Speaking to the Crowd

Of course we all live in information bubbles.  To a certain extent this has always been true because it’s human nature to hear what we want to hear, and to listen to the people we associate with the most.  Social media has made it more so, to be certain.
My bubble is the Bernie/Tulsi bubble, but I also make forays into the poetry and literature bubble, the Americans abroad bubble, the music lovers bubble, the fantasy and science fiction bubble (rooting for Arya, here), and others.
But, this blog is about the Bernie bubble.  That big, brilliant, glowing Bernie bubble.  I was just watching a little video, a home made video, of his speech to the overflow crowd before a speech in North Carolina.  This is not a new thing.  As many have pointed out, it’s always the same speech, as far as content, and it’s very standard of him to make a speech to the overflow crowd.  I never get tired of listening to it, amazingly.
It’s also great politics.  It is a constant reminder that, unlike his opponents, he always has an overflow crowd, which means he always fills the designated venue.  Whatever the size.
It gives him the chance to give two speeches instead of one.  Since so much time on the campaign trail is taken up in travel from one location to the next as they criss-cross the country, this is an act of practical economy.
The optics are great.  In this case, his podium was a couple of cinder blocks.  The crowd was standing among the parked cars.  It was a lovely day in North Carolina and the trees were green.
And, every time one of these videos hits social media, it gets shared.  It gets shared by those people in the crowd who are standing in the front row, who want all of their families to see them at a political rally, engaged in politics, being a part of history.  It is a video people will show their grandchildren, but the impact in the present is tremendous.
It’s not just Bernie speaking to the people.  It is the people who are speaking to the people, who are speaking to the people, who are speaking to the people.
And they are saying “We can win this.  We can make the world a better place.  Come.  Join us.  Feel the Bern.”
Sure, I’m living in an information bubble.  But it is a large, growing, glowing, beautiful bubble.  May it encompass the whole world.