I think political polarization was always there. Like we always had people who did genocide, it's just that they had to use different language that was less shocking.

If you find a recipe for defeating despair, let me know. Best I got is Andreas Malm's maxim that if the worst comes to pass and you're with the huddled remains of humanity on the last bit of land in Antarctica with the planet having heated 4.5°C, are you really going to tell your children you didn't fight to keep it from going to 5?