As election season kicks into high gear, it can be a challenge to talk about anything else but the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. This week on Sea Change Radio, we succumb to that temptation as we turn to the second half of our discussion with political analyst Jared Yates Sexton. Then, we dig into the archives to hear from Lauren Kim, a born-again Christian environmentalist who volunteers for an organization called Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. Narrator | 00:02 - This is Sea Change Radio, covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise. Jared Yates Sexton (JYS) | 00:16 - I don't think anyone should give him any space to discuss anything. And quite frankly, I think by giving him the trappings of interviews and space on networks or whatever, it normalizes something that is inherently abnormal and dangerous. Narrator | 00:33 - As election season kicks into high gear, it can be a challenge to talk about anything else but the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. This week on Sea Change Radio, we succumb to that temptation as we turn to the second half of our discussion with political analyst Jared Yates Sexton. Then, we dig into the archives to hear from Lauren Kim, a born-again Christian environmentalist who volunteers for an organization called Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. Alex Wise (AW) | 01:20 - I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Jared Yates Sexton. Jared is a political analyst and he is the host of the Muck Rake podcast. And his online writings can be read at dispatches from a collapsing state. Jared, welcome back to Sea Change Radio. Jared Yates Sexton (JYS) | 01:33 - Hey, Alex, it's great to see you. Alex Wise (AW) | 01:35 - So, we were talking about trying to get local elections higher on people's radar. Some of the things I would add to the points that you've made in addition to caring about your school board elections and all these other smaller elections than the President, it's important to think about politics in a less abstract way. If we can think about how it affects not just yourself personally. I, I'm privileged and I will be okay if Donald Trump gets elected. I'm horrified by the prospect of it, not for my own fortune, but for the fortune of the world and, and the people who can't afford to have him be in charge. And we feed into that in, in our media questions like, politician, A, how are you gonna please black voters in Georgia by giving them things that black voters in Georgia care about? What, why, why do we have to slice and dice our issues into demographics that way? JYS | 02:33 - Well, I, want to make a few points because you've brought up, uh, a lot of good, important issues that I think we need to get into. First things first, I'm a white dude who used to live in Georgia. I don't live in Georgia anymore. My wellbeing and my family's wellbeing depends on the wellbeing of black people in Georgia. And what I have been taught, and this is a larger thing, I want to point out, we're in a political crisis. We're in a democratic crisis. We're also in a spiritual crisis. We're also in a mental health crisis. And here's the reason why, since the 1980s, we have been absolutely bombarded and abused by this idea that the only thing that matters in the world is what you get and whether or not you are able to have wealth and comfort and safety, right? And, and by the way, it's been used against us completely. It's alienated us from each other. Everyone says, oh, it's social media, it's tv, it's whatever. No, it's not. Those things have built off of a larger idea, which is that neoliberalism tells us, you are alone. You are in danger. Take care of yourself. Right? AW | 03:38 - Tax cuts has been one of the most obvious go-to things for the Republican party for 50 years. It's like you care about taxes being lower, right? And then let's just feed into that beast for decades. JYS | 03:51 - And look what's happened.
