6 Rules for Debating Politics in a Polarized America | Opinion Allan Katz and Michael McShane , Founder and CEO and Advisory Board member of American Public Square On 3/3/21 at 11:20 AM EST If there's one thing Americans today seem to agree on, it's that we've forgotten how to disagree. A disabling tribalism has infected out country in recent years, one which has us at each other's throats, incapable of recognizing a shared reality, let alone shared values. In fact, one of those values that Americans used to be able to agree on was that agreement is not actually a goal in and of itself. After all, a democracy is not built on sameness but on difference, on tolerance, on diversity. The ability to communicate with people who have strongly held beliefs that are different than our own, and to respect that difference, was once a core American value, and one we've sadly lost.