How strong is your wall?

Is this a bubble? An echo chamber? Or something else, perhaps? Whatever it is, it has divided our nation.

Sense of Decency

Photo illustration © Michelle Gabel

By JIM McKEEVER

We need a better word, something stronger.

When we talk about divisions in the country and the ways we reinforce and protect our beliefs, we fall back on words like “echo chamber” and “bubble.”

This is where we prefer to stay — our “safe space,” to use another popular term bordering on cliche.

But bubbles can pop, and echo chambers don’t conjure up a sense of impermeability or invincibility.

Fortresses. There we go.

That’s what we have surrounded ourselves with — imposing structures with walls thick and high, with strategic vantage points we can hide behind to ward off attackers.

Let’s throw in a moat.

Without a bridge or even a drawbridge.

We need at least one flag, of course, to fly high and let everyone know what we stand for — and what we are willing to fight against.

From the…

View original post 296 more words