Both sides are determined to think the worst of the other side — and determined that the other side can’t possibly want to do the right thing because it is the right thing.

Predictions and claims based on guesses and projections ought to be looked at when the facts become available. Predictions turn out to be right or wrong. The people making those predictions ought to get credit when they were right, and criticism when they were wrong.

Imagine you are standing near the switch on a trolley line, and you look ahead and see someone standing near a puddle of water. If nothing intervenes, the trolley will roll down the track and splash water on the person. But you can throw the switch, killing the person standing on the side track, thereby saving the first person from getting wet. Should you do it?

In 2021, the US is so split on so many issues that it couldn’t descend into a civil war if it wanted to.

Is it always just a matter of picking who you believe based on party loyalty and hoping they steer you right? No it isn’t. Because there are deeper sources of expertise than the media reports and news anchors.

The writers who have the leisure to think about issues and propose what should be done about them are mostly congregated in Washington, and are mostly focused on national government. The more specialized the experts get, more likely they become to overlook state and local initiatives.

Where public expressions are concerned, the first principle ought to be a broad toleration for differences. Nobody should condemn or proscribe something just because it isn’t to their tastes. So nobody who plans to force their ideas on the rest of the country should be allowed to do that.

Yes, there was a big cry for Freedom and Liberty at the time of the revolution, but that only meant freedom from the rule of the British king. The country was founded on a citizen-led society with plenty of rules.

When people come around to believing that change for the better is possible, most changes will be easy to accomplish. The work of today for hopeful citizens, it to convince as many people in their circle of acquaintance to see the possibilities.

We shouldn’t just guess. When information is readily available, we should seek it and learn some facts before we speak.