Lately, the American political scene resembles the old Saturday Night Live TV show at its best, before Covid and Hollywood actor strikes. In a kind of comedy of errors, political groups sling accusations at each other, sometimes so absurd as to be comical. They form cabals, making it almost impossible even to appoint routine government officials.

Meanwhile, our tax system continues to favor the rich, allowing political clout to be based more on political donations than on what voters want.

In addition, state voting districts too often favor gerrymandered divisions having little resemblance to actual population distribution.

Our foundational documents are showing their age, beset with modern problems undreamed of in the 18th century.

Even if our foundational documents were all updated, however, issues like abortion and gender identity would not be easily solved. The problem is not with any one issue. The problem is the absolute certainty that tempts us, we fallible humans. We do not listen to our opponents or oppose them with arguments, or God forbid, talk responsibly together. We prefer to demonize each other.

Perhaps it would help if we realized our human imperfections and noted that our founding documents, indeed, were written by imperfect humans. Yet, the country’s founders also made them difficult to change. We can hope that one day we may come together in a more conciliatory age and update our constitution.

At the present time, however, we may simply have to muddle along—in other words, work within the imperfections of our founding documents. What is a greater impediment to our political functioning is our refusal to recognize that no political group or human being has all the answers. It would help if we humbly recognized the possibility that the other side could be right or, at the least, have ideas worth considering.

Taking valuable time by throwing up unnecessary roadblocks to ordinary government duties is not just maddening but possibly deadly to the country’s influence and even survival.