Nice article --- I like many of your points. However, I think you miss two crucial ones:

1. There are perhaps 20 of the one percenters that run nearly all of the right wing echo chamber. They are the ones that really control what so many folks believe. Regulations need to be carefully crafted to allow free speech while punishing intentional falsehoods and misinformation. Some other developed countries have such critical protections. A democracy cannot survive a few billionaires buying the key media channels and feeding the masses propaganda packaged as their own version of truth.

2. In the end, most of our problems can be attributed to poor education. The US (which is today near the bottom among developed countries) must build a world class educational system that teaches real history, science, mathematics, critical thinking, philosophy, skepticism, etc. Ideally, these schools would all be public and secular, but if not, careful attention should be paid to all schools/programs to be sure they meet certain standards. Too many Americans cannot differentiate a false narrative from a truthful one, or mythology from fact, and they are often too intellectually lazy to do the research required to determine which is which.