The last paragraph you wrote is the reason why our political divisions will only grow worse. You see the right as bad people, the right see the left as bad people, and our media is behind it all pushing us along to further divisions.
I agree with the premise of the article. Our divisions are deep and probably will never be solved. Every empire eventually falls, maybe political division is the reason ours will fall.
Take your example of troops in the streets. You call that authoritarianism, and blame trump. People on the right would say that the only reason those measures are being considered is because of the lefts soft on crime stance, and how its been allowed to fester for too long, and also in some republican cities too.
Almost every single problem we have in thr country today is the result of government getting too big, reaching into areas where they are not supposed to be. The constitution laid out exactly what the government could do and EVERYTHING ELSE is for tbe states and the people. However, over the years, government started taking in new powers and new roles, only, the citizens dont agree with the things they are doing, and it causes division.
If we had just stuck to what the cotus said, nearly all of these problems would not exist, because they would all be local problems.
Just sayin'.