Accountability

Mathematics as a discipline teaches accountability. Every claim, whether it be a computation result or a statement (theorem) about how things work is accountable. We teach this accountability developmentally, with lower expectations at the beginning, and sometimes folk who study mathematics casually don't understand this.

In my multivariable calculus classes, which I teach most frequently, I usually phrase my expectations as "give me a reason to believe your answer", citing my time working at an investment bank where my recommendations had financial repercussions and my supervisor never took my word for anything. In higher-level mathematics classes such as Abstract Algebra or Analysis I can be more explicit: these are the things we all agree to assume, these are the proof techniques which we understand; can you make an argument that convinces the community who have accepted those axioms and rules of inference that what you claim is true?

We work hard to remove the ego from the process, not that we can ever do so completely but when there is a fault in the argument we try not to shame the person who created the argument but rather to use the fault as a learning experience.

Politics has always involved leaders trying to duck accountability. Leaders try to create a shared reality such that the belief of the crowd in that reality will further the goals of the leaders. In 2025 most governments fiercely resist any independent auditing of their finances; most large city police forces fiercely resist civilian oversight. The list is long.

It is easy and simple to fall into two extremes, gullibility and nihilism. They take very little effort. My heroes (who have more of an understanding of nuance), in politics, in civil rights advocacy have always been in it for the long haul, primarily in improving accountability as a foundation of good government.

Trump has resisted accountability his entire life. Rather than defending himself from accusations of sexual harassment, sex trafficking, fraud, bribery, etc. he has locked up all his records, forbidden his associates from testifying in any context, and repeatedly demanded that we take his word on everything. Anything is possible; he may repent and at some point make all of his private records public, and yet many decades of experience with him in my media-sphere seem to argue against it.  Without accountability it is unclear to me what value there is in caring what he says; he should be judged as a silent movie rather than on what he says.