I don’t know how you or others engage outside of Talk. But a lot of what I see on Talk with regards to this subject is standard culture war tic-tac-toe rhetoric. This is also what I see out there on Facebook, Twitter, comments sections on articles, messageboards, etc.
A lot of this comes to us courtesy a media business that has little choice but to feed anxiety, preparing the ground for how most people perceive issues.
Here’s one of the more interesting takes on culture war articles:
Thankfully I’m not some poor sap trying to make a living on Medium. If I really wanted traffic, the formula would not be to do what I was doing, which was building a case for a specific solution to solve a clearly identified problem. The formula would be to identify the highest traffic topic on Facebook, and feed those people what they want to hear.
I would craft articles in two forms.
1) “All the people you’re arguing with are stupid and here’s why”
2) “Share this article to prove how virtuous your side is, or alternately how much more virtuous you are than your friends because you found the article first”
These are the two most common forms of culture war weaponry in employ today, by people on all sides. One is the attack, which undermines someone else’s virtue, and the other is the defense, where you buttress your tower of virtue against attack. They take these forms because virtue is the fundamental quality of a culture. This stuff gets liked and shared far more than anything else.
Any guess what these sorts of articles / rhetorical approaches don’t do? If you guessed “persuade your opponents” you’d be correct. I’ve lost track of the number of “60 seconds that destroys {dogma}” videos, sneering articles, and other rhetoric that’s 110% certain that its supporters are righteous and those that oppose are feeble-minded, wicked, or otherwise lesser beings. It’s primary politics - nasty, boring, and drives away neutrals who will still be voting/opining on the issue nonetheless.
Whenever I’m talking over the issue with neutrals or opponents I make an effort to listen, try to figure out where they’re coming from, and see if I can address their concerns without being dismissive. It’s slow going. But I feel that I get more traction than throwing slogans around. YMMV.