More than any time in recent decades, American politics are\ndeeply divided. Compromise is a dirty word.
\n\"The way that we're running the country is that we're not\nrunning the country,\" says our guest Mark Gerzon, author of the new\nbook, \"The\nReunited States of America.\"
\nAs President of Mediators Foundation, the group he founded 25\nyears ago, Mark has brought people together in conflict zones\naround the world Concerned about increasing polarization in the\nU.S., Mark is working on the ideological frontier between left and\nright.
\n\"We can work together to solve the problems we all face in a\ncountry we all love,\" Gerzon tells us on this episode of \"How Do We\nFix It?\" But what we have now is a permanent campaign by both\nparties. \"And after election day they start the next campaign.\"
\n\"We can't solve any of the problems we face if we're tearing\neach other down the whole time.\"
\nMark's fixes include urging individual citizens to engage in\ndiscussions with people we don't agree with, asking questions about\nwhat they think, rather than stating fixed opinions.
\n\"Do you want to get drunk on being right and enjoy that feeling\nof being with the people you agree with and bad mouth the people\nyou don't?,\" asks Mark.
\nNews media coverage, he says, is biased in favor of controversy,\ncontests and clashes.
\n\"There's a whole America out there that's not getting any news\ncoverage. And that's the America where Americans work together.\"\nResources for compromise and open-minded dialog include:
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