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Matt’s got a Christmas tree, a Lenin bust, and a bunch of books and maps in his office. Shawn has buckwheat, stockings, and very strong opinions. In this episode, the Latter Day Lens mailbag explodes and drags us into some uncomfortable but important questions about what Latter-day Saints really worship and trust.

We wrestle with:

• Why so many women say they’d rather raise kids in Europe than in the U.S. (paid maternity leave, food, breastfeeding norms) — and whether “if you don’t like it, move” is a fair response.
• How laws that aren’t explicitly racist (like gerrymandering) can still leave people of color disadvantaged — and why Matt’s stopped calling policies “racist” even when they obviously hurt minorities.
• The heartbreaking rise in global child deaths as foreign aid shrinks: are American Saints more fired up about defending the unborn than feeding already-born, already-suffering children abroad?
• Whether the U.S. healthcare system needs more government… or way less. Matt and Shawn both shock themselves by landing on a radical free-market answer.
• The christening of the USS Utah nuclear sub and Spencer W. Kimball’s warning against worshipping the “false gods” of military might — is it spiritually sketchy for Saints to cheer for ever-bigger weapons?
• And finally, “limitarianism”: should government cap personal wealth at €10M in the name of justice… or is that just sanctified envy dressed up as philosophy?

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Holiday Cheer
02:39 Listener Mailbag and Community Engagement
05:48 Cultural Perspectives on Maternity Leave
08:38 Food Quality and Health in America
11:24 Racial Disparities and Voter Suppression
14:11 Foreign Aid and Global Health Concerns
17:18 The Role of Government vs. Individual Responsibility in Charity
20:03 Healthcare System Breakdown
22:55 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
26:22 Healthcare Economics: A Clash of Ideologies
28:36 The Role of Insurance in Healthcare
31:05 Free Market vs. Regulation in Healthcare
33:25 The Case for Unregulated Healthcare
37:23 The Impact of Regulations on Healthcare Costs
41:04 Military Spending and Moral Implications
47:56 Limitarianism: A Controversial Proposal
53:48 Final Thoughts on Wealth and Value