Define your terms

Screwtape on democracy: You are to use the word purely as an incantation; if you like, purely for its selling power.

C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Once upon a time, maybe just two or three years ago, when people disagreed on social or political issues, they could at least agree on what they were talking about. Not anymore. Today neither side seems to know what the other side is talking about.  We may use the same words, but they obviously don't mean the same thing.

Both Democrats and Republicans in the United States contend democracy is threatened if voters support the other party. Voter ID, to cite one example, ensures democracy, Republicans say. No, it threatens democracy, Democrats say.

More recently recession has come to mean different things to different people. Is the United States in a recession or not? According to the definition in effect five minutes ago, yes. According to the new definition, no.

And what is a woman? What is a man? Until recently we all thought we knew. It was a matter of chromosomes and naughty bits. Thanks to sonograms, parents could know the sex of their baby even before birth. They knew what color to paint the nursery. Today some would argue that parents should put off painting until the child is old enough to decide for himself or herself. One online dictionary now says "typically, a woman has two X chromosomes and is capable of pregnancy."

The Biden administration says the Mexican border is secure. Opponents point to the hundreds of thousands of people swarming across it. So what does secure mean?

One person's assault weapon is another person's hunting rifle.

Who is a terrorist? What is racism? What is diversity? What is free speech? What are fair elections? What is infrastructure? What is progress?

First define your terms, then make your argument.