Rethinking Politics

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

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

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

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. 

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

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

Once again, we had too much to cover in a week and not enough time to dedicate an episode to each topic. We analyze the hottest political topics and recent events while providing you with our most controversial view yet: Joe Biden is actually doing almost none of the things that people were afraid/hoping he would do.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod

This is an odd episode title, but a fantastic episode. We look at how our vocabulary shapes the way we talk about important issues which in turn shapes the very way we think about those issues. We then expound on how one word: equality, has actually shaped the political culture that we live and breathe today. The culture war today is dominated by assumptions about equality that have shaped the American Dream, Nature, Justice, and Merit. 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod

In the wake of the recent shootings, the question of gun control is once again pushed to the front of the pack. In this episode, we throw in our two cents. Rather than assuming that the ends justify the means, we look first at whether or not gun control can be justified on a principled basis. We then look at what the practical ramifications of gun control are and how that impacts the efficacy of gun control policies. 

There was a shooting spree in Atlanta Georgia on March 16th. Eight people were killed and more injured before the suspect was arrested later that night. But within a day, a large number of headlines were not about the shootings, but racism. We ask: why is the new definition of racism the default lens through which so many see the world? How does focusing primarily on racism change how we see things and does it help us see the world more clearly? 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod

Photo: Kat Wilcox from Pexels