Kahir,

Oh my what an intriguing question. Let me think on that for a sec.

What leapt up for me was that first, given the size and diversity of the country, and the fact that American has a LOT of sports franchises, we might not be so rabid in our sports followings as a European or South American country might be about footie. I might offer (and keep in mind it’s 4:30 am here, Kahir, and it’s pre-coffee) that we are more likely to follow- or HATE as the case may be- our primary leader. In this case, to our awful detriment. We are as a nation- as is the UK from what I can surmise- these days most likely swayed by celebrities of all stripes, be they sports or royalty or whatever, manipulated by media and sports outlets, and social media in particular. What we are missing,as several of my friends have pointed out with terrifying accuracy, is the ability to think critically, question critically, and as you point out, question our own mode of thinking, our own biases, our own bullshit critically. We seek the safety of echo chambers as though ANY questioning of our ideas or POV is going to threaten our relative safety. I think that this is why the term “fragile” is so apt for our times, but this goes for all people who are intolerant, whether about race or religion. The world at any given time is fraught with wars and torture being perpetrated by people needing to be right about their religious views or skin color or whatever. Intolerance is built of wobbly scaffolding. Solid foundations are forever tested and tried and strengthened. A sound constitution of mind and morals and spirit etc. is porous, constantly challenged, constantly adding to itself in terms of both viewpoint and experience.

That’s more than you bargained for, but that’s what came up for me. Interestingly, Kahir, when I think about my preference for news, that’s why I listen to NPR, which provides me access to the BBC, which, while flawed, at the very least keeps me in touch with the world which I have traveled fairly broadly. That broader experience is precisely what is part of what makes people porous. They aren’t threatened by “different.” They don’t have an immediate knee-jerk reaction to “different” as being threatening to their POV

Okay. Coffee. Bath. :-)