[atoav]

This point is not totally unfounded. The US (and the UK for that matter) have a two party system that heavily supports polarization. One side is for certain things only because the other side is against it, or against something because the other side is for it (same for the other side). I wonder however if this actually that bad in absolute numbers (if I understood US politics correctly the political representation is wildly lopsided towards the party with the rural voters, when compared to actual numbers of people).

Polarization is also an issue in Europe e.g. on certain topics like the pandemic response where the typical 25% of misinformed start to matter for everybody. Words like "polarized" or "divided" always suggest there is a split through the middle of the society, but quite often it is a loud minority who seeks to force their minority opinion onto the majority.