#did anyone else grow up with these multi school assemblies or was that a catholic thing?

[n0sewise]

i love the idea of modern/nenless au killua meeting gon and thinking he's doing a bit.

like they meet at some multi school Say No To Drugs event that every ninth grade class in their area has to attend and of course killua is at some private school with impeccable uniforms that he refuses to let gotoh iron or dry clean because It looks like I'm trying too hard if there are no wrinkles, you don't GET IT, gotoh

and gon's at a regular public school so he's wearing some variation of green basketball shorts and a green army jacket and crocs with little soccer jibbitz on them and he runs into killua in the washroom. and killua takes all of it in, the slightly varying shades of green that don't match but they're close enough to look like someone Attempted to match them, and the t-shirt underneath that has Amphibians of Prince Edward Island (which is not where they are), and he laughs. "that's fucking hilarious," he tells gon, because he's obviously doing a bit, and gon smiles and thanks him, which just Adds to the joke, right? being sincere and genuine and seemingly confused about what's so funny only makes it funnier, so killua concludes gon is a comedic genius

then gon asks killua if he thinks the automatic faucets can flood the bathroom and they spend the next hour doing just that until their teachers find them knee deep in water and ging and silva have to pay for water damage at the auditorium

maybe it's a few months into their friendship when one of gon's friends asks him what's up with the guy that keeps commenting "yes kingggg another serve" on his selfies, so he messages killua, and that's how killua finds out that this is honest to god how gon dresses himself. it's too much. too sincere. he's in love

[forsetti]

On Living In A Bubble: Real America™

Every day I read or hear that “coastal elite liberals live in a bubble and are out of touch with Real America™.” It is one of the main reasons given why Donald Trump won the election. Journalists, pundits, talking heads...trot out this theory without a second thought and without any critical analysis.  If you go to the comments section of any article about the election, “coastal elite liberals live in a bubble and are out of touch with Real America™.” comes up quickly and often from both Republicans and Democrats. It is taken on faith that those living in a bubble are those who live in urban areas and those living in rural Real America™ do not.  Having lived a number of years in both, this view is completely backward. How is it people who live in predominately white small towns, who rarely travel very far from home, who belong to a small handful of religious sects, who are surrounded by people just like them, who grow up, live, and die in a few mile radius are the ones who don't live in a bubble?  How is it the people who live in large, multi-cultural, ethnically and religiously diverse big cities, who are exposed to different people, different belief systems, different views are the ones who live in a bubble?  How is it the people whose belief systems are overwhelmingly similar to each other the ones who don't live in a bubble and the ones who live, work, play in areas where there is a lot of belief diversity, don't?  Somehow, we've allowed this bubble claim to go unanalyzed, unchallenged, and the effects have been damaging to everyone.  The people with the least diverse belief systems, Real America™, think they are the ones in touch with reality.  The people who don't live in a bubble, start second guessing themselves and they come up with political strategies that cannot, will not do a damn thing to penetrate the Real America™ bubble.  

What does it mean to live in a bubble?  When I think about “living in a bubble,” I think of John Travolta in “The Boy In The Plastic Bubble.”  But, instead of having a compromised immune system, people who live in a bubble have a compromised belief system. Instead of an immune system incapable of fighting off germs and bacteria commonly found in reality, people who live in a bubble's compromised belief system are unable to fend off the reality of facts and evidence.  A compromised belief system is unable to fight off things that attack it.  In order to protect the host, they need to live in a bubble to protect them from the real world.  With John Travolta's character, this protection came in the form of a plastic bubble that he could wear so he could be in but not part of the outside world.  With people who live in a bubble, their “protection” isn't physical, but it is a mental bubble that allows them to experience some of the outside world, but not really be a part of it because their system can't handle it. This mental bubble allows them to make calls, text, and do searches on their iPhone while they bitch and moan about trade with China.  It allows them to drive trucks, cars, and farm equipment that is made of parts from around the world while they are adamant we need tariffs.  It allows them to drive down to the bank every month to deposit their unemployment/disability check while bitching about “those people mooching off the government and their hard-earned tax dollars.”  It allows them to make signs that say, “Keep Government Out of My Medicare/Medicaid,” without making the obvious connection.  It allows them to demand they can do whatever they want to do, say whatever they want to say because that is their God-given American right, but gays shouldn't get married, women shouldn't get contraception, and minorities should live in their own neighborhoods. This bubble is a protection against the hypocrisy of their own beliefs and actions.  Nothing contradictory is allowed in because they either believe they are completely correct and/or they are deeply afraid they aren't and then they'll have no one but themselves to blame for all the things they bitch about.

Anyone anywhere can live in a belief system bubble.  It is just a lot easier and part of the cultural dynamic to live in one where diversity is lacking.  When this happens the bubble is expanded out from the individual to the community.  This gives the illusion to an individual that they really aren't living in a bubble.  They get “outside” confirmation they are right.  But, “outside” is nothing more than the same thing as the “inside.”  With relatively no conflicting beliefs and opinions allowed in, whether the size of the bubble is individual or communal is irrelevant.  Add to this a constant barrage of  “outside” news and talk radio that reinforces their beliefs and they are absolutely positive they are living in reality and not a self-controlled bubble because they have “outsiders” telling them they are right.  After awhile, believing they are right becomes much more important than actually being right. People who feel the need to live in a bubble learn how to do so regardless of where they are or where they go.  I've watched white, upper-middle-class students from predominately white neighborhoods and schools come to widely diverse universities and ensconce themselves in fraternities, sororities, groups, cliques... that are nothing more than a satellite bubble of where they came from.  The opportunity to get to know different people, learn different cultures, be exposed to different ideas is intentionally avoided for the psychological comfort of a familiar bubble.  I grew up in an area where a small percentage of kids went to college, but the majority of those who did went to either a private two-year or full university that are run by the religion they were brought up to believe-satellite bubbles.  They were not just encouraged to attend these places, the social pressure to do so was constant.  They were the bubble approved colleges and anything else was severely frowned upon.  The community's natural instinct is to protect itself from outside “germs” because on some level, I suspect they know they don't have the mental immune system capable of fending them off very well.  Building a bubble is much easier than running around with your fingers in your ears saying, “La la la la la la la la la...” People who feel they need to live in a bubble often do so because that is how they were taught.  Parents who live in a bubble construct bubbles for their kids and then teach them how to protect and maintain it.  People who have compromised belief systems and live in bubbles are the ones who often home school their kids, tell them that interfaith, interracial dating is wrong.  They don't want their bubble kids to be exposed to different beliefs and ideas. Again, this happens with progressives but not nearly to the same degree and rigidity as conservatives.  I don't know how anyone can separate out the nature of their religious belief systems from their social one because of the position of power and superiority their religious beliefs hold.  I'm not just talking about devout, zealot fundamentalists.  Those people are easy to see and understand why they live in a compromised belief bubble.  The problem is much more widespread and insidious.  Even if you aren't a “devout believer,” it doesn't mean your belief system isn't poorly constructed.  People who learn how to not be self-critical, how to not reevaluate beliefs, not be open to counter-evidence have a belief system that is susceptible to being harmed by reality.  The details they believe inside this type of system is irrelevant when it comes to rigidity. They were trained to be rigid and rigid they often are.  Whether or not they attend church every Sunday or follow all the doctrine doesn't change the fact they live in a bubble.   This point was lost by critics of my article “On Rural America: Understanding Isn't the Problem.”  They often got wrapped up into the level of faith or devoutness a person had and not the structure that gave rise to and helped protect their bad beliefs.  A very lax Catholic with a closed off belief system is just as problematic often as a devout Catholic.  A Cadillac right off the assembly line that has a bad engine isn't any different than a twenty-year-old one with a bad engine when you are assessing how they work and what is the problem. A Mormon who occasionally drinks alcohol who doesn't believe in climate change because only God can affect nature is no different than a stone-sober Mormon who has the same climate change belief. The underlying problem isn't in whether or not they are a “true” Mormon.  The problem is the type of belief system they have.  A system that is closed off and one that would be “compromised” by counter-evidence and reality is what they both have in common and this is the real problem.  They view counter-evidence and reality as “bacteria” that they need protection against.  It is people who have this type of belief system and approach to facts that live in a bubble, not those who are open to new and counter-information.  

When you treat science, research, facts, evidence, counter-arguments as an enemy to your belief system, the problem isn't reality.  The problem is you.  You are more concerned about what might possibly damage your belief system than you are the condition of the system itself.  That is living in a bubble.