Truth

Historian Sophia Rosenfeld talked yesterday about the uses of truth in a democracy. In the Age of tRump,  discussions of truth are playing a major role. Rosenfeld argued that there have been two competing views of truth in America from the beginning.

One view was that educated experts know the truth about various things. They rely on verifiable facts. The problem with this technical approach is that experts tend to lose touch with the wishes and needs of ordinary voters. 

The opposing view is populist, the idea that the impulses of ordinary people lead them to truths not available to expert verifiers. This leads to faith-based truths and global warming.

What is new today in American politics is the voter who just doesn't care about the truth. He recognizes when a politician is lying and applauds it. He likes it. And he has a cousin, the voter for whom truth is entirely personal, "my truth." His personal truth is as good as anyone's truth because the God made all of us equals. 

(There is a failure to grasp that "truth" is a social construct.)