But Really...

Flawed mentality. Seriously. The use it or lose it mentality is paramount in our list of economic controls. Talk about your perverse incentives. It doesn't matter what the law says but how it's being used, and in the way we manage our natural resources, there will be consequences. Money (which we can print) and natural resources (which we can't replace quickly) cannot be managed the same way - but they are. Also, curious about the inner workings of the USMC? Pete joins Don and Chuck and we cover all of the above. Come along with us.

The pull-out method for birth control nets about a 80% effectiveness (because it's hard to do). You know what else is hard to do? Leave Afghanistan without it devolving into chaos. Chuck, Don, and Christina talk about the nation's longest war in recent history, and add some context that you won't get from the headlines. And we don't all agree on this one. As Marines, we appreciate accountability, and nothing is more irksome than someone dodging their responsibility. Don't want to give anything away - listen, and learn.

What is rank choice voting? Well, it's complicated. Don and Chuck explore how rank choice voting can help lessen the impact of money in politics. Is it a panacea? No, absolutely not. The former Marines also get into how dark money influences our politics and what we can do about it (hint: vote).

Nothing. They weren't invented when it was written. So why are so many Christians interested in protecting their guns? Follow us on a strange drunken walk through reasoning that still doesn't fully work. The short answer is - because guns have become a religion. Okay, so that abortion thing. At least that must be in there somewhere, right? Nope. Still wrong. So why is there a significant Christian component that's willing to place the rights of an unborn fetus over the rights of a woman to control her own body? And why do guns have more rights than women again?

Reasons. But warning, they may not make sense. Listen and understand, and then comment or share this podcast around. And, importantly, repeat after me - women are people too. And, this should be obvious, but guns are not...

What's the future going to look like? Rough. Climate change denial is even less funny than it was a few years ago, and we get into it. But don't worry, when you become a gazillionaire, you can reserve your spot on the next space endeavor, right? Well... logistics don't play out. Even gazillionaires will need people to be alive on Earth to help them out. At least we won't have to worry about poaching our seafood - the Earth will do it for us! Yaay, climate change!

Well, it depends. Texas is passing laws further restricting wombs and loosening up gun control. Want a gun? Do you have a pulse? Here. No, not quite that bad. It's not like they issue you one at birth. But listen to what they're doing to help guns find new homes!

Don, Chuck, Christina, and Justin talk about the continuing trend of mass shootings throughout America. Why can't we do better? We've got some issues to work through as a nation, and one party is holding us all hostage. Is it in our best interest to turn into the wild, wild west? The answer is no. We tried that in Texas, and there's a reason Texas was one of the first to pass weapon regulations (hint: KKK). So what's with the reversal? Learn more by listening to this episode.

Africa is a continent. There are no less than 54 countries in Africa, each consisting of multiple states, cities, tribes, etc. Whatever image you have in your head of Africa is probably wrong. So why do we have races contingent upon origination from Africa (i.e. "black" people, go back to Africa, etc.) White people are just as varied. Western to Eastern European as well as some Japanese and Italian consider themselves "white". So why do we use race at all? Branding to promote the illusion of western superiority. 

We have to do better as a nation and come to terms with both our actual position in the world and our seemingly permanent (and often intentional) misrepresentations of the past. We can do better. Don, Christina, and Chuck discuss how in this episode of But Really podcast.

The answer? A lot of us. The odds of any particular one of us becoming a billionaire will blow your mind. But here's the good news. If we focus on helping people and raising the standard of living for the poorest among us, then it won't matter as much that you didn't clear the billion-dollar hurdle. Chuck, Christina, and Don talk about why you need a yacht for your yacht, and how political boundaries, even national boundaries, have minimal impact on you if you have a billion dollars. Are stateless billionaires good for America? 

What do you think?

Liz Cheney is not the most impressive member of the Republican Party Leadership, but she does represent the Old Guard. Remember when her father was Vice President under the undeniably entrenched Bush dynasty? The fact that she's been ousted from leadership is going to shake up the party - but how? 

Also, why do we have a two-party system anyway? It doesn't make sense in one way, because of the diversity of the American people (350-400 million). There's a reason, and it's about how we elect our leaders. Listen and learn about the shortcomings of the 2-party system.

Since we're on the topic of antiquated thinking, why is it that we allow one person to make the decision on whether or not to invade another nation? Why not an executive assembly instead?

And then, let's talk about boundaries! This meandering episode ties all of the above together. What do you think will happen with the Republican Party? Do you agree with Chuck? Don? Christine? Who's right here?