Everybody's in a Bubble, and That's a Problem
In politics as well as business, people are shaped by who they see—and who they don't.
by Derek Thompson
Jan 25, 2017
4 minutes
One of the most useless political observations since the election is that liberal elites live in bubbles. It is useless, not because it’s wrong—they often do—but rather because it’s like saying "liberal elites live in the biosphere.”
Living in bubbles is the natural state of affairs for human beings. People seek out similarities in their marriages, workplaces, neighborhoods, and peer groups. The preferred sociological term is “homophily”—similarity breeds affection—and the implications are not all positive. White Americans have 90 times more than they have black, Asian, or Hispanic friends, according to one analysis from the Public Religion Research Institute. That’s not a description of
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