Let’s celebrate our common heritage

The Fourth of July is a holiday that is treasured by every American — or it should be.

A diverse population, including citizens who call the United States home, and newcomers who long to achieve that status, share a joyous revel about living in a country endowed with opportunities and freedoms.

Or they should be able to do so.

However, it seems that in these fractious times, many of us have forgotten how to celebrate our commonality. Far too often, people are clinging to their own tribes, disputing the Americanness of those self-described members of the opposite sociopolitical clan.

It is time for everyone to escape from the partisan bubbles, echo chambers that serve no purpose other than to distort reality and impede true discussion.

No, it’s not likely that they will be broken down anytime soon, certainly not in the supercharged environment of an election year, when so many fault lines have appeared, and widened.

Unresolved questions include: What should be done about the migrants at the southern border? There are those who have recently knocked at the door seeking asylum, those merely interested in working and those already in the country, for whatever reason, some of them since they were brought as children.

Will or won’t the appointment of a new associate justice to the U.S. Supreme Court threaten the legality or practical access to a safe abortion? What about other rights established by prior decisions of the nation’s high court?

More locally: What is the government’s role in helping this state’s residents recover from the recent disasters brought by storm and volcanic eruption? Where does Hawaii, which also faces a change in its top executive office, go from here?

The problem is not that Americans hold different views on which problems loom largest, and where the solutions lie. That is part of the national essence, the often combative nature of democracy itself.

The problem is that the channels that enable people to hear out the arguments from every side are being closed off.

One of those channels comprises the news media, which have taken a beating from the politicians, the president of the United States certainly not the least among these.

Many people have turned away from news sources deemed as unaligned with their own beliefs. They thus have cheated themselves of the chance to gain broader perspectives. The result is a kind of cultural myopia.

Social media have even exacerbated that problem, feeding subscribers only content that appears in line with “clickbait” that already got a rise from them.

But the even-more basic problem is the simple failure to communicate. People may have always avoided uncomfortable political debates among friends and family members, but now they seem to be avoiding seeing anyone with an opposing view, altogether. That is, in a word, sad.

Now the recalcitrant new media are, belatedly, responding, rolling out devices meant to counter the political isolationism.

BuzzFeed, just to name one, has a new feature called “Outside Your Bubble,” rounding up contrary views on a given story. Facebook now promotes “Escape Your Bubble,” an extension for the Chrome browser that pulls in alternative perspectives.

That’s a good impulse. But really, the cure for this particular disease lies within reach of every individual sufferer. Start taking the “medicine” today. Have a hot dog or apple pie slice, or share a glimpse of fireworks, with someone whose views you find dubious.

If the conversation strays into politically uncomfortable ground, try listening for a bit. Learning might even result.

Independence Day presents the perfect occasion to plan one’s own bubble escape. After all, if one is under the control of a particular political orientation, there’s not much independence in that.

Happy Fourth, Americans all.