Note: This “Moore to the Point” commentary aired on NewsTalkSTL on Wednesday, September 14th. Audio included below.

Normally, we think of bubbles in a positive light – fun, like blowing soap bubbles or bubble gum; fizzy, like in champagne or your favorite soda; friendly, like the one in which Glinda the Good Witch first arrives.

But bubbles can have their downsides, too. Economic bubbles are seemingly great while expanding, but they can really hurt when they burst.

There’s a danger to ideological bubble dwelling, too. Sure, it’s more pleasant to converse about politics with those who share your views. But when those are the only views you ever consider, you may lose sight of the fact that they aren’t the only views that exist.

There’s an old quote attributed to New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael regarding the 1972 election. The rumored comment was: “I can’t believe Nixon won. I don’t know anyone who voted for him.” The actual quote was: “I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon.”

But even in that actual quote, Kael notes how insular her world is. And while the example of Kael has been used to poke at coastal elites, we all run the risk of a rude awakening when we take refuge in our bubbles and forget to consider what’s outside of them.