Rethinking Politics

47: 1984 & The Dangers of Doublethink

In the 70 years since George Orwell's 1984 was published, its ideas have become a staple of American high schools and universities. In our very first video episode, we dive into the principles of 1984 and how much of it’s dystopian world has become a reality. With concepts like doublethink, thought police, and Big Brother, Orwell’s warnings are more pertinent today than ever.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Arno Senoner on Unsplash

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/TOEyDCf_DLU

46: The Appeal of Socialism

Today, there is a rising popularity for the economic theory known broadly as socialism. In this episode, we dive into not only why it has become popular again, but also what socialism actually is and, just as importantly, what it is not. We also explore why we are seeing resurgence in these ideas.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

 

45: The Dehumanizing Nature of Partisanship

In a follow up to our last episode, we dive further into the deeply disturbing sources of partisanship. In particular we look at the basis for the intellectual arrogance of Liberals that causes them to confirm their own biases while completely dismissing Conservative. We also address what we as individuals can do to avoid dehumanizing and disregarding those who disagree with us. 

 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Meritt Thomas on Unsplash

44: Conspiracy Theories & The Breakdown of Trust

Since we first started this podcast we've been talking about how ugly the relationship between the two parties has been. And in the last year, that has only gotten worse. As part of that decline, there has been a rise in distrust and an increase in our willingness to believe the worst of each other. Today we dive into some of the deep rooted reasons that lead to some to distrust everything and disengage completely and why some people tend to see what they want to see.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Tom Carnegie on Unsplash

43: The Coronavirus Vaccine

Because of the complexity of the issues around it, because of the misinformation politics adds to the mix, and because of requests from listeners, we are once again addressing Covid 19 and how to weigh the benefits of the vaccine.

[Data that we reference in the episode]

https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/11/18/covid-infection-fatality-rates-sex-and-age-15163

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Daniel Schludi on Unsplash

42: Israel & Gaza

The conflict between Israel and Gaza has been going on for several days now with no end in sight. Everyone and their dog here in the US has offered their simple one sentence solutions to solve it. But this conflict is not just weeks or decades old, and in order to have real solutions we need to first understand the whole picture. In this episode we do a little of that by looking at the history of Israel as well as some of the history and current factors that play into the current struggle. 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Ahmed Abu Hameeda on Unsplash

41: The Housing Crisis

Everyone can see that the housing market is going crazy, but is this going to be another crash like in 08? To answer this and other related questions, we dig into why the market is acting the way it is, what could happen in the future, and what can be done to make that future better. All of these are wrapped up in economic principles that, when understood, can be used to interpret many other other events.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Paul Brennan on Pixabay 

40: Biden's Plan & The Hidden Costs of Government Action

In this episode, we discuss Biden's speech to Congress marking 100 days in office. In this speech, Biden announces two bills that replace the Infrastructure Bill: The American Jobs Bill and the American Families Bill. These bills and the language Biden uses to try and persuade Congress to pass them show one of the main problems with modern politics. Politicians and the voters who select them do not understand economics. And because they don't understand economics, they fail to fully realize all of the hidden costs inherent in any government action. We dive into what these costs are and why understanding them fundamentally changes the way you look at and solve the myriad issues that politicians misdiagnose on a regular basis. 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Mark Potterton on Unsplash

39: The Derek Chauvin Trial & How We Approach Racism

Racism is undoubtedly the hot button topic of this last year. For some time now, this topic has been so hot that many of us feel uncomfortable having more than a superficial conversation about race. In this episode we confront that reality. We discuss the role of emotions like anger and the need to direct those emotions justly. Then we discuss the data on police racism so that we can see where we should focus our time and effort to improve things. We also reference three studies on police racism in the US to get a clearer picture, and a British Commission Report on Racism that performs the kind of large scale analysis that is necessary to track the many variables that effect disparities beyond racism. The links are below:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141854
https://www.hoplofobia.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018-Do-White-Law-Enforcement-Officers-Target-Minority-Suspects.pdf
https://www.pnas.org/content/116/32/15877#ref-21 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-report-of-the-commission-on-race-and-ethnic-disparities

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: truthseeker08 on Pixabay

38: Foreign Policy & The Russia Sanctions

Last week, the White House officially sanctioned Russia for their interference in the 2020 election. This was touted as a strong stance by President Biden and a clear breakaway from Trump's pro-Russia Policy. In this episode we take a look at why that is misleading and how politics drives so much of foreign policy. We also discuss the moral standard of foreign policy, how close America has been to that standard, and some of the major players on the international scene.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: UX Gun on Unsplash