An election of echo chambers

You can tell from the chorus of "mea culpa" from the media that they were out of the loop. But then you can also say that about many of us as well.Humans suffer from the comfort of confirmation bias. Things that go against what we believe tend to be discounted. People that hold views that differ from our own tend to be tuned out -- the "unfriend" is a quick and easy solution to ideas that we don't like. I think almost all of us are guilty of this to some extent. Of course "humans" include the media.How did we get here?The true blue states, like Washington, where I live, generally hold very progressive ideals. With some of these values, you get intolerance of folks who are not as progressive. This is the same as the very conservative people being intolerant of progressives. The problem with the echo chambers is you turn off the outside voices and hear only your own.The people that voted for Mr. Trump, from what I've been reading, are feeling like their voice no longer counted. Being called "deplorable" further pushes them away from the message you are trying to get across. I hate using the word "other" as a verb; the open hostility from the left to anyone who is more conservative does nothing but other them. Are some, or even many of the Trump voters assholes? Yes, of course they are. To lump everyone in with "asshole" does nothing but reinforce their thought that the progressives don't care to even listen to their complaints and they are the "other."It's easier to catch flies with sugar than vinegar.We are where we are right now, for better or worse. I'm figuring most of the people reading this will tend to think worse. What we should do is not try to turn off the conservatives or call them names that push them further away. We need to be involved in the conversations that are going on and moving the narrative where it can be used for good. Talk to people. Listen to people. Debate. Share a drink with.We cannot hope to reunite the nation if we keep each other at arm's length.If you do nothing but rid yourself of people that disagree you've built your own wall before President Trump even gets into office.