In this episode, we're still talking about the tenets and principles of Clean Thinking and we're doing so via part 2 of our sixth and final discussion of a specific influence: our politics. As discussed in the episode, while religion may intuitively seem to be a more powerful influence on people's lives than politics, that may not be the case. As host Mike Marcella notes, politics has the potential to affect so many different aspects of our lives, and as a result, is a nearly omnipresent influence. And because of this, it's very powerful, especially when combined with religion. Also like religion, it is an influence made up of all our other influences, which synergistically combine to make it a force in our lives. In this episode, Mike describes all of those other influences that contribute to our politics influence, details how they can affect our perception of different issues and then walks through an example of the IMMACULATE Process, specifically the politically charged issue of whether or not to wear a mask to slow the spread of COVID.

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Sources used in podcast:

• Effectiveness of masks against COVID:
• https://files.fast.ai/papers/masks_lit_review.pdf
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673620311429
• Fear and its relationship with social conservatism:
• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2315
• Politics and views on immigration and terrorism:
• https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/11/12/americans-immigration-policy-priorities-divisions-between-and-within-the-two-parties/
• Crime rates between native-born population and immigrants in Texas
• https://www.pnas.org/content/117/51/32340
• Chances of death from all sorts of shit:
• https://www.businessinsider.com/death-risk-statistics-terrorism-disease-accidents-2017-1
• Gun ownership demographics:
• https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/06/22/the-demographics-of-gun-ownership/
• Familial effects on political affiliation:
• http://www.jakebowers.org/PAPERS/jennings2009pag.pdf
• Genetics and Religion:
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4038932/
• Politics and Religious Affiliation:
• https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/06/02/democratic-edge-in-party-identification-narrows-slightly/
• Abortion and Voting:
• https://news.gallup.com/poll/243209/abortion-issue-presidential-elections.aspx
• Buy my book as an eBook or paperback here:
• https://www.thecleanthinkers.com/ebooks/dirty-thoughts-lets-talk-volume-1
• Or as an audiobook here:
• https://www.thecleanthinkers.com/audio-books/dirty-thoughts-lets-talk-volume-1
• Concerns over income redistribution over total taxation:
• https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/stantcheva/files/w27699_1.pdf
• Census Bureau report on welfare:
• https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p70-141.html
• Safety net program effects on poverty rate:
• https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/examining-the-safety-net
• Economic costs of childhood poverty:
• https://academic.oup.com/swr/article-abstract/42/2/73/4956930?redirectedFrom=fulltext
• How childhood poverty sets children up biologically and behaviorally to end up in poverty as adults:
• https://www.nature.com/articles/mp201682
• Alcohol abuse costs:
• https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797%2815%2900354-2/fulltext
• Cost of smoking:
• https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/economics/econ_facts/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25498551/
• Cost of auto accidents:
• https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812013
• Views on nuclear energy:
• https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2019/11/25/u-s-public-views-on-climate-and-energy/
• Necessity of nuclear expansion:
• https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aaf7131
• Safe nuclear technologies:
• https://www.scientificamerican.com/interactive/top-10-emerging-technologies-of-20191/
• Reduction in air pollution-related deaths by nuclear power:
• https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/kh05000e.html