#010 Why Are We Afraid to Talk About Politics?

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:08]Hey, welcome back to the podcast. I'm going to be flying solo today. No co-host. Bel Ree is taking a break this week, so it's just going to be me. And I want to have a real conversation with you today. not about any sort of specific policies or politicians or anything like that, but I want to talk more about something that I think is at the root of a lot of problems we have in our culture today. And specifically, I want to talk about how we converse with other people about politics and how we converse with other people about hard topics that are deeply integrated in today's society that for some reason have become controversial topics that no one can talk about. When you think about the last time that you brought up something political in a casual setting, maybe it was at dinner or at work or in a group chat, and whenever you say it, you feel like the energy shifts and someone goes quiet because they are defensive or they're hurt or they want to change the subject or maybe they come at you like you personally attacked them. And where I think we've gone wrong is that we're talking about how our country is run. We're talking about laws that affect every single person in that room or that setting. And we're talking about the future that our kids are going to inherit. And somehow that topic, those topics have become one of those things that we're not allowed to discuss openly. So when did that happen? And more importantly, why did that happen? I think that the core issue is that somewhere along the line, people started integrating their political beliefs into their identity. It became something to where it's not really that you hold a certain opinion about a specific politician or policy. It's that you feel like you are that opinion instead of just holding it. And so when someone challenges that idea, it doesn't really feel like a debate anymore. It feels like they're attacking who you are as a person. And the media has really poured gasoline onto that fire for decades. I mean, think about how both sides are portrayed. If you watch one network, the other side isn't just wrong, they're dangerous. They're evil. they're a threat to our country and to our freedom depending on which channel you're on.

[00:02:17]And when you've been told your entire life that the other side is the enemy, of course you're going to put up both the second that politics comes up because you're not just entertaining a conversation. You're entertaining in a place where people are going to attack you and be attacking you for your beliefs. And then there's the social cost of actually speaking. People lose friends over this. families stop talking to each other because of something that was said the wrong way or you just say something on social media and you're labeled to someone whose opinion doesn't matter anymore. So most people just go quiet and they keep their heads down and they stick to talking about other things. And I get it. I understand why they're doing that. But the problem is when good, thoughtful people go silent, the loudest and most extreme voices are the only ones left talking. And that's how we've ended up where we are right now. And then of course there's also the algorithm problem. Your social media feed, your news feed, your YouTube recommendations, they are all designed to show you more of what you already agree with. So you scroll through your phone every day and everything you see just confirms what you already believe.

[00:03:22]And over time, you start to genuinely think that your view is just common sense. And everyone who disagrees with you is crazy because you've literally never been exposed to a well-reasoned version of the other side. And so you're not really being informed. You're just being fed things that you already want to hear and that you already think are true. I think that it's also worth noting that a lot of these things, you know, like like I said, it's things like talking about the future of this country and our future children, a lot of these things that we are labeling now as politics and that people get turned off instantly when you start talking about them are things that are not political in nature. And we've talked about this before on the podcast, but there are things like abortion, for example. We are dealing with basic ethical societal issue that affects the lives of children. And instead of this being something everyone wants to be outspoken about and say, "Let's talk about this.

[00:04:18]Let's figure out how we can minimize harming and killing children and, you know, how we can have a civil conversation about this." Instead, people are so closed off to the idea of even bringing up abortion because they know it's a very hot topic and it's something that's labeled as political and extreme. So, you don't even want to give your stance on abortion and you don't want to give your stance on, you know, pro-life versus pro-choice, which I think that's a stupid thing to call it, but that's what people are calling it. And we've labeled so many of these things as political that I really just don't think that we should be. And we need to start normalizing talking about all of these things again, the things that affect human lives and affect our society and our civilization and our culture. I mean, these are staples of history that people are going to look back on. I think people will look back on abortion and they're going to say, you know, what the hell were we thinking? Why did we voluntarily execute a a mass genocide on onethird of Gen Z?

[00:05:18]Onethird of my generation is not existing. And they would be right now.

[00:05:21]They would be right here with me today if abortion wasn't a thing. That means if you look around, if you look at all of Gen Z and you take half of them today, that is the amount of children that have been killed through abortion.

[00:05:32]You take all of Gen Z and you cut them in half. It that's what it would look like. So what do we actually do about all of this? I think that one way we can start making a change, one simple shift that we can implement is we need to walk into every political conversation and other conversation with a genuine notion that we could possibly be wrong. And I know that for some of you that is going to be hard, especially when you're going into a conversation talking about something that you are really, really passionate about. But there is genuinely no reason to enter a conversation or enter into that sort of debate if both parties think that they are 100% correct and that there's no chance that they could be wrong because you're not going to convince the other person and you're not even going to help them understand what you believe. Technically, we can't be 100% certain or have what's called absolute certainty about anything except for our own existence. We talked about that a few episodes ago, but for the sake of argument, of course, we aren't talking about that kind of certainty.

[00:06:33]If they are going into the conversation completely closed off to that idea that there's even 1% chance that you could be right about what you're talking about, then there's no point in having it. And so, we have to enter conversations with that notion. And I try to do this for myself and it's something I'm working on right now. Always thinking that, you know, there is a chance that I could be wrong. Whatever this person has to say might actually be the correct take or the correct stance or me maybe neither one of us is correct, but I cannot go into the conversation thinking I'm right, they're wrong because we can't get anywhere beneficial for anyone by doing that. And I know again this is does sound uncomfortable, but I'm not saying you have to abandon your convictions. I'm just saying that intellectual honesty requires leaving the door open to being wrong and it requires being willing to update your position with new information or if a better argument comes along. There's a difference between being open-minded and being spineless. You know, you can have firm convictions and still be willing to sit across from someone who disagrees with you and actually listen to what they're saying. Not just waiting for your turn to talk, but actually listening to them. And here's the thing about changing your mind. We've made that into a weakness. If a politician changes their position, we act like they're not being authentic and they're switching up. Or if they update or anyone updates their view on something, people act like they've been exposed as a fraud. But changing your mind is when you encounter a better argument or better information. And that's literally exactly what thinking is supposed to look like. That's how we can think critically. We should not hold on to opinion and keep it for the rest of our lives. That's incredibly stupid. No one should formulate their stances on things at the age of 10 and then never change their views until the day that they die.

[00:08:17]The goal of a political conversation should not be to win. It should be to understand. And if we could just get back to that, I think that a lot of these walls would start to come down on their own. And so that is what I want to be able to do with this podcast and with the way that I interact with you as a listener. I want to be very straight up with you and I want to let you know the things that I say on this podcast I might change my mind on. I can be persuaded and given a better argument against the things that I say. But I will hold my arguments with conviction because I believe they are right. But if I enter into a conversation with you, I'm going to enter it knowing I could be wrong and you could be right. I also want to be a middle ground that's rooted in reality and trying not to be too extreme on some sides because we do have people like that on both ends of the political spectrum. You know, you've got figures like Nick Fuentes who I'm sure most of you have heard of. I'm not going to go too in depth on how I feel about him, but there's no doubt about the fact that he is extreme and very inflammatory. And in my opinion, he's more interested in provoking people and entertaining people than actually solving anything. And I don't think that he's really trying to build a better country. I think he's trying to build a brand. And I do think that he's done a very good job at that. But the people who follow figures like that often end up more radicalized and more isolated than when they started without any real roadmap for what to actually do to be a reasonable person and member of society in this country. And then on the other end, we've got the established Republican party, which at this point I think it's fair to call incredibly compromised. I mean, there are people who wave the flag of conservatism and Christianity while voting for trillion dollar spending bills protecting the same corrupt institutions we've been talking about on the show and doing whatever it takes to keep their seats in office and their donor relationships intact. And both sides are doing this.

[00:10:12]Absolutely. You know, the Democratic party is absolutely doing this too. In some cases, a lot more. And they have abandoned the people who they claim to represent on both sides. The fact that they appear more polished and respectable though than people like, you know, influencers doesn't make them less dangerous. It actually makes them more dangerous because the corruption is harder to see in some cases. And neither of those extremes serves regular Americans. It doesn't serve them. And I don't want to be either of them. What I'm trying to do with the show is genuinely be honest. And that means calling out corruption regardless of which side it comes from. And that means also calling myself out and holding myself to a higher standard when I try to present real information, real data, real history. And I let you think for yourself as well. I'm not here to just tell you what to believe. I'm here to put things on the table that I think deserve to be talked about. And I'm here to do that without flinching and without an agenda other than the truth. That that's a whole standard that I'm holding myself to. And I think that's a standard we should all be holding our conversations to.

[00:11:21]So, what I want to leave you with today is I want you to go out and when you have conversations with people, whether political or not, when it's someone you disagree with, I want you to have a conversation with them and not try to change their mind or to win, but to actually genuinely listen to their stance and ask them questions about it instead of just making statements. Try to understand how they got to where they are now and how they came to the conclusions that they have. You don't have to agree with them at the end of it, but I think that you're going to be surprised what happens when you actually show up to a conversation with your curiosity instead of just trying to win them over. Because the truth is, most people, regardless of where they land politically, want the same basic things.

[00:12:05]They want safety. They want opportunity.

[00:12:07]They want their kids to have a future.

[00:12:09]We've just been convinced that we are enemies with each other. And that division, that inability to talk to each other is one of the most powerful tools both people running the system and within the spiritual realm and the spiritual warfare. It's one of the most powerful tools that they have over us and that the devil has over us. And so that's what I want to leave you with today is that that division is tearing us apart as American people and in the whole world. And we have to be able to come together and we have to be able to have these reasonable, rational conversations with each other and try to understand each other better. So that's all that I have for today. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for your time. I genuinely appreciate it so much. If you have any questions or thoughts or anything that you want to talk about, please don't hesitate to reach out. We've been loving hearing from you. Have a great rest of your day and a great week. I will see you next Friday.