The real national emergency

The real and urgent “national emergency” is not on our southern border or to do with an invasion of unwanted foreigners. It is in our heads and has to do with a drastic and prevalent loss of the ability to think critically. Dictionary.com,”the world’s leading online source for English definitions,” defines the term “critical thinking” as follows: “disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence.”

The complexity of the modern world, with its deluge of data and the inundation from contemporary media sources, has contributed to a dramatic loss of ability to accurately process it productively. The very meaning of such fundamental terms as “truth,” “honesty” and “justice” have become blurred and corrupted. A national value system that postulates the primacy of “winning at any cost,” “might over right” and “me over we” has to a significant degree abandoned reality by weaponizing “facts” in the service of personal gain. It is glaringly apparent in our spheres of government, business and even personal relations.

Unless we as a people are able to reverse this dimming of the light of truth, we shall inevitably sink into a morass of darkness. This is the real national emergency.

Peter Grossman

Spokane