Allow us to get big-picture -- really big-picture -- for a moment.

Nearly everyone you talk to, from politicians on down to regular folk, would agree our political system (and thus our ability to govern effectively) is broken. But we can't agree on why that is, which hinders us from taking steps to fix it. Author Mark Dunkelman has an interesting theory on the "why" part that Fix Boss Chris Cillizza thinks we should consider: People don't have acquaintances anymore.

In today's digitally interconnected word, we're actually closer with our loved ones and/or people in our past and/or people whom we never met than we are with our real-life neighbor or fellow coffee shop regular.

And if you fail to interact with people who are different from you, it can be harder to empathize/compromise with them and believe they'll do the same for you. That our lack of casual collegiality would find its way to Congress makes sense, says Cillizza: "The lack of comity in our politics derives not from whom we send to Washington but rather from us."

(Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

So this Fourth of July weekend, go out of your way to say hi to your neighbor -- or that cute guy down the street (just an idea). You may just be saving democracy.

Bernie or Bust? That's the prevailing theory among die-hard Bernie Sanders supporters, 45 percent of whom said in a recent Bloomberg poll they're not prepared to support Hillary Clinton. But is that really the case? Our partners at Mic.com interviewed six Bernie or Busters from swing states to find out. You can read their full interviews here, but we'll let Mic.com's Luke Brinker sum up their project in one paragraph:

All were adamant about why they supported Sanders in the primary, and eager to share their misgivings about both [Donald] Trump and Clinton. Several said they plan to vote third party. Some could be persuaded to pull the lever for Clinton. They all hate Trump.

Weekend talkers

Okay, enough serious talk. I'm going on a long holiday weekend, and after reading this, you should too. (Which reminds me: The 5-Minute Fix will be abbreviated Friday.) But whether you're on the water or at a water cooler this week, here are some fun conversation starters.

Did you hear what Europe thinks of Trump? Well, you can probably guess by now that Europeans are wary of him, given that Trump's foreign policy pitch is essentially to look inward. A new Pew Research Center survey helps us measure just how much: 85 percent. That's how many Europeans have "no confidence" in Trump to do the right thing in world affairs.

Did you know half of Republicans would not be comfortable with a Muslim vice president? That's according to a recent Quinnipiac poll, which asked respondents about six different vice presidential possibilities (hypothetically speaking) and found the biggest drop-off among Americans for the idea of an LGBT veep or Muslim veep. The Fix's Philip Bump with the break down: