Let the people find the truth: As Bidens censorship wall falls, a welcome return to open society

Is Donald Trump a “dictator?” Did the events of Jan.6, 2021, in Washington, DC, constitute an “insurgency?”Is Joe Biden “sharp as a tack?”Is the science of climate change “settled”?Are Javier Milei of Argentina, Marine Le Pen of France, and the AfD party in Germany “far right?”Is the Wuhan lab-leak hypothesis a “conspiracy theory?” Was the persistence of the virus a “pandemic of the unvaccinated?” Does Anthony Fauci “represent science?”Does Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, “promote hatred?” Do “fact-checkers” check facts?Are “fake news” and “disinformation” a dire threat to “our democracy?”Let’s ask a question about these questions: Why on Earth were we placed in a position of having to answer them?In an open society, perspectives on reality confront one another in forceful competition.

Each may contain some particle of truth — or at least some useful information.So even the flat-Earthers are allowed their say.Even the Bigfoot seekers appear on the Discovery Channel.

Somewhere among the nonsense, there may be something worth hearing.Because we don’t precisely know where or when, the conversation is never over.A vast diversity of perspectives should be promoted within the open society.It’s the intellectual equivalent of hybrid vigor.If we all think alike, a single fatal error, being shared by all, will destroy the world.These precepts are not original.

They have long been part of the American DNA.The default, for us, has always been debate.When certain subjects, like slavery, were made taboo and removed from the possibility of discussion, towering figures arose and terrible conflicts were fought to restore the balance.However, the past four years have seen a sustained effort to overturn the principles of the open society.

The just-departed administration, of which Joe Biden was the decrepit figurehead, tried to impose by threat or mandate a version of reality that brooked no discussion.Supported b...