Three years ago I wrote, Just Looking In The Rear View Mirror, which I think is one of my better essays. Here is a paragraph that I think holds up:
The current obsession with polarization means more interest is in the argument rather than progress. I am not sure either side really wants progress because whenever either one has the ability to make progress disagreements within their ranks prevents it from happening. Polarization is focused on getting one’s way and beating the other and lost is any amount progress that in past times was born out of debate between the two points of view.