What if the polarization in our politics were driven not so much by tribalism but by perfectionism crowding out pragmatism? Think about it: when is the last time you heard a political position that focused on an actual problem without recourse to comparison or some ideal?

That is, the apparent solution to any given problem isn’t that we need to take these x-number of steps to achieve such-and-such a target, but that, say, so-and-so should have resigned before we lost the majority, or we wish that particular leader hadn’t won, or that the proposed legislation isn’t a complete and total victory—so forget it.

Is it tribalism what ails us or that we spend too much time wishing things were always otherwise? Here’s a clear and present example from the Atlantic’s Tom Nichols (“It’s Time to End the Election Wishcasting”):

…for months now, many voters, including both Democrats and dissident Republicans, have engaged in childlike wishcasting about how the 2024 election might be different.

To paraphrase an unpopular former defence minister: you have to solve the problems you’ve been handed, as you’ve been handed them, not the problems that you wish you’d been handed.