SOLUTIONS AND MEDIA
Extreme partisanship dupes us into thinking that one political party exists for good, and the opposing party exists for evil; no one party, though, has a monopoly on good or bad ideas. The Homo sapiens species—and especially we Americans—think we form our beliefs and opinions free from any outside influences. This is inaccurate; our worldviews are shaped by myriad sources, such as our upbringings, our life experiences and circumstances, our education and our friends and families.
When one is politically traumatized, one does not want to hear what one needs to hear, because the way one copes with political traumatization is by seeking out what one wants to hear; this is why so many gravitate to disinformation and conspiracy theories. An uncomfortable truth about this traumatization is: it is not going to self-correct—each of us, as individuals, needs to begin the process of healing; otherwise, the traumatization will continue to exacerbate itself.