredibly high rates of recidivism, this discussion of criminal justice reform is more timely than ever. We discuss the theory of Deterrents, Threat Prevention, Rehabilitation, Restitution, and Retribution. Finally, we discuss Restorative Justice, which refocuses criminal justice on the harm done to the victim and how to fix that harm.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod

Photo: Milad B. Fakurian on Unsplash

12: Kenosha Shootings & The Justified Use of Force

Since the death of George Floyd, there has been a resurgence in the scrutiny of police and non police instances of violence. As time has gone on, this issue has become more and more politicized and has strayed farther and farther away from the key question: when is force justified? In this episode we answer that question starting with principles and theoretical examples, and move into actual cases such as George Floyd, Andrew Jacob Preese, and finally Kyle Rittenhouse.

Photo: Chase Baker on unsplash

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod

11: Republican National Convention 2020

We are back at it for part two of our 2020 convention coverage, this time covering the RNC. Using the same basic principles as episode 10, we break down what happened during the GOP convention. Most importantly, we address surprising changes that may be reshaping the GOP and the DNC in the near future: Black Voters. We also take a few minutes to talk about our own history with party politics, and how that has effected our view of this particular party.

10: Democratic National Convention 2020

In our first “Election Special”, we take a look at the Democratic National Convention. Instead of traditional partisan commentary, we look at the broader purpose behind these conventions and why they matter. In short, these conventions mark the critical moment where people with different opinions attempt to form a coalition large enough to win the general election. We discuss specifically how Democrats are attempting to do that and the degree to which we think it was effective.  

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod  

Photo: Steven Braeger on Wikimedia

9: Inflation, Stimulus & the CARES Act

As talks drag on about the second round of government relief packages, we take a look back at the first one. The CARES Act promised both relief and stimulus for small businesses, the healthcare industry, and millions of individuals who were struggling. The CARES Act cost over 2 trillion dollars, but at the time most of us just saw the benefits. We weigh the effects of the stimulus aspect by exploring concepts like inflation, production, consumption, saving, spending, and how these concepts can help us to understand the full ramifications of the CARES Act.  

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod.  

Photo: Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash.