Why Invest in the Truth…

Do you want to 2020 US Presidential Election to be as filled with lies and deception as the 2016 one? If you’re reading this, you took the Pro-Truth Pledge, so I’m guessing you don’t.

And I don’t either. I’m the treasurer of Intentional Insights, the 501(c)(3) educational nonpartisan nonprofit that sponsors the Pro-Truth Pledge project, and I’m passionate about fighting lies and advocating for rational thinking and truth-seeking. That’s why I devote my time and money to supporting the pledge and the truthfulness that it promotes.

Do you believe, as I do, that as the 2020 election approaches in the US, it is vital to send politicians, journalists and public figures a clear message that truth matters to our democracy? I hope you’ll agree that wherever post-truth politicians win by lying, their victories pave the way for corruption and authoritarianism.

Peer-reviewed research shows as well as individual stories show that the pledge is effective in changing incentives for both private citizens and public figures – including politicians – to be more truthful. So I hope you’ll join me in supporting the pledge.

Your support helps by:

1. Bringing the Pro Truth Pledge to the attention of politicians, journalists and public figures, and giving them a meaningful incentive to sign it. We do this by coordinating outreach and training to volunteers, and crafting materials to make a compelling case for signing the pledge.

2. Motivating citizens to make truth an issue in the 2020 election (as well as upcoming elections in other countries). Aware citizens can raise truthfulness as an issue in town hall meetings, asking candidate if they took the pledge. We also intend to focus our efforts on creating and supporting student groups and building advocates for the pledge on campuses that will inspire the next generation to make truth a shared value. This will counteract the widespread cynical view that “post truth” politics as inescapable.

3. Promoting truthfulness and the pledge on social media. We do this through an active campaign of seeding and spreading memes, videos and articles on the value of truthfulness online. Motivating people to fact-check and avoid spreading “fake news” prevents the destructive effect of online disinformation campaigns.

Today, the Pro-Truth Pledge costs about $4,000 per month in operating costs. This is the minimum budget to maintain the websites, oversee outreach activities, coordinate volunteers, and provides the relevant administrative support.

Currently, the passion and financial commitment of the pledge founders, Gleb Tsipursky and Agnes Vishnevkin keep the organization afloat. They have been providing much of the required financial resources in recent months to keep the Pro-Truth Pledge going. However, this is not sustainable, as their budget is running low. We need your support

If you believe in the goals of the Pro-Truth Pledge, then it is time for you to join the Pro-Truth Movement with a monthly membership ($20), a one-time donation, or whatever you can afford to contribute. Are YOU willing to put truth back into politics and civic life? You have the power to do so by donating now.

Truthfully Yours,

Steve Monge

P.S. Your donation is tax deductible in the US, and I hope you join the pledge as a member by donating right now

Should the US President be able to lie with impunity to the American people?

If you say “NO!” the time to act is now! Help make sure the next US President is accountable to the standard of truthfulness described in the simple 12 truth-oriented behaviors of the Pro-Truth Pledge.

It’s not an impossible goal. After all, several members of the US Congress, dozens of state legislators, and hundreds of other politicians have committed publicly to being truthful by taking the Pro-Truth Pledge. This list includes many Republican and Democratic politicians in the US, as well as members of third parties in the US and other politicians around the globe.

They did so because readers like you approached them to encourage them to take the pledge. That includes in person at candidate forums in town halls, or virtually through phone calls, email, social media, website contact pages, and other means. We have clear guidelines for you to use on how to pitch politicians on the pledge, as well as public figures in general, and you can do so on your own anytime.

All the politicians who took the pledge are now being held accountable to their commitment by the many private citizens who took the pledge. Their reputations will suffer significantly if they’re caught making false statements and aren’t willing to admit they’re wrong. Research shows that reputational penalties for lying are effective in making politicians more truthful. Indeed, we know that the

The key is to approach politicians about the pledge when it can make the biggest difference to their political career: during highly competitive election campaigns. After all, taking the pledge is valuable for a politician as a sign of a strong public commitment to truthfulness. Politicians get the most benefits from making this commitment when their potential constituents are paying attention during elections. It’s especially helpful for politicians to take the pledge when other candidates in the race haven’t taken it, since the pledge-taking candidate can then differentiate themselves as the one publicly committed to truthfulness.

That’s why it’s a particularly good time to approach the candidates for the Democratic Party nomination to run for US President. There are over 20 candidates as of the time of publication. Each is struggling to differentiate themselves from their opponents. Only one has taken the pledge so far, one of the front-runners – Beto O’Rourke. Wisely, he did so on video, as you can see below.

While you can approach Democratic candidates individually, you can also be part of a team effort to get them to take the pledge. If you’d like to be part of this team effort, fill out the volunteering survey below. We’ll also be contacting any Republican candidates, though because the primary campaign among Republicans is very unlikely to be competitive, we will be focusing the vast majority of our time on the competitive Democratic presidential primary.

By encouraging Democratic presidential candidates to take the Pro-Truth Pledge, you will maximize the chance that the next US President will speak the truth to the American people. Help roll back the “Post-Truth” era of lies and deception!

Calling all conservative signers in America!

The media often stereotype conservatives as lacking integrity, and being unconcerned about facts. They’re wrong, though—conservatives have a great deal of integrity, and now it’s time for us to prove it together.

How, you ask? By getting more conservatives to take the Pro-Truth Pledge.

You can help by joining a project dedicated to getting all truth-oriented conservatives to take the pledge. Fill out the form for this project at this link.

You don’t have to wait for the project to get started, though! Reach out to your friends to tell them about the Pledge and how you feel about it. If you know someone who would tell all their other friends about the Pro-Truth Pledge, you can do a lot of good by letting them know.

When you took the Pledge, you showed that you have the courage and integrity to stand up for the truth. You joined a supportive community which shares that courage and integrity. There’s a lot more honest, hard-working folks out there who are looking for a community like this one. Let’s bring them on board!

Image credit: Truth by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

Caption: Photo of surprised boy. (Credit: Ben White on Unsplash)

Celebrating politicians who are bucking the post-truth trend and winning.

This year, many of us watched with pride as Beto O’Rourke, a Pro-Truth Pledge taker, nearly upset Ted Cruz in a race previously considered safe for Cruz. However, the Pro-Truth movement is much bigger than this one notable race. By our count, there are 78 Pledge takers who won elections in 2018!

Let’s take a moment to celebrate all of the successful politicians who are willing to go on record as supporting the Pro-Truth Pledge and commit themselves to the accountability that entails.

Click on this link to view a spreadsheet (sorted by state) listing these political winners.

Has the Pro-Truth Pledge helped these candidates, or is it just that great candidates are the kind of people who don’t hesitate to embrace the truth? We’d all like to think that the Pro-Truth Pledge helps, but having taken the pledge ourselves, we’ve got to be careful about making unfounded claims, so let’s think about this together…

During the O’Rourke/Cruz race, several newspapers took the time to publish editorials mocking O’Rourke for taking the Pro-Truth Pledge. That alone demonstrates that people involved in the media and politics are beginning to notice the Pro-Truth Pledge and it creates added publicity for candidates.

There’s a marketing adage that all publicity is good publicity… However, is honoring truth actually a popular position with typical constituents? The mocking editorials indicate that several right-leaning Texas newspaper editors thought otherwise. Backing their opinion, an NBC news survey found that within the significant (22%) group of Republicans who think the President regularly lies, 56% still approve of him.

So within the GOP, acknowledged lying is not a barrier to political success. Among Democrats, it is clear that of the 94% who believe the president lies, none approve of him. However, there is no clear evidence that lying is the primary cause of the low approval in that group.

Bottom line: Truth isn’t a clear winner on the right, and we can’t legitimately claim to know it is important for the left. This may seem disappointing, but there is no need for our organization to exist if there is no need to change attitudes. This is our motivation.

The important takeaway from polls like this is that they underscore the need to reach out to our friends, particularly those on the right. Make connections, find common ground, and celebrate truth in the places where it matters most.