The electoral college, senate filibuster, even the presidency itself are relics that simply don’t function the way the Founders intended.

Of those, only the filibuster really matters. It worked until the 1960's to protect the minority from the sort of laws that would ping pong in and out with changing majorities. But after 1970, when the cloture rule was changed to count only the votes for cloture and not require any votes against it, obstruction became a viable strategy, and obstruction works best if the other side is the devil.

We've always been tribal, but under the old filibuster rule, compromise was a good thing. The other side could be just wrong, but not evil. Under the new rule, the other side must be not just wrong, but evil.

From a systems perspective, the solution is simple: Fix the filibuster, restore comity, and save the country. That may not happen, and we may collapse as a result. But not because there is no fix available.