Thriving Democracies Require Truths Backed By Agreed On Facts.

Truth is more than what people say it is. Evidence must be formed in certain ways to verify it; otherwise we would not be able to truly communicate with each other. It is very basic stuff; agreeing on what a dollar buys is a truth. In the 21st century we must agree that the virtual digits posted on our online bank accounts are exact representations of truth. On the other hand, it would be nearly impossible to convince any of the American founders that digital money is a truth.

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Updating our knowledge of truth is therefore necessary to stabilize our democracy. Some truths continue to hold up; others are on a less stable footing. Unstable truths, with any history at all, are the most contentious. The truths about abortion, gay marriage, and LGBT rights in general, likely top the current social debate. The form of economic theory we utilize is another big truth we wrestle over. Systemic racism, structural racism, and racist policies insinuate into almost everything. Its damaging truth is consistently denied. Science denial, especially with COVID, evolution and climate change, clog up, and further polarize our political space.

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Stable, and self-evident truths have always been in much shorter supply than many had believed. Science alone has shown us this is true in many cases. Self-evident was, and is, often self serving. It is shorthand for “Let go my truth Eggo” because it could damage my white christian patriarch mojo and ego. Time to enjoy your rounded waffle with some updated truth syrup serum.

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How We And I Determine, And Attend To, Truth

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We determine our favorite music and musicians by way of our age 12 to 22 minds, give or take a few years. We allow these truths to embed because the mind is more elastic in that general age range. Hormonal changes during puberty create emotions that intensify memory imprints, which make them very difficult to dislodge. However, a liberal leaning person like me is more open to new music, and ideas or truths. More specifically, how my ADHD performs opens up things even more.

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