The United States has become an old society.

One characteristic of old societies is the degree to which people’s beliefs have become fixed and resistant to change. Rigid beliefs, by their nature, tend to become polarized in large populations.

The United States has red states and blue states, fiscal conservatives and tax and spenders, pro-lifers and prochoicers — some examples of deep belief divides.

Each side tends to feed upon itself and beliefs become self- confirming. “ Conservatives” are reassured in their beliefs watching Fox News. “Liberals” find marginal comfort in The New York Times and National Public Radio in an era when being liberal risks derision.

“Independents” find a niche that is neither of the others but hardly more “ open” to new ideas than the others.

When schools teach to the test, as is the current vogue, they contribute to the formation of fixed beliefs. Knowing “facts” becomes more valuable than reasoning through differing beliefs.

In colleges, gaining career advantages has largely replaced the liberal arts as the gold standard of an education.

Beliefs and their openness to change are central to a young society. Behind every action, either explicit or implicit, is a belief system that motivates the action.

As a nation’s people carve their beliefs in stone, they begin to vilify each other. In the United States, voters’ rigidity of belief produces action gridlock. Little of importance can happen in Congress.

In a context of fear, belief systems tend to rigidify quickly. The United States and much of the rest of the world is caught in a vortex of fear, sweeping it down into the deadly grasp of orthodoxy. Fears are legion, but perhaps the most egregious is the fear we hold of each other.

In an era of social, economic, political and environmental upheaval, fear is inevitable. When fear is generalized as it has become, only a bold, comprehensive, cooperative, life conserving plan has any chance of success.

No one person or small group of legislators can make important change. The rigidity stops them cold.

Behavior stemming from unexamined belief systems is harmful to any society. The more obviously true a belief seems, the more scrutiny it needs.

Effective scrutiny can begin with a determined effort to check the facts being promoted all over the political landscape. Change can only come from masses of voters who sign on to questioning each and every claim they hear or read.

One source of reliable information is an Internet site called Politifact.com It won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009.

Exposure to a variety of beliefs is essential to becoming truly well informed. Ideally, candidates for office should encourage voters to check their statements.

HUBERT KAUFFMAN lives in Oxford.