A fact-based society is one in which ideas are examined carefully and weighed pro and con without resorting to propaganda, bullying (a practice now employed by many Republicans), or misleading statements.

This requires education, which is now being undermined in America by Republican groups who want to restrict knowledge to the wealthy classes. This is why
the Public Educational system is being destroyed by charter schools which require money, not expertise, to function.

Schools and prisons are being privatized because there's money to be made.
There is a pipeline between the destruction of Public Education and the filling of America's corporate prisons. The latter is not making anyone safe.