Guest: Carey Wedler – Fear, MAGA & Political Obedience: How Tribalism Rewires the Mind

In this episode of The Free Thought Project Podcast, Jason and Matt welcome back returning guest Carey Wedler, a journalist, editor, and long-time voice for liberty and integrity in independent media. Carey is the author of the Pleasure to Burn Substack, where she dives into topics ranging from political hypocrisy and propaganda to fear psychology and decentralization—all through a lens of principled consistency.

We kick off the episode by digging into Carey’s recent article she wrote for the Free Thought Project, “From Drain the Swamp to Drown in Debt,” where she calls out the glaring hypocrisy in the first 100 days of the Trump administration. We examine how so many of Trump’s supporters—who once decried big government, war, censorship, and surveillance—now cheerlead these same policies under a new banner. Why is it so easy for people to abandon their principles? Why does team loyalty seem to override truth?

Carey unpacks those questions with a powerful exploration of fear, chronic stress, and the neuroscience behind political compliance. She explains how manipulated fear responses, constant crisis narratives, and tribalism keep the public in a reactive state—where principles are sacrificed and critical thinking is sidelined.

Despite the grim outlook, Carey leaves us with a handful of hopeful, empowering white pills—reminding us that awareness, decentralization, and inner peace are potent forms of resistance.

This was Carey’s second time on the show, and as always, she brought both clarity and depth to the conversation. (Length: 1:03:31)

Pleasure to burn: https://pleasuretoburn.substack.com/

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