Distinctions Between Facts, Opinions and Truth – Characteristics of the American Political Electorate; Impact of Celebrity Endorsements; Percentage Who Self-Identify as “Independents;” Fastest-Growing Part of Electorate

THE RELEVANCE OF REASON (Book 2) – SOCIETY AND CULTURE  

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This is the companion book to The Relevance of Reason – Business and Politics (Book 1) which was released in July 2013.

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The Relevance of Reason – Business and Politics and The Relevance of Reason – Society and Culture are the first two books in Mack W. Borgen’s seven-book The Chance of a Lifetime series. It is available NOW, and you are invited to order copy by just clicking Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. You may also order it directly from my publisher’s website at SummerlandPublishing.com. 

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The Elusive Distinctions Between the Concepts of Facts, Opinion, and Truth

          In my books I try to diligently distinguish between “facts,” “opinions,” and the far more elusive concept of “truth.” Such distinctions have always been challenging but when writing about a subject as large as Current America, such distinctions can be even more difficult. For example, it is certainly tempting to state that it is a “fact” that the Honey Boo Boo TV Show is bad for the soul and that Anthon aka “Carlos Danger” Weiner has problems. It is tempting to state that it is certainly a “fact” that the darkest hour is just before dawn, that U.S. politics are unduly and dangerously partisan, and that the federal debt is too large. However, facts must be kept stubbornly immune from the touch of even the slightest subjectivity. They must be rooted in more than consensus — even wide and broadly shared consensus.

But there, maybe more subtle reason to be cautious in asserting facts and positing truths. The other reason is more deeply rooted in both the needs and heritage of our American democracy. This reason rests upon the belief, even faith, that the American people are entirely competent, with reflection, to once again and over time reach truths on their own and to make those decisions which are necessary for the preservation and betterment of this country and its citizens. In many instances, these competencies and capacities of the American people cannot rest unduly, or even primarily, upon the comments of experts and the recommendations of specialists. Instead, we, not they,  must decide. In the end it is us, not them, that must evaluate the facts; discern the truth, and select the course. For a multitude of mutually-reinforcing reasons — the perceived press of our busy lives, the overwhelming nature of many of the issues and the heightened complexity and inter-relatedness of our society, there has been of late too much delegation; too much deferral of our decision-making. A reclaiming must begin. A reassertion of faith must be reclaimed both in our aggregated wisdom and in the exercise of our individual reason — almost a variant application of our national common sense. It is far more than a handy tool.

Excerpted from Borgen, M. The Relevance of Reason – Business and Politics (2013), pp. 7-8.

Facts of The Day

Selected Characteristics of American Politics and Elections:

De Minimus Impact of Celebrities;

Increase in Self-Identification as Independents;

Fastest Growing Part of the American Electorate

          89% of those Americans polled in 2012 claimed that the support or endorsement of a candidat by a celebrity would make “no difference” to them in their selection of a candidate.

40% of U.S. voters now self-identify themselves as “independents.”

The fastest-growing part of the U.S. electorate are people aged 70 and older (i.e. those people who were under the age of 29 when John Kennedy was elected President in 1960).

Borgen M., The Relevance of Reason – Business and Politics (2013), pp. 2567-257, citing The 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll, Vanity Fair, November, 2012, p. 62; Penn, M. , “In Search of the Changing American Voter, “ Time, July 2, 2012, p. 40.