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…