The Bubble of Bullshit

I know that many of us wonder how it can be that so many people can have such a radically different view of Trump and our entire political situation. It really does seem that we are living on two completely different planets with near opposite realities.

The differences are disturbing, dangerous and debilitating to the survival of our Republic.

I have been thinking about these these for some time now, and it weighs heavier and heavier on me every day. I have family members and friends who are living on that other planet…people that I have spent my entire life agreeing with on most political issues. I now avoid visits and conversations with these people because I am afraid that I’m going to say things that may destroy our relationships for a long time, if not permanently. It’s difficult to simply agree to not discuss things, because we have all been very politically inclined for so many years and the issues of the day have been a large part of our interactions.

It’s inevitable that topics will come up. Even if we’re in a room and I just hear two other people discussing things, it’s in my nature to not stay quiet if I hear a bunch of bullshit being spewed. So, I avoid it and hope that some day in the future we can all get together and have rational discussions again.

I blame the Bubble of Bullshit.

The Bubble of Bullshit (BoB) is where most current Trump supporters reside. In order to still support him, it is nearly impossible to not be in that Bubble of Bullshit.

The BoB is created when you only listen to one side and totally, completely, dismiss everything else. Trump’s Bubble of Bullshit comes from Trump himself, FoxNews, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Dan Bongino (he’s a relatively minor figure, but I had to throw him in for Tracy), nearly every right-wing website, and various other voices on the right who have gone all-in for Trumpism (which is 100% antithetical to principled, Constitutional conservatism).

I recognize the BoB so clearly now. It’s amazing. Part of the reason that I can see it so clearly now is because I was stuck in it for so many years.

So how did I, and many others here at TNB and elsewhere, manage to break free of this BoB?

I attribute it to the Republican Primary of 2016. Many of us clearly saw how Trump was lying and ignorant about everything during the campaign. So when the RNC and FoxNews joined in with him, and Rush, Sean, Levin, etc. all started backing up his lies, we could plainly see it. It was blatant and clear. They all did this without skipping a beat (well, Levin actually did “skip a beat”, but soon jumped all in), so it got me to wondering how much they had been lying to us about everything during the previous decades.

But the first part of that was really seeing Trump for what he was.

Many of us researched him a great deal, we watched old video interviews, read many articles, watched his rallies, watched all of the debates. Those who are still stuck in the BoB did not. To a person, the friends and family that I know who are still Trump supporters will claim to have been fully informed about Trump during that time, but they were not. They did not watch the videos or read the articles that we did. They did not watch his rallies or actually watch the debates. Rather, they got all of their information about Trump and the debates through the filters of FoxNews, Rush, Hannity, Levin, etc.

To this day, I can bring up points about Trump that most of us here found to be fairly common knowledge during the Primaries, that they have no clue about.

With this newfound skepticism of all of these pundits who I had trusted for so many years, I started reanalyzing various issues and concluded that some of those positions simply did not line up with the basic principles of life, liberty and property that were cornerstones of the Constitution and the Founders’ vision. And even worse, the more I looked at things with a clear vision, the more I saw that they were outright lying and misrepresenting so many things.

It was a shock. I could not believe how bad things were.

So, now, during the past few years, when I’d take the time to watch testimony, read transcripts, read reports…you know, actually look at all of the facts from the actual source materials, it’s no longer surprising when trying to discuss these things with those stuck in the BoB that they don’t have any idea what I’m talking about and they simply spew back opposite “facts” that they have heard in their Bubble. “Facts” that have no resemblance to what the actual testimony, reports, or transcripts actually say. They refuse to read any of the source material because their Bubble has convinced them that the material is not credible. Nothing is credible that comes from outside the Bubble. Nothing.

These people convince themselves that they are not the ones in the Bubble…that they are actually the most informed among us. How do I know that? Well, first, they tell us that, but more directly, I know it because I was there…I felt the same way when I was in the Bubble. They tell themselves that they know all of the arguments from the other side, but they don’t. How can they when they refuse to actually read or consider anything outside of the Bubble on grounds that they have predetermined that it’s all “fake” and “lies”. They think they know because the people that they rely on for their information pretend to provide the other side’s position. But they don’t. They only provide the most radical, absurd ideas and positions from the other side and pretend that everyone on the other side adheres to them. They leave out most of the important facts that don’t comport with the narrative they are presenting. And they present a lot of speculation that fits their narrative as actual “facts”

The Bubble of Bullshit is real. It’s extremely difficult to pull someone out of it because they sincerely believe that they are the enlightened ones, they are the informed ones, they are the ones that are working with all of the information needed to come to the right conclusions.

Make no mistake, though, there is not only one BoB. There is a very similar BoB on the left. That’s part of what drives it. I always saw the left’s bubble, even when I was unaware that I was in my own. It’s that very thing that makes us think we are not the one’s in the bubble…because the other guy is definitely so.

But how do I know that I am not also in a BoB right now? Maybe I’m in a NeverTrump BoB that distorts my thinking. After all, I was definitely in the same BoB that current Trump supporters are in now for many years. Obviously, I am not immune to it.

The thing is, since I recognized my own failings in this, I consistently ask myself that question and attempt to look at things from all angles to be sure I am not in a BoB. I recognize the bubbles on each side of me, which is how I am confident that I am no longer in one.

In other words, admitting to yourself that you do have a problem, is often the first step in solving that problem.

It’s like understanding the bias in the media. Of course, I had always recognized the liberal bias in the “mainstream media” and, like today’s Trump supporters, would actively avoid and disparage any media that I deemed “liberal”, discounting everything they did. But with the understanding that ALL media is biased (even the media that I relied upon for my information) and ALL media is presenting facts that weigh to that bias, and presenting stories that also weigh to that bias, it’s easier to be more discerning. I am now able to look at stories from both sides, pick out the actual facts from each side (they will each provide facts, but may leave out the facts that don’t work with their bias) and remove them from the opinion in order to develop conclusions based on a full set of facts.

Constant vigilance in this way is how I know I am not in a BoB.

And this is how you stay out of the BoB.

If you are someone who simply will not read or listen to CNN, for example, because you believe that all they do is lie and you will automatically dismiss anything presented to you that happens to come from CNN, I can guarantee that you are in the BoB. It works the other direction with FoxNews.

This article was precipitated by my previous piece, Questions for “Tracy”, which is a good demonstration of the Bubble of Bullshit in action. Tracy’s responses to the questions are the epitome of how someone stuck in the BoB would answer. I will further demonstrate that as I dissect her specific answers in an upcoming follow-up. Again, not to pick on Tracy personally, but rather as an instructive exercise in what we’re dealing with in general.